The Cure “Just Like Heaven” released

Just Like Heaven The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Porl Thompson, Boris Williams, Lol Tolhurst (see lyrics here) Released: October 5, 1987 First Charted: October 10, 1987 Peak: 40 US, 42 CB, 30 RR, 1 CO, 29 UK, 89 AU, 10 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.4 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 32.74 video, 301.29 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The Cure formed in Crawley, West Sussex, in 1978. The goth/new wave band has undergone many changes in personnel throughout the years, but lead singer Robert Smith has always been a constant. His frizzly hair and dark eye makeup has come to symbolize goth rock. They emerged during the punk era of the late ‘70s and became a mainstay of the college rock radio movement of the early 1980s in the United States. By the end of the decade, they’d become a more mainstream band. Their seventh album, 1987’s Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, was their highest-charting album to-date in the United States, reaching #35 and becoming their first platinum album. Before that album, the Cure’s only Billboard Hot 100 hit was “In Between Days,” reaching #99 in 1985. The Kiss Me album gave the Cure three more Hot 100 hits with “Just Like Heaven” being the highest-charting, reaching #40. All Music Guide’s Ned Ragget called the song “an undisputed ‘80s classic” AMG that is “instantly memorable, sparkling with rough energy…it’s a perfect showcase for Robert Smith’s ear for wistful, romantic numbers.” AMG Smith was inspired by a trip to Beachy Head in southern England with his future wife, Mary Poole. WK The video recreated many of the memories detailed in the lyrics. WK Musically, the original version bore some similarity to the Only One’s 1979 song “Another Girl, Another Planet.” Drummer Boris Williams increased the tempo of the song to give it a different feel. WK Smith called it “the best pop song the Cure has ever done,” WK telling his bandmates, “I’ll never write something this good again.” SF Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Cure AMG All Music Guide review by Neg Raggett SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 9/29/2022.