Recommendations of the Editorial team
As part of their first best-of album “Staring at the Sea – The Singles” from 1986, The Cure also re-recorded their first mini-hit “Boys Don’t Cry” from 1979 – vocals, bass, guitar, drums, everything. Although the old studio version was included on the compilation, “Boys Don’t Cry ’86” was at least released on a maxi single.
Now The Cure are releasing the song digitally for the first time, i.e. as a CD single and on streaming and download platforms. In addition to the 86 mix, the single also contains the 12″ mix of the song, the 1979 mix of the B-side “Plastic Passion” at the time, but above all 86 recordings of two songs that Robert Smith and colleagues had in their repertoire very early on but were never regularly released: “Pillbox Tales” and “Do the Hansa”.
The postpunk song “Do The Hansa” is one of the most remarkable recordings in Cure history. Because Robert Smith sings a few words in German. He counts: “One, two, three, four”, and intones a deep German “YES”.
The story of “Do The Hansa”
The Cure were briefly signed to Hansa Records in 1978/79 after their original label Fiction (via Polydor) was not yet internationally established. Hansa took over distribution of the early Cure releases in several territories, including early singles and album rights. Hansa was never an artistic home for the band, but rather a transitional partner.
“Do the Hansa” has become a colloquial expression to describe Hansa’s aggressive exploitation of back catalogs and the label style of the early 80s – also in connection with The Cure.
Boys Don’t Cry (86 Mix)
- Boys Don’t Cry (86 Mix) – 2026 Remaster
- Plastic Passion (79 Mix) – 2026 Remaster
- Pillbox Tales (86 Mix) – 2026 Remaster
- Do The Hansa (86 Mix) – 2026 Remaster
- Boys Don’t Cry (86 12″ Mix) – 2026 Remaster