XFM was a London radio station created in 1992 by Chris Parry (Fiction Records founder, Cure manager) and Sammy Jacob (NME Radio + CDNX aka “Camden Xperience Radio”). It was born out of the infamous 97 Charlotte Street, where Fiction called home, and many Cure fans have made the pilgrimage to, myself included. By 1998 it sadly sold to some mega radio corp, but for a few years, there was literally magic in the air in London.
In June of ‘93 they hosted a 1-day festival at Finsbury Park, “Great Xpectations”, headlined by The Cure. Also on the bill: Belly, Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine, Catherine Wheel, Damon Albarn & Graham Coxon, Kingmaker, Senseless Things, Sugar, The Family Cat, The Frank and Walters.
I was not yet living in London, but I was there visiting for the summer. And my mom happened to be there for her job. Perry Bamonte from The Cure put me and “mum” on the guest list, and so I am lucky enough to say that I got to attend this one. I was 16 years old. As usual, my memory mostly fails me, and in my excitement about getting to be backstage at a festival (this was my first ever festival experience) I was unaware of most things. I was a Blur fan at this point, but I don’t think I even bothered to watch Damon and Graham perform (though I think they only did one song maybe)! I DO remember seeing Ali from Cranes backstage, so you can see where my priorities laid.
The Cure’s full set at Great Xpectations 1993: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLc_zJnGObk&feature=emb_title https://youtu.be/lyyvoCm1kfE
The Cure - Just Like Heaven, RS Interview, Fascination Street, Fire in Cairo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXsyLopLURA
Belly’s full set at Great Xpectations 1993: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXxZh6N30P8
Catherine Wheel - Black Metallic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=120xTEafd4U
Catherine Wheel - Chrome (audio only) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cihCr1b_U44
Catherine Wheel - Crank https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDZqcvXsgQ8
[Side notes: Robert Smith was one of the silent shareholders of the station. Before it got sold off, Ricky Gervais was hired on as the “Head of Speech”, and then Ricky hired Stephen Merchant to assist him. I’m not sure if Andy Vella did their branding or any other XFM related artwork, but they do thank him (and the Fiction staff) in the tour book.]
I also had no idea that Guy Chadwick of The House Of Love sang with Belly on “Shine On” (thanks, google!).
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKZzrONFNPj/?igshid=1edlalvuzz5an
