Curt Smith
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Curt Smith | |
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 Curt Smith, 2008, by Justine Ungaro
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| Background information | |
| Born | June 24, 1961 |
| Origin | Bath, Somerset, England |
| Genre(s) | Pop, rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, record producer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, bass, keyboards |
| Years active | 1978–1993, 1997–present |
| Label(s) | KOOK Media, Zerodisc, Mercury, XIII BIS |
Curt Smith (born June 24, 1961, Bath, Somerset, England) is an English singer, bassist, synthesizer player and songwriter. He is best known for forming the band Tears for Fears, along with childhood friend Roland Orzabal. They achieved a number of chart topping hits during the 1980s.
[edit] History
Curt Smith is best known as the lead singer of the successful UK band Tears For Fears who sang lead vocal on five of the band's first seven UK charting singles. Curt (alongside Orzabal) was originally a member of the ska influenced band Graduate, as well as Neon. The latter group is also noted for featuring future members of Naked Eyes.
As a member of Tears for Fears, Smith sang lead vocals on all the singles released from The Hurting album, including "Mad World" which was later recorded by Gary Jules and included on the Donnie Darko soundtrack. Having reached the top of the UK singles chart at Christmas 2003, this in turn re-ignited interest in the group's earlier work and their 1992 Greatest Hits album was re-released.
Tears for Fears were initially called 'History of Headaches'. Early work included Manny Elias on drums and Ian Stanley on keyboards and production duties.
On Songs from the Big Chair and The Seeds Of Love, Curt played a lesser role as a vocalist, and was predominantly a bass player. Although he did sing the lead for one of their biggest hits, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", and was followed by a number of successful tours. They were even offered to perform at Live Aid, but declined due to the stress of promoting their own material constantly without a break.
His last single as a lead vocalist with the group was "Advice For The Young At Heart" in 1990. After leaving Tears for Fears in 1991 following creative differences, Curt recorded his first solo album Soul On Board, but the album was not very successful in his homeland of the UK, and was not released at all in the U.S.
After moving to New York, he formed a new band called Mayfield. The band released a self-titled album, which met with little success. Smith later released the album Aeroplane. In the U.S., this was a six song EP, but in Canada and elsewhere, it was essentially the earlier Mayfield album combined with additional songs from the U.S. EP.
In April 2007, French record label XIII Bis Records released Halfway Pleased, a solo album Smith had been working on since 2002. It had been put on the shelf for a few years while he and Orzabal worked on the recording, release and promotion of the Tears for Fears reunion album, Everybody Loves A Happy Ending. Halfway Pleased was mixed by Tim Palmer, and features the eleven tracks Smith had been working on with songwriting partner Charlton Pettus prior to the Tears for Fears reunion.
These included the original version of "Who You Are" (which wound up being recorded by Tears for Fears on Everybody Loves a Happy Ending); a live version of "Snow Hill" from the 2005 Tears for Fears UK tour; the single version of "Seven Of Sundays" (re-recorded as a duet with French singer So); and a cover of "On Ira Tous au Paradis" (which is also available on A Tribute to Polnareff). A music video was made for "Seven of Sundays".
Smith also runs KOOK Media, a label and management company.
In his early years in Bath, he attended the Beechen Cliff School.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official Website
- Curt Smith's MySpace
- Curt Smith's Facebook
- Curt Smith on Virb
- Rolling Stone - Curt Smith
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (January 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
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