Fascination Street

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Lore & Background

In the liner notes for the compilation Galore, Robert Smith describes “Fascination Street” as: ‘A ‘generic’ song about the (often cynical) delights of exploring a new city nightlife; based loosely on one particular ‘band adventure’ in New Orleans 1985 – Bourbon Street, the cliche perhaps.’ Smith has additionally commented, "I was getting ready to go there, and I thought, 'What the fuck do I think I'm going to find?' It's about the incredulity that I could still be fooled into looking for a perfect moment." The song was inspired by an alcoholic night in New Orleans.

In Their Own Story

The Cure's American record company refused to release "Lullaby" as the first single from Disintegration, so "Fascination Street" was issued as a single only in North America. It became the band's first number-one single on the US Billboard then-newly created Modern Rock Tracks chart, staying on top for seven weeks. An extended mix, notable for its lengthy 4:00 instrumental introduction, was produced by Robert Smith, Chris Parry and Mark Saunders and released as the lead track on the 12-inch vinyl and maxi-CD singles. A shorter radio edit of the remix was used for the 7-inch vinyl and cassette single releases. The extended mix was later included on the Cure's 1990 remix album Mixed Up, and the short remix has since been released worldwide on 1997's Galore (The Singles 1987-1997).

Reader's Guide

The song's personnel includes Simon Gallup on bass guitar, Robert Smith on lead guitar, keyboards, vocals, producer, and engineer, Porl Thompson on guitar, Boris Williams on drums, Roger O'Donnell on keyboards, and Lol Tolhurst on other instruments. Production credits for the remixes include Mark Saunders, Robert Smith, and Chris Parry as remixers, with David M. Allen also credited as producer and engineer. Track listings vary by format: the 7-inch and cassette single (Elektra / 7 69300; 9 469300) contains "Fascination Street" (remix) at 4:17 and "Babble" at 4:16. The 12-inch (Elektra / 96 67040 (CDN) and Elektra / 0-66704) includes "Fascination Street" (extended remix) at 8:48, "Babble" at 4:16, and "Out of Mind" at 3:51. The CD (Elektra / 66702-2) adds both the remix (4:17) and extended remix (8:48) along with "Babble" and "Out of Mind."

Did You Know?

• "Fascination Street" was issued as a single only in North America because the band's American record company refused to release "Lullaby" as the first single.
• The song became the Cure's first number-one single on the US Billboard then-newly created Modern Rock Tracks chart, staying on top for seven weeks.
• The extended mix has a lengthy 4:00 instrumental introduction, produced by Robert Smith, Chris Parry, and Mark Saunders.
• The song was inspired by an alcoholic night in New Orleans, specifically a 'band adventure' on Bourbon Street in 1985.
• Robert Smith described the song as 'generic' and about the cynical delights of exploring a new city nightlife.