Week 19...

Ok, so the Cure got off on the wrong foot with me...

In my high school french class I had, by chance, been seated by THE GIRL. Her name was Laura and I had had a crush on her since the seventh grade. She was beautiful and seemed mature beyond her years. I would spend my hour in class stealthily sneaking looks at her and creepily listening in on her conversations. I would talk to her every chance I got, which wasn't often. She was a senior and I was a junior. This would have been a forbidden romance for sure. To make things worse, she was in an on-again-off-again relationship with one of the cooler senior guys. I didn't think he treated her all that well. But she was no slacker. She would not put up with his mess; thus, the off-again portion of their fling. The year went on and I actually got to know Laura. Even to the point where we'd talk on the phone and I'd take her flowers. That's right, I've always been pretty debonair!

Rudy and I doing our best Robert Smith impressions.

When we returned to school from winter break, my world was rocked by a new seating arrangement. I was no longer beside my fair maiden. I now sat across the room, in a row in between two other girls. I cannot remember their names, but I do remember their favorite subject matter. Robert Smith, the lead singer for the Cure. All they did all day long, and for the rest of the year, was talk about Robert Smith. It was incessant. It was exhausting. Both were pretty good artists. They would bring in paintings and drawings of the accursed vocalist, complete with stark white face, dark eyes and lipstick covered mouth.  I told them once that he looked like "a little girl had put make up on Michael Myers." It didn't go over well. After that they ramped up their raving over Smith and the Cure! I just wanted to tell them to shut it. By the end of the year, just the mention of the word "cure" made me sweat and squirm; like I had been tortured at the hands of ol' Bob Smith, himself.

Rudy and Brett at our makeshift recording sesh.

Years had to pass before I could give the Cure a chance. "Friday I'm In Love" is one of my favorites from them. While I was brainstorming the song, I thought it would be fun to bring in some guys to record it. "Bring in," in this case is a relative statement. I texted my friend Patrick Trombly to see if he had some time to give to this. In addition to being a great drummer, he owns a recording studio up in Concord, NC. Instead of him having to make the trip here to track, he recorded at his place then emailed me the files. It's pretty crazy what you can do with technology these days. Every Sunday, I use my Protools rig at Ridge Church, (this is what I use to record this here 52 project.) I had asked my pal Rudy Landa to play lead guitar on the song, but he had a busy schedule during the first part of the week. We decided to record his parts after church. There were kids playing all around; people setting up for an evening baby dedication service; others tearing down equipment from the morning services. It was the most insane recording session I've ever been a part of. On a whim, I asked my bassist, Brett Banks, if he liked the Cure. He lit up like a light bulb with a resounding, "I love the Cure!" I asked him if he wanted to record the bass parts. His eyes wandered into the air as he hummed the bassline. Seventeen seconds later he said, "Let's do it." The whole thing was nuts. I love it.

Let us know what you think.

Enjoy,

Christopher

     Recorded May 5-8, in various parts of the world. It would have been finished earlier, but I had to take a detour through Vommitown, (it's not far from Lake Emesis.) If you've never been there, don't go. It's not worth seeing. It seems my son Lucas caught a stomach bug. After we got him all cleaned up, my son Avery followed suit. It was everywhere. I mean, they couldn't have just gotten sick together? We had to stretch this one out? Really?
     "Friday I'm In Love" written by Perry Bamonte, Simon Gallup, Robert Smith, Porl Thompson and Boris Williams.