Kiss Me. Kiss Me. Kiss Me
Studio album by The Cure
Released	May 1987
Recorded	1986
Genre	Alternative rock, gothic rock
Length	74:35
Label	Fiction
Producer	David M. Allen, Robert Smith
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Pitchfork Media (9.4/10) link Rolling Stone link
The Cure chronology
Staring at the Sea: the Singles (1986) Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987) The Peel Sessions (1988)

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me is the seventh studio album by British alternative rock band The Cure. Released in 1987, this album put The Cure into the American mainstream, becoming their first album to reach the Billboard Top 40. By 1990 it had sold a million copies in the US. It was followed with another highly successful album in 1989 entitled Disintegration.

History

It was originally a double album, and was also released on a single CD. The album was made for CD, as Robert Smith wanted to take advantage of the CD's storage capabilities, which was almost double that of a two sided record. As such, this is the first Cure album to go over an hour (approx. 74 minutes), as opposed to the normal 30-45 minutes. In fact, one track, "Hey You!!!", had to be removed from the original album, due to time restrictions on the CD format.

This is the last album supposedly featuring founding member Lol Tolhurst in some small capacity. Robert Smith has stated that he wrote the song "Shiver and Shake" about Lol's diminishing role in the band.[1] Even though Lol is credited for playing other instruments on the next album, Disintegration, it has been officially stated that he did not contribute anything whatsoever. Special guest Andrew Brennan plays the saxophone on "Hey You!" and "Icing Sugar."

2006 re-release

The album was re-released in August 2006. The first disc finally features "Hey You!!!", which had been omitted from previous CD issues, and the second disc is composed of a demo or live version of each song on the first disc, including a recording of "Why Can't I Be You?" from the final show of the Kissing Tour at the Wembley Arena. It was released August 8, 2006 in the U.S. and August 14, 2006 in the UK.

Robert Smith stated on his website that there were so many missing tracks that he made three discs. One had the original album, one had demos of the B-Sides and never-before-heard tracks, and one had alternate-tracks of the songs from the album. Of course, he could only release one of the latter two. After discussing it with family and friends, he decided that the latter one was more qualified to be released. He said it wasn't impossible that the other disc may show up in a leak or another release.[2]

Track listing

All lyrics by Robert Smith; all music by Gallup, Smith, Thompson, Tolhurst, Williams

Original 1987 release

1. "The Kiss" – 6:17
2. "Catch" – 2:42
3. "Torture" – 4:13
4. "If Only Tonight We Could Sleep" – 4:50
5. "Why Can't I Be You?" – 3:11
6. "How Beautiful You Are" – 5:10
7. "The Snakepit" – 6:56
8. "Hey You!" – 2:22
9. "Just Like Heaven" – 3:30
10. "All I Want" – 5:18
11. "Hot Hot Hot!!!" – 3:32
12. "One More Time" – 4:29
13. "Like Cockatoos" – 3:38
14. "Icing Sugar" – 3:48
15. "The Perfect Girl" – 2:34
16. "A Thousand Hours" – 3:21
17. "Shiver and Shake" – 3:26
18. "Fight" – 4:27

The track "Hey You!" was removed from the original CD version for space reasons.

2006 deluxe edition

Disc one

The first disc contains the original album, as above, including "Hey You!" as track 8.

Disc two: Rarities 1986–1987

1. "The Kiss" (Robert Smith Home demo)
2. "The Perfect Girl" (Studio demo)
3. "Like Cockatoos" (Studio demo)
4. "All I Want" (Studio demo)
5. "Hot Hot Hot!!!" (Studio demo)
6. "Shiver and Shake" (Studio demo)
7. "If Only Tonight We Could Sleep" (Studio demo)
8. "Just Like Heaven" (Studio demo)
9. "Hey You!" (Studio demo)
10. "A Thousand Hours" (Studio alt mix)
11. "Icing Sugar" (Studio alt mix)
12. "One More Time" (Studio alt mix)
13. "How Beautiful You Are" (Live bootleg)
14. "The Snakepit" (Live bootleg)
15. "Catch" (Live bootleg)
16. "Torture" (Live bootleg)
17. "Fight" (Live bootleg)
18. "Why Can't I Be You?" (Live bootleg)

Tracks 1–9 are instrumental.

Personnel

• Robert Smith – guitar, keyboard, vocals
• Simon Gallup – bass
• Porl Thompson – guitar, keyboard, saxophone
• Laurence Tolhurst – keyboard
• Boris Williams – percussion, drums
• Andrew Brennan – saxophone on "Icing Sugar" and "Hey You!"
• Roger O'Donnell – keyboard on live songs from the Deluxe Edition

Production

• Dave Allen, Robert Smith – production
• Sean Burrows, Jacques Hermet – assistant production
• Bob Clearmountain – mixing

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1987	The Billboard 200	35
1987	UK Top 40	6
1987	Austria Top 40	4
1987	France Top 50	2
1987	Germany Top 40	4
1987	Sweden Top 40	13
1987	Switzerland Top 40	3

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1987	"Just Like Heaven"	Hot Dance Music/Club Play	28
1987	"Just Like Heaven"	Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	27
1987	"Just Like Heaven"	The Billboard Hot 100	40
1987	"Why Can't I Be You?"	Hot Dance Music/Club Play	27
1987	"Why Can't I Be You?"	Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	8
1987	"Why Can't I Be You?"	The Billboard Hot 100	54
1988	"Hot Hot Hot !!!"	Hot Dance Music/Club Play	11
1988	"Hot Hot Hot !!!"	Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	50
1988	"Hot Hot Hot !!!"	The Billboard Hot 100	68

Sample

The Cure
Robert Smith | Porl Thompson | Simon Gallup | Jason Cooper
The Cure personnel
Discography
Studio albums: Three Imaginary Boys | Seventeen Seconds | Faith | Pornography | The Top | The Head on the Door | Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me | Disintegration | Wish | Wild Mood Swings | Bloodflowers | The Cure | Untitled thirteenth album
Live albums: Concert | Entreat | Paris | Show | Trilogy | Festival 2005
Compilations: Boys Don't Cry | Japanese Whispers | Standing on a Beach / Staring at the Sea | Mixed Up | Galore | Greatest Hits | Join the Dots
EPs: Half an Octopuss & Quadpus | Lost Wishes | Five Swing Live
Related bands: Malice | Easy Cure | Cult Hero | The Glove | Fools Dance | Presence | Babacar | Levinhurst

Donate to Wikimedia