The Poster Memorabilia blog

When The Cure Got Into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Brooklyn, March 2019 — two founders back in one room, and the song that closed the night.

By an anonymous Hollywood insider

Can you believe The Cure was only inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019? The band started making music in the late 1970s, yet it took four decades for the Rock Hall to finally recognize them. Why did it take so long? I would've inducted them the moment Boys Don't Cry came out in 1979!

I don't think people realize just how influential The Cure was when they first came onto the scene. They essentially established goth and emo music, or at least helped cultivate that genre and subculture into what they are now. If not for them, I don't think we'd have The Killers, Smashing Pumpkins, and My Chemical Romance, among many other great bands.

As you could see, they inspired different kinds of bands that play across different genres. It shows that you can never put The Cure into just one box. They may look a certain way, and usually play a specific kind of music, but they can just as easily turn left without you knowing.

That's why I love Boys Don't Cry, the single and the album that took its name. The track lets men be emotionally vulnerable and express their sadness in an open, honest way. And they get to rock out while doing it, too.

“You can never put The Cure into just one box.”

I couldn't have picked a better album for the poster I got signed by Robert Smith and Lol Tolhurst that same night. I didn't want to miss the chance to see those two together again since it was rare for them to step out in public.

Smith and Tolhurst founded The Cure in the 1970s, and though the band has seen countless member shifts over the years, the OGs are still my favorite. This isn't to say I'm not a fan of the other artists who played for the band, but you just can't beat the original.

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Their induction ceremony, held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on March 29, 2019, brought the two of them together again. Trent Reznor did the honors, and something like ten members past and present came out to accept it. I couldn't believe it, even though I was seeing them standing together with my own eyes.

And then the band closed their set with Boys Don't Cry. Of all the songs they could've ended on, it was that one, with the whole arena singing it back at them. Given what I had rolled up under my arm, I took it personally.

Afterward, they posed in front of the cameras with their trophies. They looked so proud, too, even though I know they rarely took this sort of stuff seriously. I'm sure they felt honored, but they made music for art and for fun, not for awards.

A few moments later, they interacted with fans, and I got Smith and Tolhurst to sign my Boys Don't Cry poster. Ironically, I almost cried when I met them in person, and they gave me their autographs. It was something I'd dreamed of for a long time, and suddenly, it was all real.

More men should listen to Boys Don't Cry. Nearly fifty years on, it's still one of the most direct invitations in rock music for a guy to admit he's hurting, and I don't think that's ever gone out of date.

Some things you watch. This one you keep.

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