Record Mirror (19.01.1985): Curt recalls that the first time he met his partner he thought he was over on a French exchange trip "because he looked foreign". "And the fact I said 'bonjour'," adds Roland deadpanly. "We kind of got on right away though, because we're, like, the same height."
'Scenes from the Big Chair' (1985), dir. Nigel Dick:
Breakfast with the Arts (2004):
bonus.
interview 1985: <...> “but I had a friend who was a bass player in this kid’s group. One day he told me a friend of his had been fighting with an Indian guy. I got confused, I thought the friend was the Indian guy. I wanted to meet him. It turned out to be Curt, who thought I was French, for some reason. But I really liked him.”
Rockonteurs podcast, se1ep22 (31.01.2021): <...> we walked up a couple of flights, we knocked on the door, and I saw Curt for the first time in my life. And he wasn't allowed out because he'd been in a fight and he'd knocked someone down the stairs. So it was like, that was my initial meeting. I thought, well, this is obviously a guy I need to steer clear of. I was like, you know, I was very conscientious, good at school, A-student. And here was, you know, a wuffian [ruffian]! So, you know, that's how we met.
Rockonteurs podcast, se2ep1, (09.01.2022): — Guy, do you remember how Roland said when he first met Curt, he was scared of him? — Yes! CS: As you should be! — Yeah, because I'm wondering what your, how your sort of family background was like, because the house he grew up in sounded extraordinary. — Yeah, and he said that you came to the door, he was introduced to you by a friend, and you came to the door, you'd been grounded for beating someone up, and he was scared of you. CS: Yeah, for throwing someone down a flight of stairs, actually. — We laugh now. CS: I wasn't a very nice child. But having said that... — Did he have it coming? CS: He did. He definitely did. But I think it was... I mean, I grew up on a council estate, you know, albeit in Bath, so hardly, you know, the worst council estate in England. But you end up getting in fights to stop people picking on you. You know, that was a part of growing up on a council estate, I think. So yeah, my thoughts of Roland, I don't really know. I mean, he seemed, after we met that one time and then I found out about his family background and everything else, it seemed, you know, very kind of, yeah, the antithesis of my family, I guess. — So what was yours? CS: Well, mine was completely 100% working class. You know, my father was a waiter. My mother worked in boots. — That was a lyric right there. It sounded like a Chris Diffen. CS: And, and, you know, his mother was, um, you know, I mean, they lived on a council estate as well when he was growing up. — But they were theatricals. CS: She was theatrical. He, I mean, he was a weird French philosopher, you know, I mean, he was batshit crazy, but, uh, but in a, in a, to me in a fascinating way. You know, it was all very different to my upbringing. I mean, his parents were kind of nuts, as mine were, but in a very different way. You know, his mother was highly intelligent and his father was this kind of wacky French philosopher. — There was a kindred spirit there, was there? Somehow that you saw in each other? CS: Yeah.
Song Exploader podcast, Ep. 292: Tears for Fears "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (07.05.2025): CS: Well, we first met at the door of my apartment flat in Bath. RO: Snow Hill, yeah. CS: In Snow Hill, which is a council estate. So I guess in America, you call them the projects. And I was grounded for getting in a fight. Int.: How old were you? CS: 14, maybe? RO: 14. CS: 14, I think. Roland came with a mutual friend. He was at a different school than I was in Bath. RO: When I met Curt, I thought, well, as he said, he was grounded. And I thought, who the hell is this hooligan? You know, so I was a little bit wary of him, while at the same time kind of fascinated. Same as now, really.
