Michael Stephen Dempsey (born 29 November 1958) is an English musician, best known as the bassist for

the Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

and the Associates.

Biography

Dempsey was born in Salisbury,

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

(now known as

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

). His family later settled in

Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a populat ...

, West Sussex, where he was a school friend of future bandmates Robert Smith and

Lol Tolhurst Laurence Andrew Tolhurst (born 3 February 1959) is an English musician, songwriter, producer, and author. He was a founding member of the Cure, for which he first played drums before switching to keyboards. He stayed a member of the Cure until ...

. Along with various classmates, the three first formed a band called the Obelisk in 1972, which eventually evolved into the Easy Cure and finally

, the original lineup of which consisted of Dempsey on bass, alongside Smith and Tolhurst. Upon the official formation of the Cure in 1978, Dempsey was the band's bassist starting with their first single "

Killing an Arab "Killing an Arab" is the debut single by English rock band the Cure. It was recorded at the same time as their first album ''Three Imaginary Boys'' (1979), but not included on the album. However, it was included on the band's first US album, '' Bo ...

" and then their debut album ''

Three Imaginary Boys ''Three Imaginary Boys'' is the debut studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on 8 May 1979 by Fiction Records, and reached number 44 on the UK Albums Chart.Roberts, David (ed.) (2006). '' British Hit Singles & Albums'', 19th edit ...

'' in 1979. Dempsey has the distinction of being the only member of the Cure other than Smith to perform lead vocals on a released track, doing so for their cover of the

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

song "

Foxy Lady "Foxy Lady" (or alternatively "Foxey Lady") is a song by The Jimi Hendrix Experience. It first appeared on their 1967 debut album '' Are You Experienced'' and was later issued as their third single in the U.S. with the alternate spelling. It is ...

" on the 1979 album. During this period he contributed to the brief Cure side project

Cult Hero Cult Hero may refer to: *a pseudonym used by an extended lineup of The Cure to release the 1979 single "I'm a Cult Hero" * ''Cult Hero'' (film), a 2022 Canadian thriller film * Cult Hero Records, an independent record label owned and operated by th ...

. During sessions for the band's second album ''

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 ...

'', Dempsey criticized the shift in Smith's songwriting toward gloomy

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...

. He left the Cure in November 1979 and was replaced by

Simon Gallup Simon Johnathon Gallup (born 1 June 1960) is an English musician who is best known as bassist for The Cure, which he first joined in 1979 and for which he has played through most of the band's history. Gallup is the second-longest-serving member ...

. He returned to the band briefly in 1986 to appear in a new video for the re-released 1979 song " Boys Don't Cry". During his later days with the Cure, Dempsey had been filling in for the Associates on bass, and officially joined that band soon after leaving the Cure. He was a member of the Associates until 1983, appearing on the albums ''

Fourth Drawer Down ''Fourth Drawer Down'' is a compilation album by the Scottish post-punk and new wave band the Associates, released in October 1981 by independent record label Situation Two. It compiles the A- and B-sides from the six singles the band released ...

'' and ''

Sulk ''Sulk'' is the second studio album by the Scottish post-punk and pop band the Associates. It was released on 14 May 1982 on their own Associates imprint of Beggars Banquet Records for the UK and throughout the rest of Europe on WEA Records ...

''. During this period he also served briefly as a session and touring bassist for

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry (lead vocals/keyboards/principal songwriter) and Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson (bass). By the time the band recorded their Roxy Music (album), first albu ...

. Following the death of Associates frontman

Billy Mackenzie William MacArthur MacKenzie (27 March 1957 – 22 January 1997) was a Scottish singer and songwriter, known for his distinctive high tenor voice. He was the co-founder and lead vocalist of post-punk and new wave band the Associates. He also h ...

in 1997, Dempsey now serves as the band's archivist. Dempsey next joined the new wave band the Lotus Eaters and was a member from 1983 to 1985. In the early 1990s, Dempsey made several guest appearances with band Presence, which featured his former Cure bandmate Lol Tolhurst. He later composed music for the animated TV series ''

PB Bear and Friends ''PB Bear and Friends'' is a series of children's books by Lee Davis that has also been made into a British children's television series. Much like the ''Paddington'' series, the characters are stuffed puppets that are animated with the stop-mot ...

'' and scored the short animated film ''Swan Song.'' In 2008 he toured with an orchestral group assembled by

Ron Geesin Ronald Frederick Geesin (born 17 December 1943) is a Scottish musician, composer and writer known for his unusual creations and novel applications of sound. He is also well known for his collaborations with Pink Floyd and Roger Waters. Career ...

to perform the

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

album ''

Atom Heart Mother ''Atom Heart Mother'' is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd. It was released by Harvest on 2 October 1970 in the United Kingdom, and on 10 October 1970 in the United States. It was recorded at EMI Studios (now Abbey Roa ...

''. During this period he was also briefly a member of

Levinhurst Levinhurst is an English electronic band formed by keyboardist/drummer Lol Tolhurst, a founding member of the Cure, and his wife Cindy Levinson on vocals. The band's name is a portmanteau of their surnames. To date, Levinhurst has released thre ...

, another project headed by Tolhurst. Dempsey now works in audio production and restoration for various companies, and founded his own firm MDM Media. In 2019, he was inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

as a member of the Cure.

Discography

The Cure * ''

'' (1979) * '' Boys Don't Cry'' (1980) * ''

Standing on a Beach ''Standing on a Beach'' (titled ''Staring at the Sea'' in CD format in some countries) is a greatest hits album by English rock band the Cure, released in the United States on 15 May 1986 by Elektra Records and in the United Kingdom on 19 May 1 ...

'' (1986) * ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

'' (2001) The Associates * ''

'' (1981) * ''

'' (1982) The Lotus Eaters * '' No Sense of Sin'' (1984) Levinhurst * ''Blue Star'' (2009)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dempsey, Michael 1958 births Living people The Associates (band) members The Cure members Levinhurst members British alternative rock musicians English new wave musicians English rock bass guitarists British male bass guitarists Musicians from Harare The Lotus Eaters (band) members