The Cure "A Forest" Fiction Records ? FICSX 10 UK 1st press Vinyl 12" 1980
£
17
$
23
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Description
The Cure ? "A Forest" Fiction Records ?FICSX 10 UK 1st Press. Vinyl, 12", Single released in a picture sleeve in 1980.
The vinyl appears to have been lightly played and is in great condition. The picture sleeve has fared less well with ring-wear front and back and small (1-11/2") tears front and back - see photos. Matrix / Runout (Side A, stamped): FICSX 10 A // 1? ESTR 12 2 STRAWBERRY. Matrix / Runout (Side B, stamped): FICSX 10 B//1?ESTR 1 11 9 STRAWBERRY.
"A Forest" was co-produced by Mike Hedges and The Cure's Robert Smith and was released as a single from the band's second album "Seventeen Seconds" in April 1980. It was their debut entry on the United Kingdom chart, where it reached number 31. The accompanying music video was first shown on BBC's "Top of the Pops" programme on 24 April 1980.
Recorded and mixed over seven days, along with the rest of the songs from the album, "A Forest" is representative of The Cure's early 1980s gothic rock phase. The song has featured on the band's setlists for many years. Several versions have appeared on concert albums, and it was remixed and released as a single from the "Mixed Up" album in 1990. The song has been covered by several artists including Blank & Jones, Sophie Barker and Ror-Shak.
Due to budgetary restraints, "Seventeen Seconds" was recorded and mixed in seven days on a budget of between £2000 and £3000, which resulted in the band working 16 or 17 hours a day to complete the album. Hedges and Robert Smith knew "A Forest" would take more work to complete than other songs on the album, and would require more overdubs. "A Forest" was one of the last tracks recorded; the backing tracks were recorded first, followed by touch-ups to the individual parts, then Smith's vocals. Fiction Records owner Chris Parry told Smith that the song had the potential to be a hit if they made it sound "radio friendly", but Smith refused, stating that the way the track sounded was the sound he envisioned in his head, dismissing concerns about radio friendliness. Work on mixing "A Forest" took up much of the final day of sessions for the album.
"A Forest" was released as a single on 5 April 1980. Its B-side was "Another Journey by Train", an instrumental remake of The Cure's "Jumping Someone Else's Train". The single received a mixed critical reception, though commercially its sales were an improvement for the band. In early 1980, it spent eight weeks in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 31 on 12 April of that year. It was the highest they had placed on the chart by that point in their career. In the United States, the song reached number 47 on the Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart.
"A Forest" and its parent album Seventeen Seconds are representative of The Cure's gothic rock phase in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Cure biographer Jeff Apter refers to "A Forest" as "the definitive early Cure mood piece" and he argued the song is the centrepiece of the album. Smith's intention with "A Forest" was to make a song that was "really atmospheric". He has stated that it was a pivotal recording for the group, and represented "the archetypal Cure sound".
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