Hear the isolated bass of The Cure song ‘The Lovecats’
The major stylistic change that greeted The Cure in 1983 was nothing short of shocking. For half a decade prior, Robert Smith and his gang of gothic rockers got increasingly darker and more industrial as they progressed through the late 1970s and early 1980s, plugging into the early days of post-punk and falling down the rabbit hole of guitar effects, spiralling rhythms, and doom-laden lyrics.
That gang included bassist Simon Gallup, who joined the band in 1979 shortly after the release of their debut LP Three Imaginary Boys. Gallup’s rumbling and melodic basslines perfectly complimented Smith’s writing style, but by 1982’s Pornography, the tension between the two became unbearable, and Gallup left the group. Smith was on the verge of simply disbanding The Cure wholesale, but after a brief resting period, he returned with the goal of completely changing the group’s sound.
Oddly enough, the answer to how The Cure were going to move into the future came directly from their past. After reinventing themselves as a synth-heavy pop band, Smith tapped Pornography producer Phil Thornalley to help in the creation of the group’s new track, ‘The Lovecats’. Smith wanted a jazz pastiche, so Thornalley brought in an upright bass to add authenticity to the track’s arrangement.
Featuring silky glissandos and the signature rich hollow body sound of a classic double bass, Thronalley threw down one of the most iconic bass lines that ever filtered in through a Cure song. During this time, Thornalley was tapped to become the band’s official bass player in the short-lived lineup of the group that also included drummer Andy Anderson.
By 1984, however, Anderson was fired and Thornalley elected to leave so that his producing career could continue. That cleared the way for Gallup to return to the bass position, a role that he had remained in for the better part of 40 years. Although Gallup is the man behind most of The Cure’s iconic bass lines, the rollicking bass runs in ‘The Lovecats’ belong solely to Phil Thornalley.
Check out the isolated bass from ‘The Lovecats’ down below.
