It’s a Mad Halargian World.

27 years after my grandparents drove me to the record store in their Dodge Dart to purchase The Hurting, I have finally found out what the final line of "Mad World" is, and it ain't "enlarging your world..."

Curt Smith revealed yesterday that with the "again-resurgent popularity (of 'Mad World'), I'm getting asked more frequently about the last line on the album version from The Hurting, a line which I occasionally also sing in concert.

"The actual line is: 'Halargian world.'

"(Not 'illogical world,' 'raunchy young world'(!), 'enlarging your world,' or a number of other interesting if not amusing guesses.)

"The real story: Halarge was an imaginary planet invented by either Chris Hughes or Ross Cullum during the recording of The Hurting. I added it as a joke during the lead vocal session, and we kept it.

"And there you have it."

Material: Curt Smith

Curt Smith's New Digs.

 

Curt Smith's new website is up and running and is very navigable for those who, like Curt, embrace technology and social media. So says Curt:

This new site is definitely a work in progress, but hopefully much more stable than my former site and with a few nice new bells and whistles. Have a look around, leave some comments, and pardon the dust while we continue to fix the place up over the next few weeks.

If you were registered on my former site, your registration should carry over to this one. My apologies if not as we’re still obviously working out a few kinks here.

Curt (aka Papa S.)

Photo: hellochris via Curt Smith

Curt Smith's New Single To Debut January 24.

 

"All Is Love (featuring Zoë Keating)," the first solo material from Curt Smith since 2008, is to be released via his own KOOK Media and will be available in digital format from iTunes, thesixtyone.com, CD Baby, and Amazon MP3. 

From curtsmithofficial.com: Smith met guest artist Zoë Keating online. "I was looking for a cellist to play on the track and heard about Zoë through Twitter. I watched a few of her performances on YouTube and thought she was fantastic and innovative." He sent her the in-progress tracks, and a month or so later she hand-delivered her cello parts to a Tears For Fears concert outside of San Francisco. The two now plan to perform in concert, as a double bill, in March of this year. 

"All Is Love," began life as a demo track for a television pilot theme song (the original version, called "Halfway Home," streams on Smith's website). While the pilot didn't get picked up, Smith liked the musical idea he'd begun, and reworked it with longtime collaborator Charlton Pettus. In a departure from his usual lyrical themes of longing and loss, "All Is Love"'s anthemic chorus ("When every mother's loving every son / When all is love, there'll be love for everyone") looks forward with hope to a time of peace and calm. "I was inspired by the 2008 U.S. presidential election" says Smith "The verses are about the negativity of all the advertising, whilst the chorus invokes the inspiration I felt about positive change." 

Like Smith's previous solo effort Halfway, pleased, he's releasing "All Is Love" under a Creative Commons license. The license Smith uses allows others to freely share, perform, and remix his work, so long as the uses are non-commercial, Smith is credited, and any derivative works carry the same license. "I'm a big fan of Creative Commons," Smith says. "It's a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned. It affords you the opportunity to set the ground rules of how people can use your music upfront."  

Background vocalists on "All Is Love" include singer-songwriters Michael Wainwright (who opened for Tears for Fears on its 2009 U.S. tour) and Jason Joseph, as well as Pettus' daughter Georgica. Charlton Pettus and Smith share writing and production credits. 

Smith plans to play several Los Angeles-area solo gigs in 2010, working around a busy schedule of Tears for Fears concert tours taking place in Australia, New Zealand, southeast Asia and the U.S. East Coast. He'll continue to release new tracks as he completes them, with the possibility of compiling them into an album when he's got enough material. 

Zoë Keating and Curt Smith will perform live at L.A.'s Largo at the Coronet Mar. 23 at 8 p.m. 

Photo used with permission: Curt Smith

Happy 45th Birthday Curt Smith.

Waist High favorite Curt Smith formed Graduate with Roland Orzabal in 1979.

By 1981, wanting to focus on emulating other artists of the time, they departed from Graduate and formed a band called The History of Headaches, a moniker which was quickly changed to Tears For Fears.

Their first single as Tears For Fears, "Suffer the Children," was released in November 1981, followed by "Pale Shelter" in March 1982. Their success came with their third single "Mad World," which hit the top 3 in the UK in December 1982. Their first full length album, The Hurting, was released in March 1983, and featured Ian Stanley on keyboard, and Manny Elias on drums.

The album showcased synthesizer-based songs with lyrics reflecting Orzabal's bitter childhood and upbringing. The Hurting can be considered TFF's only true concept album, as references to emotional distress and primal therapy are found in nearly every song. The album itself charted at #1 in the UK and yielded the international hit singles "Mad World," "Change," and the re-recorded "Pale Shelter."

Songs from the Big Chair, released in February of 1985, broke free from the synth-pop mold, featuring instead an enormous, intricate sound that would become the band's stylistic hallmark. This new Tears For Fears sound, which showcased the Fairlight CMI, as well as the singles themselves, helped propel Songs from the Big Chair to quadruple-platinum sales. The album's title was inspired by the book and television mini-series Sybil, the chronicle of a woman with multiple personality disorder who sought refuge in "her big chair."

The album was a massive success on both sides of the Atlantic and yielded the hit singles "Mothers Talk," "Shout," (#1 in the U.S.) "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," (another #1 in the U.S.) "Head Over Heels," and "I Believe."

It was 1989 before the group released its third album, The Seeds of Love, which featured the singles "Sowing the Seeds of Love," and "Woman in Chains."

After The Seeds of Love, Orzabal and Smith had an extremely acrimonious falling out and spent much of the 1990's attacking each other through the media.

In 1995, Smith met local songwriter and producer Charlton Pettus. The two formed a self-described "organic" partnership, writing simple, melody-based songs and recording them at home on vintage analog equipment.

From 1996 to 1998, their band Mayfield performed occasional sets in clubs throughout Greenwich Village and SoHo including Brownie's, the Mercury Lounge, and CBGB. Eschewing major record labels, Smith formed his own label, Zerodisc, to release Mayfield's music, and was an early advocate of using the internet to share and distribute music outside the mainstream industry.

Orzabal went on to record the albums Elemental, released in 1993, Raoul and the Kings of Spain, released in 1995, and Tomcats Screaming Outside, released in 2001, under the Tears For Fears moniker.

In 2001, routine paperwork obligations led to Orzabal and Smith's first conversation in over a decade. The two patched up their differences and Orzabal flew to Smith's home in Los Angeles for what they assumed would be a hesitant attempt at songwriting.

The songwriting sessions, which included Charlton Pettus, went so well that fourteen songs were written and recorded. The ensuing album, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, was paid one of the highest compliments when a reviewer said that "John Lennon and Paul McCartney are alive and well."

Two successful U.S. tours followed, with this writer in attendance for the Portland Oregon show at Pioneer Courthouse Square.

Happy Birthday!

Material: chrissyfessler.blogspot.com & wikipedia.org
Photo: curtsmithzerodisc.com

Happy Birthday Curt Smith.

Of the 1970s ska revival band Graduate, Tears For Fears, and solo work.

Tears For Fears landed a record contract with Polygram in 1982. The following year, the band released it's debut, The Hurting, which became a major hit in Britain, generating no less than three Top Five hit singles. Two years later, the group released Songs From The Big Chair, which demonstrated a more streamlined and soul influenced sound. Songs From The Big Chair became a huge hit in America, rocketing to the top of the charts on the strength of the singles "Everybody Wants To Rule the World," and "Shout," which both hit number one, and the number three "Head Over Heels."

Songs From The Big Chair was followed by The Seeds of Love in 1989. In and around 1992, Smith and Roland Orzabal began to quarrel heavily, and Smith left the group. Orzabal went on to release, without Smith, Elemental and Raoul And The Kings Of Spain.

Much to the pleasure of this writer, Smith and Orzabal reunited in 2004 and came to the fair city of Portland for this writer to see in concert.

Material: icebergradio.com

One More Mention Of TFF And Then It's Back To Nothing But Booze Talk.

 

Pretend this was posted yesterday: Happy Birthday to Curt Smith who turned 43 on Jun. 24.

Photo: kink.fm