The Cure “Japanese Whispers” released 35 years ago today, December 6th, 1983. Fiction Records. Japanese Whispers: The Cure Singles Nov 82: Nov 83 is an early best-of comp of Cure hit non-album singles and b-sides. The singles included are, of course, great: “Let’s Go to Bed” (from late ‘82, it went to #44 in the UK),  “The Walk” (released mid-’83, it was The Cure’s first Top 20 hit in the UK, making it to #12, it’s also my favorite single on Japanese Whispers), and “The Lovecats” (from October ‘83, their first Top 10 which went to #7 in the UK). But really, my favorite tracks are not the singles, but the less well-know songs, most especially the mysteriously lushly gothic tracks like “The Dream” (the b-side to “The Walk”), “Just One Kiss” (the b-side to “Let’s Go to Bed”) and “Lament” (on the 12″ version of “The Walk”) as well as the brush-drum jazzy swing number “Speak My Language” (aptly, the b-side to the similar styled “The Lovecats”).

Allmusic writes about Japanese Whispers, “After the fallout both psychologically and physically of Pornography, it looked unlikely that anyone would hear from the Cure ever again. Surprisingly, from 1982-1983 Robert Smith and (now keyboardist) Lol Tolhurst put out some of the catchiest singles of their career. “Let’s Go to Bed,” “The Walk,” and “The Lovecats” were not only singles that got the Cure radio play and made them a household name, but more importantly marked the next phase in the music of the Cure, which would reach its peak with albums like Head on the Door and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. Dropping the stripped-down darkness of Faith and Pornography, the songs on Japanese Whispers (the aforementioned singles from that era, including all the B-sides) are light, dancy, and at times jazzy. Adding new keyboard sounds, old-timey percussion, standup bass, and some damn silly lyrics rejuvenated Robert Smith and sent him on a course that would cement his role as one of the most interesting musicians to emerge from the ‘80s underground. Japanese Whispers is one of those rare releases when a singles collection works just as well as a standard-issue album.”