The Glove

The Glove was a 1983 English musical collaboration and recording project by the Cure's Robert Smith and Siouxsie and the Banshees' Steven Severin. They released one studio album, Blue Sunshine, in 1983 as part of Severin's solo deal with Polydor. The latter came up with the band name, the album title and the blue/yellow sleeve concept, as Smith had to leave the project before completion due to prior commitments with the Cure.[1]

This article is about the musical group. For other uses, see Glove (disambiguation).

The Glove
Left to right: Robert Smith, Jeanette Landray and Steven Severin
Background information
Genres
Years active1983
LabelsWonderland Records
Polydor Records
Rhino Records
Associated actsSiouxsie and the Banshees
The Cure
Past membersRobert Smith
Steven Severin
Jeanette Landray
Andy Anderson

History

Smith and Severin founded the Glove during a period when they were under heavy stress in their respective bands, the Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees.

In June 1982, Smith was on the verge of a breakdown, drained from the production of the Cure's bleakest album, Pornography and its tour, substance abuse, and band infighting that led to the departure of bassist Simon Gallup.

In October 1982, shortly before the start of an important European tour, Banshees guitarist John McGeoch had a nervous breakdown due to alcohol and the stresses of touring, and was fired by the band.[2] Smith was asked to fill in and officially became a member of the Banshees in November 1982. He had previously played live with the band in 1979 on their Join Hands tour, when he replaced guitarist John McKay, who had walked out at the start of the tour. The Cure were the support band for the entire tour, and Smith therefore played two sets per night.

Severin and Smith booked a studio in late 1982. The first song that they recorded was "Punish Me with Kisses".[3]

In January 1983, two months after Smith rejoined Siouxsie and the Banshees, Siouxsie and drummer Budgie left England to record an album on their own as the Creatures.

Meanwhile, Severin and Smith both started to work on a project called the Glove. The band's name referred to the enormous flying glove in the Beatles' 1968 animated movie Yellow Submarine. Their album's title, Blue Sunshine, referred to the horror film Blue Sunshine, in which people who took the fictional "Blue Sunshine" variety of LSD became psychotic murderers 10 years later.[4] Smith described the recording sessions as "unreal": "We spent 12 weeks in the studio but actually recorded for about five days. The rest of the time was spent having an endless party to which we invited a succession of people. It was like a station -- once they got really out of it, they'd be moved on and the next batch brought in. In between all this we'd record a piece of piano or drum".[1] During that period, the duo stayed up most of the nights watching "video nasties", including Dario Argento films.[1]

Since Smith was contractually prohibited from singing with another band (one of the reasons he cited for the 2001 split from the Cure's longtime label), former Zoo dancer Jeanette Landray (a former girlfriend of Severin's bandmate Budgie[5]) was recruited as the lead singer. Smith sang on two of the songs, "Perfect Murder" and "Mr. Alphabet Says". With the latter, Smith sang lyrics other than his own.[6]

Other musicians involved in this project were Andy Anderson (who later joined the Cure), Martin McCarrick (who later joined the Banshees), Ginny Hewes, and Anne Stephenson.[7]

In 2005, Severin proposed re-releasing Blue Sunshine. Smith, who had been gradually reissuing editions of the Cure's back catalogue, agreed, and the Glove remaster was released as a 2-CD set on 8 August 2006 alongside three Cure re-releases. On the second disc, a dozen unreleased demo versions sung by Smith appeared for the first time. To commemorate Record Store Day 2013 a limited edition blue coloured vinyl version of the LP was produced.[8]

Personnel

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References
  1. "Collaborations: Robert Smith - Steven Severin". Stevenseverin.com. 2000. Archived from the original on 12 June 2000. Retrieved 1 September 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. Simpson, Dave (6 August 2019). [shortly before the start of an important European tour "Obituary: John McGeoch"] Check |url= value (help). The Guardian.
  3. "Lyric Index - Punish Me with Kisses". StevenSeverin.com. 2000. Archived from the original on 14 August 2002. Retrieved 2 September 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. Metzger, Richard (6 July 2015). "The Glove: When Robert Smith and Steven Severin Plaed Hooky from the Cure & Siouxsie & the Banshees". Dangerous Minds. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  5. Baker, Alex (22 May 2014). "The Glove's Jeanette Landray | Interview plus Artwork". post-punk.com. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  6. "Lyric Index - Mr. Alphabet Says". StevenSeverin.com. 2000. Archived from the original on 14 August 2002. Retrieved 2 September 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. "The Glove | Gratis muziek, tourneedata, foto's, video's". Myspace. 21 September 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  8. "Blue Sunshine (Record Store Day, Colored Vinyl) LP". Turntable Lab. 6 August 2019.

Sources
  • The Glove. 2006 Rhino Records CD re-release booklet.
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