16/4/81: The Cure - 'Primary' on Top of the Pops

On Thursday 16 April 1981 gothic rock group The Cure appeared on Top of the Pops on BBc One to perform their new single 'Primary'. Although the song had been released on 20 March it had just reached no. 46 in the charts that week and so managed a slot on the show.

Primary was taken from their new album Faith which had just been released. This was not the first time The Cure had appeared on Top of the Pops. Their debut had been almost one year ago exactly on 26/4/80 performing their previous single A Forest. Neither singles made it to the Top 30.
After this commercially slow start to their career the band would go on to have a number of hits in the 1980s with songs like The Love Cats, Close to Me, Lullaby and Lovesong, continuing into the 90's and up to the present day. Their North American and European Tour in 2016 is set to showcase 37 years of their music in a brand new stage production.

Advertisement for The Cure's Faith album, from Smash Hits, 16 April 1981

video: BBC/lee nichols

pic: Like Punk Never Happened - A Smash Hits archive