Friday, January 9, 2009

Happy 30th Anniversary Book

Other Voices - A Cure Fan Tribute

This project began in January of 2009 as a way to thank the Cure for 30 years' worth of music, magic and memories. Fans were asked to contribute artwork, thoughts or congratulations to the band, and to make a page to be put in the book. People from all around the globe responded to the call, and began to create beautiful, heartfelt and amazing works of art. The original book was given to the Cure at the Las Vegas, NV show on April 17th, 2009 at the Pearl Theater in the Palms Casino. (Update 12/11 - All currently active Cure members and Lol now have copies of the book!)

This digital copy of the book is meant as a way for the participants in the project to have a digital memory of their hard work and dedication, and for other fans to be able to celebrate this milestone as well. Many thanks go to all of the contributors for your endless support and kind generosity during the creation of Other Voices.

Congratulations to the Cure for their amazing accomplishment of 30 years of transcendent music!

I received 53 pages for the book! You can see almost all of them in the slideshow below . Some of the page authors have opted not to share their pages in the online copy. To those that have given me their thoughts, wishes, awesome artwork and genuine heartfelt communication, THANK YOU for participating in this project and making it a worthwhile endeavor! It's been so amazing to see what everyone has come up with for the book and it is such an honor to be able to give them to The Cure.



Here is a list of posts relating to the Other Voices - 30th Anniversary Book.
Original announcement and instructions (originally here, now archived in a separate post)
Change of date announcement
Countdown to Coachella
My page in the book
Other Voices - A Cure Fan Tribute (the project gets a name!)
Interviews on Studio Brussel (a celebration of Robert's 50th Birthday)
Other Voices - Signed, Sealed & Delivered!
Other Voices, now in print! 
Other Voices - Cure Members' Copies - Delivered!

51 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rev, i´m going ! i will try ...

TheFigurehead said...

Great idea, and its nice to have an opportunity to make something to show how much we appreciate all The Cure has done! I hope to send in a page to you!

Clockwise Cat said...

what's the point if we can't display nude pix of ourselves?

Ed S said...

Great idea, however on a seperate note can i ask what that picture on the right hand nav is? The one that says 'the cure' underneath a light bulb sort of thing - looks really cool. Couldn't click through to flickr page though to see in all it's glory.

PJW said...

Hello Heron. This is such a great idea. I'll start on a page ASAP!

PJW said...

Sorry, Heron, I've just left a comment but forgot to ask: is a canvas page ok?

Rev. Heron said...

Ed, that photo is the poster which was given out at the Troubadour show in LA last month. You can see a better pic of it here

PJW: As long as it's the same size and will fit in a standard sheet protector, it doesn't matter.

I look forward to seeing everyone's creative genius at work!

Lars Ole Løcke said...

Very nice idea. I thought of exactly the same nearly a year ago. In fact, I met Robert and the rest of the band at the aftershow after the Copenhagen (Amnesty International tickets) in february and presented the idea to him. Too bad I havn't had the time to go on with the project, so your initiative is really very welcome. I'll do my best to contribute to the book. And by the way: Can we meet in London for the O2 Arena Gig?

Lars Ole Løcke said...

Sorry, I forgot to ask: Does the contribution have to be in english? It would be interesting to see many languages represented, even if most people wouldn't understand 80 percent of the written text.

Rev. Heron said...

Hi Lars!

Thanks for your kind comments, and it's interesting you had the same thought!

Regarding the meetup yes I will be at the O2 gig, I don't know if we've set up an "official" meeting place or anything yet, but if you catch a glimpse of the pink hair, please come over and say hi!

The contribution can be whatever language you wish. If you want the guys to read it, you may want to include a small translation somewhere on the page though.

Anah said...

I am so going to contribute. Rev. you are the best!

Monila said...

I'm completely stoked. Thanks for organizing this. I will try and contribute. Have fun at the gig!

lovecat44 said...

how are you going to give it to the band? are you gonna meet them?
do you have contacts or what?

Of course I am going for this!!!

Hooligal said...

Hey, I've got a page ready to mail out and normally i'd be confident it'd get there in time, but you may have heard that england has been hit by a 'blizzard' and the whole country has shut down. The normally trusty postal service is I'm sure included in this as their trucks and vans are probably having a hard time on these unplowed roads.

Could I scan it and you print it out on your end? I know it wouldnt be as nice as the original, but it would still be handmade, just scanned thereafter O,o

Rev. Heron said...

Hi peeps, sorry it's taken me so long to answer your questions!

Thanks so much for wanting to participate, I look forward to seeing everyone's contributions!

Lovecats, I don't have any clue how I'll give it to them yet, we'll have to wait and see what happens!

Hooligal, or you could just keep it and give it to me when I get to London :D

PJW said...

LOL! Heron, re what you said to Hooligal: Why didn't I think of that! I just posted my thingy half way around the world and I'm going to the show! Never mind. Hope you like it!

Hooligal said...

that would be much easyer for me! as long as it would still be able to go into the book, im not sure how you are going to bind it

I'm def going to the meet up before the gig, hopefully you will be too? I cant come for the one CoF is doing the day before cause i live just outside london and the train is expensive!

TheFigurehead said...

Does Craig have any connections with people who know the band who will be there? I think I remember seeing pictures from the Troubador show of some CoF'er with Keith Uddin, and I think they talked to him about some inside info regaurding that show. Maybe Craig could help with his infinite knowledge of Cure happenings.

I'm working on my page right now, and when you say personalize it, do you mean like tell a little bit about ourselves in a blank area or something? That's what I was planning on doing, I am just wondering if that's what you meant, lol

xxthecurexx said...

how much postage be?

help! i'm in the UK!!!

Rev. Heron said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
PJW said...

Worth every penny, Heron!

Incidentally, xxthecurexx, it cost me just over a fiver to send it super duper recorded express etc. I probably could have sent it cheaper, but it's pretty fragile and I wanted it to get to Heron in one piece.

goinghometime said...

I will be doing this. I haven't gotten the time, but I will be. I'm freaking out because I'm really not so sure what to put on it...It is such an important thing to do...It HAS to be perfect :( Ahhh!

CUREPROJECT said...

its a very Wonderful and great and nice and tender IDEA....:!!! yeahh !!!

damiano

www.myspace.com/cureproject

fuchsia-kst said...

I'm going to try to mail out my drawing on Monday morning. I think if I use priority mail or UPS ground it will get to you before Thursday. THANK YOU for doing this!

goinghometime said...

If I send it out tomorrow morning or afternoon from Glendale, CA (Los Angeles area), will it get there in time? Do you think I'd need priority mail or anything?

Rev. Heron said...

Hi peeps, the project has been rescheduled to give everyone more time for their pages, please see the announcement for more details, thanks!

goinghometime said...

Will the page just be bound into a book? A ring binder or what? Can I attach a picture..kind of like stapled on so they can just lift it up when they're reading it? Hard to explain this LOL well, basically...i can't do it if its laminated....because it'll just be a staple on (i'm going to put pictures I've taken with the band, but i have no room)

Rev. Heron said...

The pages will be attached to a larger page which is then bound into the book proper. The book is post-bound, it is not a ring binder. They will not be laminated or anything, and if you look at the pages that have already been submitted you can see one or two that have a bit larger attachments. I'll try to put some pictures up of the book itself after I get back from London.

goinghometime said...

Alright. But the members would have to flip the picture up (it will be stapled) in order to read everything. So does that mean itll only be in contact sheet paper or something and that the members can take OUT the page?

Anonymous said...

I've just sent mine off, if that's ok :)

goinghometime said...

Will you be attending the Vegas show? I will be able to give you my page there.

goinghometime said...

Many fans are going to the Vegas show, so let us know asap! Or else I'd mail it this week!

Rev. Heron said...

Hi GHT - Yes I will be at the Vegas show! Please feel free to bring your page with you and I'll put it in there. If you get it done in time you might want to post it to me though, as that will allow me to be able to put it in with some care that may not be as possible in Las Vegas.

Anonymous said...

Have you received mine yet? The post office says my page arrived a few days ago, and I just want to make sure it has arrived in one piece :S

Rev. Heron said...

Hi devildrumagirl, can you give me a hint as to which page is yours? several have come in over the past week or so...

Anonymous said...

It wasn't really a big picture, but my message surrounded by a border of little images based on songs - sort of like a weird little guessing game.

goinghometime said...

Nice! Okay. I'll see what I can do. See you in Vegas! YAY!

Rev. Heron said...

devildrumagirl - Yes, I got your page and it has been scanned and added to the online book.

goinghometime - excellent, I look forward to seeing your contribution!

Anonymous said...

Thank you! And thank you for the idea of such an amazing project - I'm so glad I was able to contribute.

Anonymous said...

Rev. Heron,
It looks like you are putting the Cure pages into a scrapbook. Is that correct? The reason I ask is because I made a scrapbook page for The Cure after I missed the deadline. It's a 12 x 12 page. Can I send that or does it need to be in the format you requested?
Thank you,

Nicole

Rev. Heron said...

Hi Nicole,

I'm sorry - the album size is 11 x 14 and wouldn't accommodate a 12x12 page. The actual page that the artwork is mounted on is more like 10 x 12, so there's enough room to give a letter or A4 size page a black border around it. I hope you can do a page for the book, you still have a few weeks to go, so let me know if you are going to do one for the book's format. I'll be posting more pics of the album as it takes shape so you can see the other pages as they will be displayed in the book. Most of the contributions are portrait orientation but a few are landscape, so whichever one you choose will be fine.

Anonymous said...

Hi Rev. Heron,
Thank you for replying to my question. I am still going to do a Cure page for your album, which is beautiful by the way. I love the gold leaf that you are putting on the cover. I will do the page as you requested in your announcement. I just wanted to check before I started, because it looked like a 12 x 12 scrapbook in the photo.

Thanks again,

Nicole

Anonymous said...

I just mailed my pages today via priority mail. I'm sorry but I couldn't fit everything on one pages, so I made a two-page layout. I hope that's okay. Thanks for organizing this, Rev. Heron.

Rev. Heron said...

Hi Nicole,

Thanks for your contribution to the project! I got your pages today, and I feel like I need to clarify. The other page with "2 pages" is actually a double-sided page, which means that when it is bound into the book, one side is not showing. This was one of the early pages and is what made me clarify on the blog that it should be one single sided page that fits either 8.5 x 11 or A4 size paper.

I think your pages are lovely, and beautifully crafted, but it is not quite fair to the others who have sent in only a single sided page to publish two from you. I can do one of two things, the first which is to stick your two pages together and make it a double-sided page in the book, or I can put the one of your choosing in the book and send the other back to you.

I don't mean to be difficult, it's actually a more of a physical limitation of the book itself as there are only a certain number of pages that can actually be bound into the album. If we take up two of the pages with your submission, it could mean that there would not be room for someone else's page.

Thanks again for all the love and care you put into your beautiful pages, and please let me know your thoughts on this and we will go from there!

Anonymous said...

Dear Rev. Heron,
I am very sorry for the misunderstanding. I sent you two e-mails earlier this week to see if I could do two pages. I didn't get a response, and I don't use my google blog very often. I tried to post the same question earlier this week, but I was having trouble posting it. So, I just sent the pages, because I had to run errands and wanted to get this off my "To Do" list. I wasn't trying to be unfair to anyone, my apologies. Could you please put the second page with the letter on it, if it fits (hopefully), behind the first page with my congratulations? Is there any way to indicate that there is another page behind it? Please let me know if the two pages don't fit, and I will figure out what to do.

Just out of curiosity, can you insert more plastic pages with an extender into the album? The reason I ask is because I scrapbook, and when I want to extend an album, I just buy refill pages, which come with an extender. I would be happy to purchase them and send them to you so other people, including the other person with two pages, could do a two-page layout. If you gave me the amount and type you need or if you prefer that I send you a cashier's check, then I would be happy to help. If none of these options work, please let me know.

Thank you,

Nicole

Rev. Heron said...

Hi Nicole,

Thanks for understanding, and I am sorry that I was so busy this week that I didn't have time to answer your query before you sent your pages. I don't have access to gmail from work other than on my phone so it can be hard to keep in contact sometimes.

Yes, I can attach the page so that it is removable and also indicate that there is another side, which is what I did with the other 2-sided page.

The album that I used is the post kind and I used heavy black paper inserts with a fabric hinge instead of plastic pages. You can see them in more detail on my flickr account if you start with the album cover photo. It was an artistic decision, more than anything, and each contributor's page is mounted on it's own page in the book without anything on the back. So essentially, I have a 50 page book and am only using one side of each page so there is only room for 50 pages total.

I did buy enough refills for 50 pages, but the problem is that the book with 50 pages in it is nearly 3" thick and becomes too unstable to add more after that size, since there are only 2 posts holding it all together. I'm concerned that adding more pages than that will make the book too heavy and unwieldy, and that the screws will strip off or break if I try to add more. So I appreciate your kind offer, but I think that the solution we have come up with is the right one. I will continue to update the blog and my flickr account with more information about the pages and the book as we get closer to the date.

Thanks again for your pages and for contributing to the project.

Regards,

Rev. Heron

Anonymous said...

Dear Rev. Heron,
Thank you for the quick reply. I just went and looked at the latest photos of the anniversary book, and now I see how you are putting it together. It looks beautiful the way you are mounting it. So, I agree with you that the best plan would be to stick my pages together. Thanks again for putting this all together.

All the best,

Nicole

Anonymous said...

The book looks wonderful!

La Mermaid said...

hello i'm from portugal and i want to send the letter for the 30 year old book. So i should just write the adress like this:
Rev. Heron
3464 W 3800 South
Salt Lake City, UT
84119

or add something more? USA or something? i really want to do this, please could u answer to my email? i would be very gratefull
nadia.domingos@gmail.com

VanillaSmile said...

Just heard your interview regarding the Anniversary Book...GREAT JOB! You are so right about it being truly an epic experience! I was there and feel the same about FTEOTDGS! I saw a few familiar faces & had hoped to meet you and other COF members. Actually at one point the cameras showed the front row and I thought I saw a few COFers there ;-) Anyway, I'm back now and still coming down from a wonderful trip to Coachella. I can't think of a better way to celebrate the past 30years & Robert's birthday. Thank you for all your hard work & dedication to THE CURE. xoxo Jen

PJW said...

Heron! Wow! It's beautiful!
I know I already thanked you on COF, but it needs saying again having seen the finished result, so... Thank you!