"Primary" is a song by English rock band

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...

, released as the sole single from their third studio album, ''

Faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people often ...

'', in 1981.

Content

The song is unusual in that both Simon Gallup and Robert Smith play bass, with the effects pedals on Smith's giving the leads a unique sound. There are no guitars (other than bass) or keyboards played in the song.

Release

"Primary" was released as a single on 20 March 1981. It reached number 43 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. "Primary" was the first song by The Cure to be remixed as a separate extended mix for release on

12" single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

(and not co-released on other formats, in the way the 12" version of "

A Forest "A Forest" is a song by the English rock band The Cure. Co-produced by Mike Hedges and the band's Robert Smith, it was released as a single from the band's second album ''Seventeen Seconds'' on 28 March 1980. It was their debut entry on the ...

" was also the album version appearing on ''

Seventeen Seconds ''Seventeen Seconds'' is the second studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on 18 April 1980 by Fiction Records. The album marked the first time frontman Robert Smith co-produced with Mike Hedges. After the departure of original ba ...

'', for example). In fact, the original 12" extended mix is, to this day, still only available on the original 12" single, which has never been reproduced on any other album, making it quite a rare item. The main difference between the 7" mix (also the album mix) and the 12" mix is that the extended mix lengthens the instrumental introductions to the song's verses.

Track listing

7" # "Primary" # "Descent" 12" # "Primary (Extended)" # "Descent"

Musicians

* Robert Smith – vocals, bass *

Simon Gallup Simon Jonathon Gallup (born 1 June 1960) is an English musician and bassist with the alternative rock band The Cure. He is the second longest-serving member of the band after lead vocalist/guitarist Robert Smith. Early years Born in Duxhurst ...

– bass *

Lol Tolhurst Laurence Andrew "Lol" Tolhurst (born 3 February 1959) is a founding member and the former drummer and keyboardist of English band The Cure - he left the Cure in 1989 and was later involved in the band Presence and his current project, Levinhurs ...

– drums

References

External links

* {{Authority control The Cure songs 1981 singles Songs written by Robert Smith (musician) Songs written by Lol Tolhurst Song recordings produced by Mike Hedges 1981 songs Fiction Records singles Songs written by Simon Gallup