The Lovecats
Encyclopedia
"The Love Cats" is a 1983 single by The Cure
. It was the band's first Top 10 hit in the UK, peaking at number seven, and also hit number six in Australia. It later appeared on the compilation album
Japanese Whispers
.
It should be observed the song was originally entitled "The Love Cats" with "Love" and "Cats" being two distinct words. The single cover reflects it (with a space between the words; note all other letters overlap); the back cover and twelve-inch label are even clearer about the artist's intention. However by the time the song made it onto the Japanese Whispers
collection confusion arose, appearing as two words in all packaging but ambiguously on the cover. The 1986 compilations Standing on a Beach/Staring at the Sea
show more substantive confusion on the matter, sometimes labeling it one word, sometimes two—and in the case of the U.S. CD, doing both: The tray card and CD label use two words, the booklet one. By the time of the 2001 Greatest Hits
collection the matter is resolved with all packaging consistently referring to the song as "The Lovecats."
. According to a number of his fans, Smith was inspired to write "The Love Cats" after reading White's novel, The Vivisector
(1970), although this claim is difficult to verify.
In the novel, the protagonist, Hurtle, is appalled when his lover's husband drowns a sack of stray cats. White draws a parallel between the way in which the cats are discarded, and the treatment of certain characters in the book; by extension, the cats symbolize the most innocent and vulnerable members of society, and the casual cruelty with which they sometimes meet their fate.
UK 12" / US 12"
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
. It was the band's first Top 10 hit in the UK, peaking at number seven, and also hit number six in Australia. It later appeared on the compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
Japanese Whispers
Japanese Whispers
Japanese Whispers: The Cure Singles Nov 82:Nov 83 is a compilation album by British rock group The Cure. It was released in late 1983 by their record company, Fiction Records....
.
It should be observed the song was originally entitled "The Love Cats" with "Love" and "Cats" being two distinct words. The single cover reflects it (with a space between the words; note all other letters overlap); the back cover and twelve-inch label are even clearer about the artist's intention. However by the time the song made it onto the Japanese Whispers
Japanese Whispers
Japanese Whispers: The Cure Singles Nov 82:Nov 83 is a compilation album by British rock group The Cure. It was released in late 1983 by their record company, Fiction Records....
collection confusion arose, appearing as two words in all packaging but ambiguously on the cover. The 1986 compilations Standing on a Beach/Staring at the Sea
Standing on a Beach
Standing on a Beach is a singles compilation released by the British rock band The Cure in May, 1986, marking a decade since the band's founding in 1976...
show more substantive confusion on the matter, sometimes labeling it one word, sometimes two—and in the case of the U.S. CD, doing both: The tray card and CD label use two words, the booklet one. By the time of the 2001 Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (The Cure album)
Greatest Hits is a 2001 compilation album by The Cure. The band's relationship with longtime label Fiction Records came to a close, and The Cure were obliged to release one final album for the label. Robert Smith agreed to release a greatest hits album under the condition that he could choose the...
collection the matter is resolved with all packaging consistently referring to the song as "The Lovecats."
Inspiration
At the time the song was written, Robert Smith was very interested in the work of Australian author, Patrick WhitePatrick White
Patrick Victor Martindale White , an Australian author, is widely regarded as an important English-language novelist of the 20th century. From 1935 until his death, he published 12 novels, two short-story collections and eight plays.White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, shifting narrative...
. According to a number of his fans, Smith was inspired to write "The Love Cats" after reading White's novel, The Vivisector
The Vivisector
The Vivisector is the eighth published novel by Patrick White, winner of the 1973 Nobel Prize for Literature. First published in 1970, it details the lifelong creative journey of fictional artist/painter Hurtle Duffield...
(1970), although this claim is difficult to verify.
In the novel, the protagonist, Hurtle, is appalled when his lover's husband drowns a sack of stray cats. White draws a parallel between the way in which the cats are discarded, and the treatment of certain characters in the book; by extension, the cats symbolize the most innocent and vulnerable members of society, and the casual cruelty with which they sometimes meet their fate.
Track listing
UK 7"- "The Love Cats" (3:33)
- "Speak My Language" (2:39)
UK 12" / US 12"
- "The Love Cats" (Extended Version) (4:37)
- "Speak My Language" (2:39)
- "Mr. Pink Eyes" (2:45)
Personnel
- Robert SmithRobert Smith (musician)Robert James Smith is an English musician. He is the lead singer, guitar player and principal songwriter of the rock band The Cure, and its only constant member since its founding in 1976...
- Voice, Guitar, Keyboards - Lol Tolhurst - Vibes
- Phil ThornalleyPhil ThornalleyPhil Thornalley is a songwriter-producer who has worked in the music industry since 1978. He is perhaps best known for co-writing the song "Torn" which Natalie Imbruglia later covered to great success for her 1997 debut album, Left of the Middle...
- Bass - Andy Anderson - Drums
Covers
- Indie musicians Tanya DonellyTanya DonellyTanya Donelly is an American Grammy-nominated singer songwriter and guitarist based in New England who co-founded Throwing Muses with her stepsister Kristin Hersh. She then went on to work in The Breeders and Belly in the 1990s...
and Dylan In The Movies teamed up to record a cover of "The Lovecats" for the 2008 American Laundromat RecordsAmerican Laundromat RecordsAmerican Laundromat Records is an indie label based in Mystic, CT.The label has produced several tribute albums, including Dig For Fire - a tribute to PIXIES, Cinnamon Girl - Women Artists Cover Neil Young, and High School Reunion - A Tribute to Those Great 80's Films...
tribute album Just Like Heaven - a tribute to The Cure. - Luke DoucetLuke DoucetLuke Doucet is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He writes and performs both as a solo artist and as a member of the indie rock band Veal....
covered the song on his album Blood's Too RichBlood's Too RichBlood's Too Rich by "Luke Doucet & the White Falcon" is Luke Doucet's fourth album. The album was released in Canada on January 8, 2008 by Six Shooter Records...
. - OK GoOK GoOK Go is a rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois, USA, now residing in Los Angeles, California, USA. The band is composed of Damian Kulash , Tim Nordwind , Dan Konopka and Andy Ross , who joined them in 2005, replacing Andy Duncan...
released a cover version of it on the Do What You Want (EP)Do What You Want (EP)Do What You Want is the third EP released by OK Go to promote their second album Oh No. It includes two songs that would later be released on the album and a third song, a cover of The Cure's "The Lovecats" which would also be later released as a b-side to the "A Million Ways" and the "Here It...
. - The FutureheadsThe FutureheadsThe Futureheads are an English post-punk band from Sunderland. consisting of Ross Millard , Barry Hyde and David "Jaff" Craig...
recorded a cover version for an NMENMEThe New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
The CureThe CureThe Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
cover cd. - TrickyTrickyTricky is an English musician and actor. As a producer and a musician, he is noted for a dark, rich and layered sound and a whispering sprechgesang lyrical style. Culturally, Tricky encourages an intertwining of societies, particularly in his musical fusion of rock and hip hop, high art and pop...
covers the song on the album Vulnerable. - Jamie CullumJamie CullumJamie Cullum is an English pop and jazz-pop singer-songwriter. Though he is primarily a vocalist/pianist he also accompanies himself on other instruments including guitar and drums. Since April 2010, he has been presenting a weekly jazz show on BBC Radio 2, broadcast on Tuesdays from 19:00.- Early...
and Katie MeluaKatie MeluaKetevan "Katie" Melua is a British-Georgian singer, songwriter and musician. She moved to Northern Ireland at the age of eight and then to England at fourteen. Melua is signed to the small Dramatico record label, under the management of composer Mike Batt, and made her musical debut in 2003...
performed a cover version of it at the 2004 BRIT Awards2004 Brit AwardsThe 2004 BRIT Awards were the 24th edition of the biggest annual pop music awards in the United Kingdom. They are run by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 17 February 2004 at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London. The awards were marked by a set of victories by the rock band The...
. - Paul AnkaPaul AnkaPaul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...
covers the song on his 2005 album of covers, Rock SwingsRock SwingsRock Swings is an album by Paul Anka. Recorded in November 2004 and released on May 31, 2005 in Canada and June 7, 2005 in the United States, it contains swing jazz covers of popular rock and pop songs from the 1980s and 1990s....
. - Patchwork Grace covered the song on their debut album Milk Teeth in 2007 and released the track as a single in 2008.
- CursiveCursive (band)Cursive is an American indie rock band from Omaha, Nebraska, on Saddle Creek Records.-History:The band was formed in 1995 by Tim Kasher, Matt Maginn, Steve Pedersen , and drummer Clint Schnase. In 1997, they released Such Blinding Stars for Starving Eyes. After a couple years of touring, the band...
recently recorded a cover of the song, featured on the website www.daytrotter.com. - The Hot RatsThe Hot RatsThe Hotrats is a cover band formed by Gaz Coombes and Danny Goffey as a side-project from their main band Supergrass. The band is named after Frank Zappa's album Hot Rats. The duo recorded a set of covers with producer Nigel Godrich for an album entitled Turn Ons in the vein of David Bowie's Pin...
covered the song on their 2010 debut album Turn Ons. - CALLmeKAT covers it on her album Fall Down.
- Coverband Boy Division cover it on their album Pet Sounds along with other songs with animals in the title.
- Mario Bradley covers it on his album My Search.
- A portion of the song is sung by the character of The Moon in the BBC television show The Mighty BooshThe Mighty Boosh (TV series)The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy television show created by Julian Barratt, Noel Fielding and others . The Mighty Boosh is a comic fantasy containing humour and pop-culture references. Episodes often featured elaborate musical numbers in different genres, such as electro, heavy metal, funk, and...
. - Finalist Lucas Francis Claver sang a jazzJazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
version of the song on Series 2 of The X FactorX Factor (Denmark)X Factor is the Danish version of The X Factor, a show originating in the United Kingdom and is created by talent show judge and record and TV producer Simon Cowell.-Series summary: "Under 25 boys" or "Under 25s" category "Under 25 girls" category... - The SharpThe SharpThe Sharp was a 3-piece pop/rock band from Melbourne, Australia.The band formed in 1988 with Allan Catlin on double bass and lead vocals, Charlie Rooke on guitar and lead vocals, and Danny Simcic / Piet Collins on drums....
covered the song on their EP Yeah I Want YouYeah I Want YouYeah I Want You is the third single release of the This is the Sharp Album by Australian pop-rock band The Sharp. It was recorded at Platinum Studios in Melbourne, Australia.-Track listing:#"Yeah I Want You"#"Love Cats"...
.