Additionally an electro techno project is called "The Glove".
It all started at the YMCA....
Robert Smith of The Cure first encountered Steven Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees when they both pitched up at the bar of the YMCA in London's Tottenham Court Road during a Throbbing Gristle gig on August 3, 1979. "I was wearing sunglasses and a very distinctive green check suit" remembers Robert. "I thought I looked pretty hip and happening. Severin came over to me and whispered in my ear "Charlie Caroli I presume?" That made me laugh! We got to talking, and by the end of the night had agreed The Cure should play with the Banshees on their forthcoming UK tour" During the course of this tour, which included Robert's stint as emergency Banshee's guitarist, the pair discovered mutual interests in music, literature, cinema and more, and so began an enduring friendship that led in the spring of 1983 to work on their new infamous joint project The Glove. "We had first talked seriously about doing something together in late 1980 when Robert was working on Faith," Remembers Steven. At that time Robert was completely in The Cure and I was of course in The Banshees, so a collaboration couldn't really have worked, we had to wait....when it finally happened it seemed to the outside world like 'the other half' of The Banshees side project, even though we'd planned it all long before The Creatures stuff!" Named after the evil animated glove in the Beatles film Yellow Submarine, Robert and Steve's psychedelic project was originally conceived as a few weird singles to be aimed at the Japanese market with hopes of bigger things to follow. Having booked Britannia Row Studios in London, in part because of its historic connections with Pink Floyd. Steven and Robert suddenly had their rainbow-hued feathers ruffled by Chris Parry, head of The Cure's label Fiction Records, who reminded the pair that Fictions contract with Robert specifically precluded him from singing on anything except Cure records. Parry's concern was that Robert had been taking too much time out from The Cure. He had already toured twice as the Banshees guitarist and reasoned Parry, if he enjoyed doing The Glove, he might abandon The Cure altogether. Parry's fears were far from unfounded because Robert had been somewhat dissatisfied with The Cure ever since the acrimonious departure of bassist Simon Gallup nine months earlier. Robert and Chris Parry now locked horns. "It was a real struggle" explains Robert, "as I was insisting on my right to sing on something other than The Cure. The irony of it of course, was that I didn't have a clue as to what I was actually going to record as we didn't have any songs!" At the eleventh hour a deal was thrashed out green-lighting Robert to sing on two tracks of The Glove project, which had now assumed the dimensions of a full-blown album. "So now we needed a vocalist for the rest of the album" points out Robert, "and after a few very truppy auditions we decided on Jeanette Landray, girlfriend of The Banshees drummer Budgie." A member of ZOO. The top of the pops dance troupe Landray had never sung before. Severin remembers the sessions as, "pretty insane" There was an ongoing 'happening' in Britannia Row...Marc Almond of Soft Cell would be there, The Associats, John McGeoch,...it was like a mainline train station. We recorded from 6pm to 6am, then Robert would go back to my flat and watch video nasties!" but even after the video nasties, Bad Timing, Videorome, The Evil Dead, etc formed part of the Glove's master plan. The idea was that by drowning themselves in acid and junk culture the pair would produce the kind of mental disorientation essential to the creation of genuinely psychedelic music. Another technique involved the use of exotic instruments. "We thought that if we stuck to the instruments we had always played we would end up sounding like a cross The Cure and The Banshees." explains Steven. "instead we experimented and came up with new ways of working. Landray meanwhile was realizing that as The Glove was very much Robert And Steven's project, her contributions were going to be limited. "I had a strange role involved, but not with any say in the way things turned out..almost like a session musician really." Readily acknowledging that Jeanette had been thrust into an awkward position Robert admits that he found it disconcerting to hear somone else singing songs he had demo'd with himself in mind. "I remember Jeanette being a bit unsure as to how to sing certain songs...but she was very determined and very patient which she had to be as I'm pretty sure that my advice was at best cryptic!"
Members of "The Glove" ~~~
Robert Smith - guitar, vocals on original recording of "Mr. Alphabet Says", "Perfect Murder", and Disc 2 of Deluxe Edition
Steve Severin - bass
Martin McCarrick - keyboards, real strings (later joined Siouxsie and the Banshees)
Jeanette Landray - vocals on majority of tracks on original album
Andy Anderson - real drums (later joined The Cure)
Ginny Heyes - real strings
Anne Stephenson - real strings
Porl Thompson- Special Guest in The Glove's Videos (From The Cure)
Perfect Murder
The Glove Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Like fingers in a glove
Twisting round and round and round
Round and round and round with love!
The meeker sleeker circle girls dressed in docile white
Spinning on a hill they follow the dracula kite
The first idea flew thin and uninvited from the sky
Very thin red water flowed underneath my skin
I turned their eyes blue children
The perfect murder
Wait until the darkest coldest summer nights
That's when it starts
But if you blink you'll miss the fun
You'll lose their pretty hearts
Pretty hearts
The lyrics to The Glove's song Perfect Murder are cryptic and open to interpretation. However, there are some themes that are apparent upon closer examination. The opening line, "Move inside my daydream," suggests a journey into the subconscious, where one's fantasies and desires reside. This is reinforced with the imagery of fingers in a glove, which suggests a fitting together of two complementary parts. The repetition of "round and round and round" creates a hypnotic effect, as if the singer is being drawn deeper into their daydream.
The next lines introduce a contrast between the "meeker sleeker circle girls" and the "dracula kite." The girls are dressed in "docile white," suggesting innocence or purity, while the kite evokes Gothic horror and vampirism. The first idea that "flew thin and uninvited from the sky" could represent the singer's darker impulses or the unexpected intrusion of violent thoughts. The image of holding a "knife of ice" is chilling and suggests a determination to carry out these desires.
The final lines of the song introduce the idea of a "perfect murder," which could be a metaphor for the singer's desire for complete control over their fantasies. The line "wait until the darkest coldest summer nights" implies a patient and deliberate approach to achieving this goal. The final lines of the song, "But if you blink you'll miss the fun / You'll lose their pretty hearts," suggest a warning to the listener to not be complacent, as the darker desires lurking within could take over.
Line by Line Meaning
Move inside my daydream
Enter into my imagination
Like fingers in a glove
As natural and perfectly fitting as a glove to fingers
Twisting round and round and round
Going around in circles repeatedly
Round and round and round with love!
Doing it with love and passion
The meeker sleeker circle girls dressed in docile white
Innocent and submissive girls dressed in white
Spinning on a hill they follow the dracula kite
Being led into something dangerous and unknown
The first idea flew thin and uninvited from the sky
An unexpected and subtle thought entered the mind
I reached out my hands and held the knife of ice
I accepted and embraced the cold and brutal plan
Very thin red water flowed underneath my skin
Feeling the pent-up anger and tension inside
I turned their eyes blue children
I transformed them into cold and unfeeling beings
The perfect murder
A meticulously planned and executed crime
Wait until the darkest coldest summer nights
Choosing the ideal time for the perfect crime
That's when it starts
Setting the stage for the perfect murder
But if you blink you'll miss the fun
One wrong moment and the whole plan will be ruined
You'll lose their pretty hearts
Destroying their innocent and loving spirit
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ROBERT JAMES SMITH, STEVEN SEVERIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Carl Howard
For many years I considered this tune to be one of Smith's very strongest vocal performances. Maybe I still do, 35 years later.
Allister Ainsworth
I can maybe confirm that you are right Carl!
eqsheiky
Back in '92, in Seattle, I found a pristine version of this album on vinyl. It was in the University District at the original Cellophane Square, which was a magical place. It cost me 99 cents, not because it was'nt appreciated, but because the employees would put really great stuff in the discount bins to reward those who searched. It is still in my record collection and always makes me happy.
Adam W
I found an autographed Legendary Pink Dots CD at that Cellophane Square for $8. I miss record stores.
Phil philly
Ya !!...........i know what u mean.I miss them 2.But there R still a few of them about here & there in the UK.ok.But nothing like the good old days.
Vaughanie
good one man - hope you're loving it :)
Benjamin White
I found my copy in a very similar way eleven years later, but I worked at the record store (Amoeba Music). I was lucky enough to get to put out the freshly priced $1 bin records and would regularly find amazing records that were a little beat up, but played fine and sounded great. This was one of them and I grabbed it mainly for this song.
Andrew Benke
Bought mine from HMV brand new. Still sealed in plastic.
Karen Hannegan
I love Robert Smith's voice on The Glove 1984 rather than the remakes of the songs in 2006. His earlier voice was more natural and unaffected. This is brilliant.
David Ellis
The vocals on the bonus disc were all recorded in 1984. They were " Guide " vocals.