Held over from last week to allow the update from Germany.
From 30 December 2013. This one doesn’t have any decent sort of back story, but given it was originally posted when traffic to the blog is traditionally low, then some folk might have missed it first time round. It’s worth it today for the cover versions alone.
It took me a long while to write about Curve over at the old blog, and when I did, it was as part of an occasional series on cover versions. It was a post which attracted a fair number of comments, and it is fair to say that there’s a few folk out there who remember the band with much fondness and who have never got over their lust for lead singer Toni Halliday.
For the uninitiated, Curve, comprising said Ms Halliday and multi-instrumentalist Dean Garcia, came together in Manchester in 1991. At a time when the Madchester sound (Happy Mondays/Stone Roses/James etc) was very much in full flow, Curve were something a bit different. The first few releases were EPs. The music press loved them, and they were championed by John Peel.
And yet….they didn’t ever quite turn the critical praise into popular acclaim and really meaningful sales, albeit the debut LP in 1992, Doppelganger, reached Number 11, while the follow-up, Cuckoo, went Top 30.
I love an awful lot about Curve, but especially the sound of Toni Halliday’s voice. In many places it reminds me of Elizabeth Fraser, and there’s no doubt that Shirley Manson of Garbage owes a lot to Toni.
Many fans consider that they never surpassed Blindfold, which was their debut EP:-
mp3 : Curve (feat. JC001) – Ten Little Girls
mp3 : Curve – I Speak Your Every Word
mp3 : Curve – Blindfold
mp3 : Curve – No Escape From Heaven
It was an astonishing debut in so many ways and while I can understand some folk thinking they never quite hit those heights again I’m willing to stand by a number of their later releases and say that they were equally good – especially this track:-
mp3 : Curve – Fait Accompli
Going back to the March 2007 posting, here’s the two covers that were featured:-
mp3 : Curve – I Feel Love
mp3 : Curve feat. Ian Dury – What A Waste
- The first song originally appeared on the NME album Ruby Trax and is a quite fantastic cover of the disco classic written by Giorgio Moroder and sung by Donna Summer. Evidence, if any were needed, that dance music need not be mindless pap.
The second song was recorded with Ian Dury himself, as part of a project called Peace Together that raised money for young people in Northern Ireland.
Enjoy!!
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
I loved Curve (initially mainly to do with Toni, it has to be said), but like you I’m a huuuuuge fan of Fait Accompli. That one punched me hard in the face when I first heard it! Likewise Missing Link which punched me harder still.
You’re definitely right about the Liz Fraser/Shirley Manson comparisons too.
Doppelganger is the only music I own by Curve. I remember listening to it a lot, but never investigated the band any further. So, I haven’t heard any of these songs before. And I definitely didn’t know what they looked like. Was the singer really pretty, then? By 1991 I’d moved to L.A. where every other woman looks like a runway model.
Like Ride, Curve never surpassed the debut EP. Just found the production too dense for the most part (Fait Accompli is a rare exception). Couldn’t pick fault with any song on its own but the cumulative effect for me was rather wearing.
Saw them once – a proposed Dundee show was switched to St Andrews Uni but don’t remember much about it really.
I get the Liz Fraser/Shirley Manson comparisons. At the time, I thought they were going for a ‘pop’ My Bloody Valentine angle. I bought the Pubic Fruit compilation on import, as I didn’t bother with the EPs first time around. Agree with the comments on Fait Accompli and Missing Link. I also enjoyed Mission From God and there was a brilliant Future Sound Of London remix of one of their songs, although it barely resembled a Curve song by then!
I am a little concerned for those who have never got over their lust for lead singer Toni Halliday, though. That’s a long time for an unrequited love… 🙂