• 1 History
  • 1.1 January - April 1976
  • 1.2 Line up I
  • 1.3 April - December 1976
  • 1.4 Line up II
  • 1.5 Malice > Easy Cure
• 2 References

History

January - April 1976

Marc Ceccagno, Robert Smith, Michael Dempsey, and two other members (full names not documented by the group) began rehearsals together at St. Edward's Church Hall, Crawley on January 23rd, 1976. They hired the hall every Thursday, and began playing cover versions of songs by David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix and Alex Harvey. According to Robert Smith, the band had been formed "because Marc Ceccagno wanted to be a guitar hero". Ceccagno, Smith and Dempsey had previously performed together in a short-lived school band called The Obelisk for an end of year performance for their classmates in 1972 at Notre Dame Middle School.

Line up I

• Marc Ceccagno – lead guitar
• Robert Smith – guitar
• Michael Dempsey – bass guitar
• "Graham" (surname undocumented) – drums
• "Graham’s brother" (name undocumented) – vocals

April - December 1976

In late April of 1976, Graham and his brother left the group, and Laurence Tolhurst (who had also performed with The Obelisk) convinced Michael Dempsey to teach him to play the drums.

Marc Ceccagno was later replaced by Porl Thompson, who was dating Robert’s sister Janet Smith at the time; Porl and Janet worked at L & H Cloake – then the only record store in Crawley. Ceccagno went on to form another band called Amulet, which also featured keyboard player Kevin Cohen; another L & H Cloake employee.

Martin Creasy was also a former employee at L & H Cloake, and was recruited as the band’s next vocalist. By this time the group had begun writing original material under the name of Malice. This lineup played all three of Malice’s only documented live shows, during December of 1976.

Line up II

• Martin Creasy – vocals
• Porl Thompson – lead guitar
• Robert Smith – guitar
• Michael Dempsey – bass
• Laurence Tolhurst – drums

Malice’s only reported concert dates were:

• December 18th, 1976 – Worth Abbey, Crawley, Sussex England (Malice played under a pseudonym, and devised an acoustic set for the performance)
• December 20th, 1976 – St. Wilfrid’s Comprehensive Catholic School Hall, Oakwood, Old Horsham Road, Crawley, Sussex, England (Malice played supporting Marc Ceccagno’s new band Amulet)
• December (date unrecorded), 1976 – Upjohn Pharmaceutical, Crawley, Sussex, England

Malice > Easy Cure

In January of 1977 following Martin Creasy's departure the band was renamed Easy Cure after a song written by drummer Laurence Tolhurst.

References

1. Ten Imaginary Years, by L. Barbarian, Steve Sutherland and Robert Smith (1988) Zomba Books ISBN 0-946391-87-4
2. The Cure, A History in Spiral Scratch Magazine by Rachel Doran, April 1992
3. In Ten Imaginary Years
4. A History of The Cure in Melody Maker Magazine by Steve Sutherland, 1990
5. Barbarian, Sutherland, Smith (1988)
6. While Ten Imaginary Years makes reference to Porl Thompson dating Janet Smith, working at the local record store, and replacing Ceccagno on guitar - as well as the fleeting appearance of a vocalist named only as Martin; more detailed information on Martin Creasy's involvement in Malice, and regarding the musical activities of other staff at L & H Cloake has subsequently appeared in the press releases and internet biographies issued from members of the group T-30 Control. Martin Creasy of Malice and Kevin Cohen of Amulet have also submitted further biographical information regarding Malice and Easy Cure (1976 - 1978) to the archival fansite www.cure-concerts.de