Happy Anniversary, Boys Don’t Cry!
It’s probably just coincidence, but we can’t help but notice that the week that’s brought the news that the Cure will soon be releasing a new album – reportedly to be entitled 4:14 Scream, a nod to the fact that it was recorded during the same sessions as their last album, 2008’s 4:13 Dream – just so happens to be the same week when, in 1980, the band’s compilation album Boys Don’t Cry first hit record store shelves in the UK.
For the longest time, Boys Don’t Cry was perceived as the Cure’s debut album in the US, owing to the fact that their real debut album, Three Imaginary Boys, didn’t actually see Stateside release until 2004, when the band’s back catalog received the deluxe-reissue treatment. The two share similar track listings, but the running order is decidedly different, and each features songs which are not included on the other.
Boys Don’t Cry, for instance, kicks off with its title track and follows with “Plastic Passion,” neither of which appeared on Three Imaginary Boys in its initial release. Nor for that matter did “Jumping Someone Else’s Train” or “Killing an Arab,” both of which appear on Boys Don’t Cry and – thanks to their inclusion on Standing on a Beach: The Singles – have come to be considered to be defining moments of the Cure’s early career.
Normally, this is when we’d post a link for you to listen to Boys Don’t Cry on Spotify, but it’s, uh, not actually available. Y’see, the existence of Boys Don’t Cry was made more or less moot when Three Imaginary Boys finally earned a release in the States. The good news, though, is that Three Imaginary Boys is on Spotify. But the bad news? “Killing an Arab” isn’t. Fortunately, the video for “Killing an Arab” is part of Rhino’s YouTube channel, so we can hook you up with that, at least.
Beyond that, have a listen to our “Almost Boys Don’t Cry” playlist, close your eyes, and think of blue skies, a yellow sun, and palm trees and a pyramid in the desert. You’ll find yourself transported back to Feb. 5, 1980 in no time.
Watch the official “Killing an Arab” video:
