The Cure FC History
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Club America, aka: thecurefanclub.com - an unofficial fanclub dedicated to the Cure! Cure news & Cure fan activities worldwide!
"It started with a
dedication..." in 1997 when at fifteen years old Heather Pray formed Club
America - Cure Fan Club. After persuading her father to buy four tickets
for The Cure's gig at the present day Compaq Centre in Houston, Texas, she along
with her unassuming friends from church youth group traveled the short distance
and sat in the first row of the upper promenade. Visions of carousels and
swirls of bright lights, an occasional gaze aided by binoculars with wails of
both instrumental and humanlike tones led to the "lost in admiration" feeling
Heather would succumb to for a few years in her late adolescence.
Her
desire to find Cure fans in what she felt at the time, a cowtown of a city
lacking any diversity whatsoever, prompted her to create a website to meet other
Houston Cure fans. Not one to feel any sort of confinement in a situation
nor allow someone else's lack of confidence to stand in her way, she marched
forward to make it national (and with time, international).
Her first
step included an e-mail to the one mysterious individual behind
thecure@thecure.com e-mail address. A brief history provided by a few
correspondences gave Heather the information she needed to create the paths in
which she would follow to bring the fan club to a successful position.
The population in June 1997 reached twenty-five kind individuals and
Heather assigned the daunting task as to what this organization would forever
use as a title. And with your brilliant intelligence, Club America ranked
high in popularity leaving names such as Six Different Ways and The Upstairs
Room in its dust.
As time moved on and key contacts took formation,
Heather allowed Club America to progress in size and departments. Her
research of fan clubs in various genres of music (including fan clubs of Tori
Amos, Shania Twain, Suede and others), she formed a subgroup of dedicated fans
referred to as Regional Leaders. Although the 1996 release of Wild Mood
Swings did not cause The Cure's popularity to peak like previous albums, there
existed and continues to this day, a dedicated fanbase whom at times amaze
others at their usual selfless dedication to indtroduce to the unknowing what
drives their excitement and admiration for a rather private band.
With a
few guidelines, Heather allowed each Regional Leader to take it upon themselves
to promote The Cure in their area of residence. This department lasted for
a while and led to events such as viewings of Mike Leigh's film 'Career Girls',
Cure-themed nights with give-a-ways at local nightclubs, tea parties and the
successful listening parties all around the world for the 2000 release of
'Bloodflowers', which made an impressive mark in sales with 70,000+ units sold
in its first week of release in the USA alone.
Club America continued
to grow (eventually inflating to over 2500 subscribers) and with the help of
others allowed many more opportunities for items to be given away and/or made
available to Cure fans. The selfless and dedicated volunteering of Wili
Engel is one such example, who continues to co-operate Club America and has been
a vital mentor and saving grace in the past and current direction of the fan
club. Many others will remain anonymous but Heather acknowledges that
without their help and guidance, her occasional disappointment in her
inabilities would lead to the destruction of this small, non-profit
empire.
If anything has kept Club America running (which obviously
surpasses any sort of technological equipment needed to bring this site
on-line...) it is the many encountered faces Heather tried to meet whilst
journeying to places around the world. Even though lack of any sort of
organization-related revenue exists, the small price to pay to see a smile and
sign of appreciation on another's face makes the personal donation of time and
money worth the smiles and words of thanks and is what keeps Club America around
even to this day. Consistency in any matter of life plays a major role in
Heather's life and she refuses to allow any hindrance to block her desires...for
too long anyways.
Without having to try to entice you to read much
further, Heather extends her gratitude to all, including: the fans, her
parents (who thought her former bedroom was too frightening to enter at night
because of the sea blue eyes staring back at them); the 3 unsuspecting friends
who were not as intrigued by the gig but endured days, months...okay two years
of endless banter about The Cure, The Cure and their management for their kind
hospitality and invited challenges, WEA/Elektra, Fiction UK, Polydor and last,
but definitely not least, her partner in past and future development of Club
America, Wili Engel - aka: AnnaMosity.
Where things will go are as
questionable and perplexing (but not necessarily as worthy) as The Cure's
existence as a band year by year. Heather occupies a lesser role in the
website, but focuses more on the business end whilst the layout, design and
content of the site rests in the hands of Wili.
If anything, this has
been a great learning experience. Heather's experiences with The Cure and
other artists, whether well-known or not, present her with the fun, interesting
and at times ugly side of the music industry. Although at times, she feels
the need to disassociate herself completely, she overcomes whatever obstacle and
hopes to pursue a doctorate of jurisprudence in entertainment law upon
completion of her undergraduate studies.
--by crimsa
hallow
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