Chicago (band)

Among the other tracks on the album: keyboardist Robert Lamm's "25 Or 6 To 4" (sung by bass player Peter Cetera), and the lengthy "It Better End Soon". In 1988 the band history Ten Imaginary Years was released, and Lol Tolhurst, though he had not yet left the band, was replaced by Roger O'Donnell. The suite yielded two top ten hits, "Make Me Smile", and "Colour My World". In 1987 The Cure released the double album Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, and embarked on the "Kissing Tour.". The centerpiece track was a 15-minute suite composed by James Pankow called "Ballet For A Girl In Buchannon" (the structure of this suite was inspired by Pankow's love for classical music). Throughout 1986 Lol Tolhurst's alcohol consumption was interfering with his ability to perform, and Roger O'Donnell was frequently called upon to stand in for him. This second album, unofficially titled Chicago II, was the group's breakthrough album. The album's title was taken from a line in the song "Killing an Arab." This release was accompanied by a video version called Staring at the Sea and by another tour, as well as a live concert film called The Cure In Orange.

The band's popularity exploded with the release of their second album, another double-LP set, which included several top-40 hits. Following this release and another world tour, the band released Standing on a Beach, a collection featuring all The Cure's singles and B-sides. The album also included a number of pop-rock gems (several of which would later be released as singles and eventually become rock radio staples), and began to receive heavy airplay on the fledgling FM radio band. In 1985 the new lineup released The Head on the Door which reached #7 in the UK and #59 on the American charts. The band's first album, the eponymously titled Chicago Transit Authority, was an audacious debut: a sprawling double album (unheard of for a rookie band) that included jazzy instrumentals, extended jams featuring Latin percussion, and experimental, feedback-laden guitar abstraction. Robert Smith later expressed his satisfaction with the reunited Cure, saying "we're a band again.". Upon release of their first record in early 1969, the band took a new name, Chicago Transit Authority (the name would almost immediately be changed to simply Chicago after the real CTA objected). At the end of the tour, however, Anderson was fired and replaced by Boris Williams, and Thornalley was replaced by returnee Simon Gallup.

While gaining some success as a cover band, the group worked on original songs and in 1968 moved to Los Angeles, California under the guidance of their friend and manager James William Guercio, and signed with Columbia Records. The Cure then embarked on their "Top Tour" with Thompson, Anderson, and bassist Phil Thornalley on board. The band featured an unusual and unusually versatile line-up of instrumentalists including saxophonist Walter Parazaider, trombonist James Pankow, and trumpet player Lee Loughnane along with more traditional rock instruments. In 1984 The Cure released The Top, an album on which Smith played all the instruments except the drums (played by Andy Anderson) and the saxophone (played by returnee Porl Thompson). They added more members, eventually growing to seven players, and went professional as a cover band called The Big Thing. Reduced to the duo of Smith and Tolhurst, the Cure released four studio singles and their B-sides as the album Japanese Whispers. The singles from this period were uncharacteristically upbeat and accessible, though Smith would soon return to writing more melancholy (if not as somber) material. The band was formed when a group of DePaul University music students began playing a series of late-night jams at clubs on and off campus. The same year, Smith also recorded and toured with Siouxsie and the Banshees, contributing his writing and playing skills on their Hyaena and Nocturne albums, as well as recording the Blue Sunshine album as The Glove (see above).

Well known for being one of the first (and, indeed, one of the few) rock bands to make extensive use of horns and for producing a number of hit ballads, Chicago had a steady stream of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In 1983 The Cure released two more singles, "The Walk" (UK #12) and "The Lovecats," which became the band's first UK top 10 single at #7. Chicago is a rock band that formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. Smith says that he "doesn't even remember making a lot of Pornography" (2). The Very Best of Chicago: Only the Beginning (2002). After an altercation in a club between Smith and Simon Gallup, Gallup left the group and started another one called Fools Dance. Chicago XXVI - Live in Concert (1999). The release was followed by the "Fourteen Explicit Moments" tour, and by increasing problems among the members.

Chicago 25: The Christmas Album (1998). Perhaps because of the rumours, Pornography became the band's first UK Top 10 album, hitting the charts at #9. The Heart of Chicago 1967-1998 Volume 2 (1998). In 1982 The Cure recorded Pornography, a bleak, nihilist offering that led to more rumours that Smith was suicidal. The Heart of Chicago 1967-1997 (1997). The band members' lives began to be marked by increasing drug use. Night and Day: Big-Band (1995). Smith's increasing depression was embodied in the album, Faith, released in 1981.

Chicago Twenty 1 (1991). In the next two years, I genuinely felt that I wasn't going to be alive for much longer, and I tried pretty hard to make this feeling come true" (1). Chicago Greatest Hits (1982-1989) (1989). Now 21, Smith "didn't see that there was much point in continuing with life. Chicago 19 (1988). Carnage Visors was used as a "tour support" film for their "Picture Tour". Chicago 18 (1986). In 1981 came the album Faith, which hit #14 on the UK charts, as well as an instrumental soundtrack for the film Carnage Visors (these were packaged together as a long-play cassette called Faith/Carnage Visors).

Chicago 17 (1984). The Cure set out on their first world tour, at the end of which Matthieu Hartley left the band. Chicago 16 (1982). "A Forest" became the band's first UK hit single. Chicago Greatest Hits Volume II (1981). In 1980 the 4-piece Cure released "Seventeen Seconds" which reached #20 on the UK charts. Chicago XIV (1980). Member Michael Dempsey left the band, and Simon Gallup (bass) and Matthieu Hartley (keyboards) joined.

Chicago 13 (1979). The next single "Boys Don't Cry" was a minor hit in the US, and Three Imaginary Boys was repackaged for sale there as Boys Don't Cry. Hot Streets (1978). In 1979, The Cure released the album Three Imaginary Boys and embarked on an extensive period of touring, during which they performed with various other iconic bands such as Joy Division and Siouxsie & the Banshees, leading eventually to a collaboration between Smith and Banshees member Steven Severin, released under the name The Glove. Chicago XI (1977). The Cure released their first single "Killing an Arab" to both acclaim and controversy; while the single's provocative title led to accusations of racism, the song is actually based on French existentialist Albert Camus' story The Stranger. The single was packaged with a sticker label that denied the racist connotations. Chicago X (1976). The B-Side to the single "Boys Don't Cry", "Do the Hansa" was The Cure's way of getting back at Hansa Records for not signing them.

Chicago Greatest Hits (1975). A year later, following disagreements about the direction the group should take, the newly named The Cure were signed as a trio (minus Porl Thompson) by former Polydor records scout Chris Parry's new Fiction label (distributed by Polydor). Chicago VIII (1975). In 1977, The Easy Cure auditioned for Hansa Records and received a recording contract worth £1000. Chicago VII (1974). They began writing their own songs almost immediately, and quickly amassed both an impressive repertoire of original material and a growing following. Chicago VI (1973). Wilfrid's Catholic Comprehensive School in Crawley, Sussex.

Live in Japan (1972). In 1976 Robert Smith, a 17-year-old student, formed The Easy Cure with classmates Michael Dempsey (bass), Lol Tolhurst (drums) and Porl Thompson (guitar) from St. Chicago V (1972). The band is often considered as being part of the Gothic genre, possibly because of lead singer Robert Smith's image, but Smith rejects this, saying that he considers the band to be mainstream. Live at Carnegie Hall (1971). The Cure is a British rock band widely seen as one of the leading pioneers of the British alternative rock and post-punk scenes of the 1980s. Chicago III (1971). Jason Cooper (percussion; member 1995-present).

Chicago II (1970). Perry Bamonte (keyboards, guitars; member 1990-present). Chicago Transit Authority (1969). Roger O'Donnell (keyboards; member 1987-1990 & 1995-present). Boris Williams (percussion; member 1984-1994). Andy Anderson (percussion; member 1983-1984).

Phil Thornalley (bass guitar; member 1983-1984). Matthieu Hartley (keyboards; member 1979-1980). Simon Gallup (bass guitar; member 1979-1982 & 1985-present). Michael Dempsey (bass guitar; member 1976-1979).

Lol Tolhurst (percussion, keyboards; member 1976-1989). Porl Thompson (guitars; member 1977-1978 & 1984-1992). Robert Smith (vocals, guitar, keyboards; member 1976-present). Trilogy.

Greatest Hits. Galore. The Cure Play Out. Picture Show.

The Cure in Orange. Standing on a Beach. "I want to be old" - demo from '77/'78. "Need Myself" - demo from '77/'78.

"Listen" - demo from '77/'78. "Meathook" - demo from '77/'78. "See the children" - demo from '77/'78. Join the Dots: B-Sides and Rarities, 1978-2001 (The Fiction Years) (2004) #106 US.

Greatest Hits (2001, compilation of singles 1978-2001/two new tracks) #33 UK, #58 US. Galore (1997, compilation of singles 1987-1997) #37 UK, #32 US. Show (1993, live) #29 UK, #42 US. Paris (1993, live) #118 US.

Mixed Up (1990, remixes) #8 UK, #14 US. Integration (boxed set). Entreat (1991) (songs from Distintegration live) #10 UK. Standing on a Beach (1986, singles compilation) #4 UK, #48 US.

Available only on cassette. Concert and Curiosity (1984), The Concert album with unreleased tracks on the b-side. Concert (1984, live) #26 UK. Happily Ever After (Seventeen Seconds and Faith together U.S.-only release).

Faith/Carnage Visors (1981), a special long-play cassette. Three Imaginary Boys (2CD Deluxe edition)(2004). The Cure (2004) #8 UK, #7 US