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 band formed in 1978 in Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith has remained the only constant member. The band's ...

and the Associates.

Biography

Dempsey was born in Salisbury,

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked 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 k ...

(now known as

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

). His family later settled in

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and 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 population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

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

Robert Smith Robert Smith or Bob Smith, or similar, may refer to: Business * Robert MacKay Smith (1802–1888), Scottish businessman, meteorologist and philanthropist who founded Glasgow University's Mackay Smith Prizes * Robert Barr Smith (1824–1915), ...

and

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 ...

. 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" and then their debut album ''

Three Imaginary Boys ''Three Imaginary Boys'' is the debut studio album by English rock band The Cure, released on 11 May 1979 by Fiction Records. It was later released in the United States, Canada, and Australia with a different track listing as a compilation album ...

'' 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 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 In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

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

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, ...

. 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 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 tha ...

'' and ''

Sulk ''Sulk'' is the second studio album by 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 and ...

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

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy Mackay (saxophone and ...

. 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 Presence may refer to: Technology * Presence (sound recording), also known as room tone * Presence (amplification), used in four band equalisation * Presence (telepresence), the scientific and technological field * Immersion (virtual reality ...

, 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 Bear'' series, the characters are stuffed puppets that are animated with the sto ...

'' 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, as well as for his collaborations with Pink Floyd and Roger Waters. Career Ron Geesin ...

to perform the

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

album ''

Atom Heart Mother ''Atom Heart Mother'' is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It was released by Harvest on 2 October 1970 in the UK, and by Capitol on 10 October 1970 in the US. It was recorded at EMI Studios (now Abbey R ...

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

Levinhurst Levinhurst is an independent music band formed by British musician Lol Tolhurst, a founding member of The Cure, and his wife Cindy Levinson. Levinson provides vocals while Tolhurst writes the majority of the tracks, musically and lyrically, and ...

, 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), sometimes 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 an ...

as a member of the Cure.

Discography

The Cure * ''

'' (1979) * '' Boys Don't Cry'' (1980) * '' Standing on a Beach'' (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 ''No Sense of Sin'' is the debut studio album of English band the Lotus Eaters. It was released in 1984 by record label Arista. It contains their popular single, "The First Picture of You", released the previous year. Release ''No Sense of ...

'' (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