B100: #81 “Inbetween Days” by The Cure

Moving further into the 80s in my B100 favourite songs list, it’s the gothic dreampop of “Inbetween Days” by The Cure.

A band that inspires true devotion from its hardcore fan base, I’m not a truly committed Cure enthusiast but they have written a fair few songs I do absolutely love, none more so than the inconsistently spelt “Inbetween Days”.   The greatest track New Order never wrote, “Inbetween Days” was the lead-off single from The Cure’s excellent 1985 LP “The Head On The Door”, reaching number 15 in the UK.  A truly joyous pop record (unlike much of The Cure’s earlier output) from its instantly recognisable introductory drum fill and Peter Hook indebted melodic bassline all the way through to its final “without you” outro, “Inbetween Days” remains irresistible to this day.

And I’m very much a Cure pop kid, preferring the lighter thrills of the mid 80s “The Head On The Door”/“Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me” era to the earlier gothic gloom of “Pornography” or “Faith”.   1989’s epic “Disintegration” LP of course mixed these two sides to winning effect, but my favourite Cure album actually remains “Staring At The Sea”, one of the best, most iconic singles compilations along with Buzzcocks’ “Singles Going Steady” and New Order’s “Substance”, rather aptly when considering the similar charms of “Inbetween Days” to the Factory greats.

The Cure at Hyde Park, July 2018

I’ve seen The Cure live just the once, at their Hyde Park 40^th anniversary show in July 2018.  A beautiful summer’s day, with England beating Sweden to reach the World Cup Semi-Finals earlier in the day – plus the brilliant Interpol as a very appropriate main support act – all was set up for a great celebratory gig.  And The Cure duly delivered with a fantastic career spanning greatest hits set, of which my undoubted highlight was seeing them play “Inbetween Days” back to back with “Just Like Heaven” (probably my second favourite Cure song, and subject of a storming cover version by Dinosaur Jr).

VIDEOS AND OTHER STUFF

“Inbetween Days” video

“Inbetween Days” on TOTP, 1985

• Other great Cure songs include: Just Like Heaven, The Walk, A Forest, Boys Don’t Cry, Lovesong, 10:15 Saturday Night, Pictures Of You.

“Inbetween Days” is available on my B100 Spotify playlist

“Inbetween Days” is also available on my 379: Indie A to D Spotify playlist

NEXT: NUMBER 82