Sleep is a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, and is more easily reversible than being in hibernation or a coma. Sleep is a heightened anabolic state, accentuating the growth and rejuvenation of the immune, nervous, skeletal and muscular systems. It is observed in all mammals, all birds, and many reptiles, amphibians, and fish.

The purposes and mechanisms of sleep are only partially clear and are the subject of intense research. Sleep is often thought to help conserve energy, but decreases metabolism only about 5–10%. Hibernating animals need to sleep despite the hypometabolism seen in hibernation, and must return from hypothermia to euthermia in order to sleep, making sleeping "energetically expensive."

Physiology

Sleep stages

In mammals and birds, sleep is divided into two broad types: rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM or non-REM) sleep. Each type has a distinct set of associated physiological, neurological, and psychological features. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) further divides NREM into three stages: N1, N2, and N3, the last of which is also called delta sleep or slow-wave sleep (SWS).

Sleep proceeds in cycles of REM and NREM, the order normally being N1 → N2 → N3 → N2 → REM. There is a greater amount of deep sleep (stage N3) earlier in the sleep cycle, while the proportion of REM sleep increases later in the sleep cycle and just before natural awakening.

The stages of sleep were first described in 1937 by Alfred Lee Loomis and his coworkers, who separated the different electroencephalography (EEG) features of sleep into five levels (A to E), which represented the spectrum from wakefulness to deep sleep. In 1953, REM sleep was discovered as distinct, and thus William Dement and Nathaniel Kleitman reclassified sleep into four NREM stages and REM. The staging criteria were standardized in 1968 by Allan Rechtschaffen and Anthony Kales in the "R&K; sleep scoring manual." In the R&K; standard, NREM sleep was divided into four stages, with slow-wave sleep comprising stages 3 and 4. In stage 3, delta waves made up less than 50% of the total wave patterns, while they made up more than 50% in stage 4. Furthermore, REM sleep was sometimes referred to as stage 5.

In 2004, the AASM commissioned the AASM Visual Scoring Task Force to review the R&K; scoring system. The review resulted in several changes, the most significant being the combination of stages 3 and 4 into Stage N3. The revised scoring was published in 2007 as ''The AASM Manual for the Scoring of Sleep and Associated Events''. Arousals and respiratory, cardiac, and movement events were also added.

Sleep stages and other characteristics of sleep are commonly assessed by polysomnography in a specialized sleep laboratory. Measurements taken include EEG of brain waves, electrooculography (EOG) of eye movements, and electromyography (EMG) of skeletal muscle activity. In humans, the average length of the first sleep cycle is approximately 90 minutes and 100 to 120 minutes from the second to the fourth cycle, which is usually the last one. Each stage may have a distinct physiological function and this can result in sleep that exhibits loss of consciousness but does not fulfill its physiological functions (i.e., one may still feel tired after apparently sufficient sleep).

Scientific studies on sleep have shown that sleep stage at awakening is an important factor in amplifying sleep inertia. Alarm clocks involving ''sleep stage monitoring'' appeared on the market in 2005. Using sensing technologies such as EEG electrodes or accelerometers, these alarm clocks are supposed to wake people only from light sleep.

NREM sleep

According to the 2007 AASM standards, NREM consists of three stages. There is relatively little dreaming in NREM.

Stage N1 refers to the transition of the brain from alpha waves having a frequency of 8–13 Hz (common in the awake state) to theta waves having a frequency of 4–7 Hz. This stage is sometimes referred to as somnolence or drowsy sleep. Sudden twitches and hypnic jerks, also known as positive myoclonus, may be associated with the onset of sleep during N1. Some people may also experience hypnagogic hallucinations during this stage. During N1, the subject loses some muscle tone and most conscious awareness of the external environment.

Stage N2 is characterized by sleep spindles ranging from 11 to 16 Hz (most commonly 12–14 Hz) and K-complexes. During this stage, muscular activity as measured by EMG decreases, and conscious awareness of the external environment disappears. This stage occupies 45–55% of total sleep in adults.

Stage N3 (deep or slow-wave sleep) is characterized by the presence of a minimum of 20% delta waves ranging from 0.5–2 Hz and having a peak-to-peak amplitude >75 μV. (EEG standards define delta waves to be from 0 to 4 Hz, but sleep standards in both the original R&K;, as well as the new 2007 AASM guidelines have a range of 0.5–2 Hz.) This is the stage in which parasomnias such as night terrors, nocturnal enuresis, sleepwalking, and somniloquy occur. Many illustrations and descriptions still show a stage N3 with 20–50% delta waves and a stage N4 with greater than 50% delta waves; these have been combined as stage N3.

REM sleep

Rapid eye movement sleep, or REM sleep (also known as paradoxical sleep), accounts for 20–25% of total sleep time in most human adults. The criteria for REM sleep include rapid eye movements as well as a rapid low-voltage EEG. Most memorable dreaming occurs in this stage. At least in mammals, a descending muscular atonia is seen. Such paralysis may be necessary to protect organisms from self-damage through physically acting out scenes from the often-vivid dreams that occur during this stage.

Timing

Sleep timing is controlled by the circadian clock, sleep-wake homeostasis, and in humans, within certain bounds, willed behavior. The circadian clock—an inner timekeeping, temperature-fluctuating, enzyme-controlling device—works in tandem with adenosine, a neurotransmitter that inhibits many of the bodily processes associated with wakefulness. Adenosine is created over the course of the day; high levels of adenosine lead to sleepiness. In diurnal animals, sleepiness occurs as the circadian element causes the release of the hormone melatonin and a gradual decrease in core body temperature. The timing is affected by one's chronotype. It is the circadian rhythm that determines the ideal timing of a correctly structured and restorative sleep episode.

Homeostatic sleep propensity (the need for sleep as a function of the amount of time elapsed since the last adequate sleep episode) must be balanced against the circadian element for satisfactory sleep. Along with corresponding messages from the circadian clock, this tells the body it needs to sleep. Sleep offset (awakening) is primarily determined by circadian rhythm. A person who regularly awakens at an early hour will generally not be able to sleep much later than his or her normal waking time, even if moderately sleep-deprived.

Sleep duration is affected by the gene DEC2. Some people have a mutation of this gene; they sleep two hours less than normal. Neurology professor Ying-Hui Fu and her colleagues bred mice that carried the DEC2 mutation and slept less than normal mice.

Optimal amount in humans

Adult

The optimal amount of sleep is not a meaningful concept unless the timing of that sleep is seen in relation to an individual's circadian rhythms. A person's major sleep episode is relatively inefficient and inadequate when it occurs at the "wrong" time of day; one should be asleep at least six hours before the lowest body temperature. The timing is correct when the following two circadian markers occur after the middle of the sleep episode and before awakening:

maximum concentration of the hormone melatonin, and

minimum core body temperature.

For more information on the human circadian rhythm and body temperature, see Biological markers (in the article Circadian rhythm).

Human sleep needs can vary by age and among individuals, and sleep is considered to be adequate when there is no daytime sleepiness or dysfunction. Moreover, self-reported sleep duration is only moderately correlated with actual sleep time as measured by actigraphy, and those affected with sleep state misperception may typically report having slept only four hours despite having slept a full eight hours.

A University of California, San Diego psychiatry study of more than one million adults found that people who live the longest self-report sleeping for six to seven hours each night. Another study of sleep duration and mortality risk in women showed similar results. Other studies show that "sleeping more than 7 to 8 hours per day has been consistently associated with increased mortality," though this study suggests the cause is probably other factors such as depression and socioeconomic status, which would correlate statistically. It has been suggested that the correlation between lower sleep hours and reduced morbidity only occurs with those who wake naturally, rather than those who use an alarm.

Researchers at the University of Warwick and University College London have found that lack of sleep can more than double the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, but that too much sleep can also be associated with a doubling of the risk of death, though not primarily from cardiovascular disease. Professor Francesco Cappuccio said, "Short sleep has been shown to be a risk factor for weight gain, hypertension, and Type 2 diabetes, sometimes leading to mortality; but in contrast to the short sleep-mortality association, it appears that no potential mechanisms by which long sleep could be associated with increased mortality have yet been investigated. Some candidate causes for this include depression, low socioeconomic status, and cancer-related fatigue... In terms of prevention, our findings indicate that consistently sleeping around seven hours per night is optimal for health, and a sustained reduction may predispose to ill health."

Furthermore, sleep difficulties are closely associated with psychiatric disorders such as depression, alcoholism, and bipolar disorder. Up to 90% of adults with depression are found to have sleep difficulties. Dysregulation found on EEG includes disturbances in sleep continuity, decreased delta sleep and altered REM patterns with regard to latency, distribution across the night and density of eye movements.

Daytime Sleep

The siesta habit has recently been associated with a 37% reduction in coronary mortality, possibly due to reduced cardiovascular stress mediated by daytime sleep (Naska et al., 2007). Nevertheless, epidemiological studies on the relations between cardiovascular health and siesta have led to conflicting conclusions, possibly because of poor control of moderator variables, such as physical activity. It is possible that people who take a siesta have different physical activity habits, e.g. waking earlier and scheduling more activity during the morning. Such differences in physical activity may mediate different 24-hour profiles in cardiovascular function. Even if such effects of physical activity can be discounted for explaining the relationship between siesta and cardiovascular health, it is still unknown whether it is the daytime nap itself, a supine posture or the expectancy of a nap that is the most important factor. It was recently suggested that a short nap can reduce stress and blood pressure (BP), with the main changes in BP occurring between the time of lights off and the onset of stage 1 (Zaregarizi, M. 2007 & 2012).

Hours by age

Children need more sleep per day in order to develop and function properly: up to 18 hours for newborn babies, with a declining rate as a child ages. A newborn baby spends almost 9 hours a day in REM sleep. By the age of five or so, only slightly over two hours is spent in REM. Studies say that school age children need about 10 to 11 hours of sleep.

! Age and condition	! Sleep Needs
Newborns (0–2 months)	12 to 18 hours
Infants (3–11 months)	14 to 15 hours
Toddlers (1–3 years)	12 to 14 hours
Preschoolers (3–5 years)	11 to 13 hours
School-age children (5–10 years)	10 to 11 hours
Adolescents (10–17 years)	8.5 to 9.25 hours
Adults, including elderly	7 to 9 hours
Pregnant women	8(+) hours

Sleep debt

Sleep debt is the effect of not getting enough sleep; a large debt causes mental, emotional and physical fatigue.

Sleep debt results in diminished abilities to perform high-level cognitive functions. Neurophysiological and functional imaging studies have demonstrated that frontal regions of the brain are particularly responsive to homeostatic sleep pressure.

Scientists do not agree on how much sleep debt it is possible to accumulate; whether it is accumulated against an individual's average sleep or some other benchmark; nor on whether the prevalence of sleep debt among adults has changed appreciably in the industrialized world in recent decades. It is likely that children are sleeping less than previously in Western societies.

Genetics

It is suspected that a considerable amount of sleep-related behavior, such as when and how long a person needs to sleep, is regulated by our genetics. Researchers have discovered some evidence that seems to support this assumption. ABCC9 is one gene found to be potentially significant.

Functions

The multiple theories proposed to explain the function of sleep reflect the as-yet incomplete understanding of the subject. (When asked, after 50 years of research, what he knew about the reason people sleep William Dement, founder of Stanford University's Sleep Research Center, answered, "As far as I know, the only reason we need to sleep that is really, really solid is because we get sleepy.") It is likely that sleep evolved to fulfill some primeval function and took on multiple functions over time (analogous to the larynx, which controls the passage of food and air, but descended over time to develop speech capabilities).

If sleep were not essential, one would expect to find:

Animal species that do not sleep at all

Animals that do not need recovery sleep when they stay awake longer than usual

Animals that suffer no serious consequences as a result of lack of sleep

Outside of a few basal animals that have no brain or a very simple one, no animals have been found to date that satisfy any of these criteria. While some varieties of shark, such as great whites and hammerheads, must remain in motion at all times to move oxygenated water over their gills, it is possible they still sleep one cerebral hemisphere at a time as marine mammals do. However it remains to be shown definitively whether any fish is capable of unihemispheric sleep.

Some of the many proposed functions of sleep are as follows:

Restoration

Wound healing has been shown to be affected by sleep. A study conducted by Gumustekin et al. in 2004 shows sleep deprivation hindering the healing of burns on rats.

It has been shown that sleep deprivation affects the immune system. In a study by Zager et al. in 2007, rats were deprived of sleep for 24 hours. When compared with a control group, the sleep-deprived rats' blood tests indicated a 20% decrease in white blood cell count, a significant change in the immune system. It is now possible to state that "sleep loss impairs immune function and immune challenge alters sleep," and it has been suggested that mammalian species which invest in longer sleep times are investing in the immune system, as species with the longer sleep times have higher white blood cell counts. Sleep has also been theorized to effectively combat the accumulation of free radicals in the brain, by increasing the efficiency of endogeneous antioxidant mechanisms.

It has yet to be proven that sleep duration affects somatic growth. One study by Jenni et al. in 2007 recorded growth, height, and weight, as correlated to parent-reported time in bed in 305 children over a period of nine years (age 1–10). It was found that "the variation of sleep duration among children does not seem to have an effect on growth." It has been shown that sleep—more specifically, slow-wave sleep (SWS)—does affect growth hormone levels in adult men. During eight hours' sleep, Van Cauter, Leproult, and Plat found that the men with a high percentage of SWS (average 24%) also had high growth hormone secretion, while subjects with a low percentage of SWS (average 9%) had low growth hormone secretion.

There are multiple arguments supporting the restorative function of sleep. The metabolic phase during sleep is anabolic; anabolic hormones such as growth hormones (as mentioned above) are secreted preferentially during sleep. The duration of sleep among species is, in general, inversely related to animal size and directly related to basal metabolic rate. Rats with a very high basal metabolic rate sleep for up to 14 hours a day, whereas elephants and giraffes with lower BMRs sleep only 3–4 hours per day.

Energy conservation could as well have been accomplished by resting quiescent without shutting off the organism from the environment, potentially a dangerous situation. A sedentary nonsleeping animal is more likely to survive predators, while still preserving energy. Sleep, therefore, seems to serve another purpose, or other purposes, than simply conserving energy; for example, hibernating animals waking up from hibernation go into rebound sleep because of lack of sleep during the hibernation period. They are definitely well-rested and are conserving energy during hibernation, but need sleep for something else. Rats kept awake indefinitely develop skin lesions, hyperphagia, loss of body mass, hypothermia, and, eventually, fatal sepsis.

Ontogenesis

According to the ontogenetic hypothesis of REM sleep, the activity occurring during neonatal REM sleep (or active sleep) seems to be particularly important to the developing organism (Marks et al., 1995). Studies investigating the effects of deprivation of active sleep have shown that deprivation early in life can result in behavioral problems, permanent sleep disruption, decreased brain mass (Mirmiran et al., 1983), and an abnormal amount of neuronal cell death.

REM sleep appears to be important for development of the brain. REM sleep occupies the majority of time of sleep of infants, who spend most of their time sleeping. Among different species, the more immature the baby is born, the more time it spends in REM sleep. Proponents also suggest that REM-induced muscle inhibition in the presence of brain activation exists to allow for brain development by activating the synapses, yet without any motor consequences that may get the infant in trouble. Additionally, REM deprivation results in developmental abnormalities later in life.

However, this does not explain why older adults still need REM sleep. Aquatic mammal infants do not have REM sleep in infancy; REM sleep in those animals increases as they age.

Memory processing

Scientists have shown numerous ways in which sleep is related to memory. In a study conducted by Turner, Drummond, Salamat, and Brown, working memory was shown to be affected by sleep deprivation. Working memory is important because it keeps information active for further processing and supports higher-level cognitive functions such as decision making, reasoning, and episodic memory. The study allowed 18 women and 22 men to sleep only 26 minutes per night over a four-day period. Subjects were given initial cognitive tests while well-rested, and then were tested again twice a day during the four days of sleep deprivation. On the final test, the average working memory span of the sleep-deprived group had dropped by 38% in comparison to the control group.

Memory seems to be affected differently by certain stages of sleep such as REM and slow-wave sleep (SWS). In one study, multiple groups of human subjects were used: wake control groups and sleep test groups. Sleep and wake groups were taught a task and were then tested on it, both on early and late nights, with the order of nights balanced across participants. When the subjects' brains were scanned during sleep, hypnograms revealed that SWS was the dominant sleep stage during the early night, representing around 23% on average for sleep stage activity. The early-night test group performed 16% better on the declarative memory test than the control group. During late-night sleep, REM became the most active sleep stage at about 24%, and the late-night test group performed 25% better on the procedural memory test than the control group. This indicates that procedural memory benefits from late, REM-rich sleep, whereas declarative memory benefits from early, SWS-rich sleep.

A study conducted by Datta indirectly supports these results. The subjects chosen were 22 male rats. A box was constructed wherein a single rat could move freely from one end to the other. The bottom of the box was made of a steel grate. A light would shine in the box accompanied by a sound. After a five-second delay, an electrical shock would be applied. Once the shock commenced, the rat could move to the other end of the box, ending the shock immediately. The rat could also use the five-second delay to move to the other end of the box and avoid the shock entirely. The length of the shock never exceeded five seconds. This was repeated 30 times for half the rats. The other half, the control group, was placed in the same trial, but the rats were shocked regardless of their reaction. After each of the training sessions, the rat would be placed in a recording cage for six hours of polygraphic recordings. This process was repeated for three consecutive days. This study found that during the posttrial sleep recording session, rats spent 25.47% more time in REM sleep after learning trials than after control trials. These trials support the results of the Born et al. study, indicating an obvious correlation between REM sleep and procedural knowledge.

An observation of the Datta study is that the learning group spent 180% more time in SWS than did the control group during the post-trial sleep-recording session. This phenomenon is supported by a study performed by Kudrimoti, Barnes, and McNaughton. This study shows that after spatial exploration activity, patterns of hippocampal place cells are reactivated during SWS following the experiment. In a study by Kudrimoti et al., seven rats were run through a linear track using rewards on either end. The rats would then be placed in the track for 30 minutes to allow them to adjust (PRE), then they ran the track with reward-based training for 30 minutes (RUN), and then they were allowed to rest for 30 minutes. During each of these three periods, EEG data were collected for information on the rats' sleep stages. Kudrimoti et al. computed the mean firing rates of hippocampal place cells during prebehavior SWS (PRE) and three ten-minute intervals in postbehavior SWS (POST) by averaging across 22 track-running sessions from seven rats. The results showed that ten minutes after the trial RUN session, there was a 12% increase in the mean firing rate of hippocampal place cells from the PRE level; however, after 20 minutes, the mean firing rate returned rapidly toward the PRE level. The elevated firing of hippocampal place cells during SWS after spatial exploration could explain why there were elevated levels of SWS sleep in Datta's study, as it also dealt with a form of spatial exploration.

A study has also been done involving direct current stimulation to the prefrontal cortex to increase the amount of slow oscillations during SWSfe. The direct current stimulation greatly enhanced word-pair retention the following day, giving evidence that SWS plays a large role in the consolidation of episodic memories.

The different studies all suggest that there is a correlation between sleep and the complex functions of memory. Harvard sleep researchers Saper and Stickgold point out that an essential part of memory and learning consists of nerve cell dendrites' sending of information to the cell body to be organized into new neuronal connections. This process demands that no external information is presented to these dendrites, and it is suggested that this may be why it is during sleep that memories and knowledge are solidified and organized.

Preservation

The "Preservation and Protection" theory holds that sleep serves an adaptive function. It protects the animal during that portion of the 24-hour day in which being awake, and hence roaming around, would place the individual at greatest risk. Organisms do not require 24 hours to feed themselves and meet other necessities. From this perspective of adaptation, organisms are safer by staying out of harm's way, where potentially they could be prey to other, stronger organisms. They sleep at times that maximize their safety, given their physical capacities and their habitats.

This theory fails to explain why the brain disengages from the external environment during normal sleep. However, the brain consumes a large proportion of the body's calories at any one time and preservation of energy could only occur by limiting its sensory inputs. Another argument against the theory is that sleep is not simply a passive consequence of removing the animal from the environment, but is a "drive"; animals alter their behaviors in order to obtain sleep. Therefore, circadian regulation is more than sufficient to explain periods of activity and quiescence that are adaptive to an organism, but the more peculiar specializations of sleep probably serve different and unknown functions. Moreover, the preservation theory needs to explain why carnivores like lions, which are on top of the food chain and thus have little to fear, sleep the most. It has been suggested that they need to minimize energy expenditure when not hunting.

Preservation also does not explain why aquatic mammals sleep while moving. Quiescence during these vulnerable hours would do the same and would be more advantageous, because the animal would still be able to respond to environmental challenges like predators, etc. Sleep rebound that occurs after a sleepless night will be maladaptive, but obviously must occur for a reason. A zebra falling asleep the day after it spent the sleeping time running from a lion is more, not less, vulnerable to predation.

Dreaming

Dreaming is the perceived experience of sensory images and sounds during sleep, in a sequence which the dreamer usually perceives more as an apparent participant than as an observer. Dreaming is stimulated by the pons and mostly occurs during the REM phase of sleep.

People have proposed many hypotheses about the functions of dreaming. Sigmund Freud postulated that dreams are the symbolic expression of frustrated desires that had been relegated to the unconscious mind, and he used dream interpretation in the form of psychoanalysis to uncover these desires. See Freud: The Interpretation of Dreams.

Freud's work concerns the psychological role of dreams, which does not exclude any physiological role they may have. Recent research claims that sleep has the overall role of consolidation and organization of synaptic connections formed during learning and experience. As such, Freud's work is not ruled out. Nevertheless, Freud's research has been expanded on, especially with regard to the organization and consolidation of recent memory.

Certain processes in the cerebral cortex have been studied by John Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley. In their activation synthesis theory, for example, they propose that dreams are caused by the random firing of neurons in the cerebral cortex during the REM period. Neatly, this theory helps explain the irrationality of the mind during REM periods, as, according to this theory, the forebrain then creates a story in an attempt to reconcile and make sense of the nonsensical sensory information presented to it. Ergo, the odd nature of many dreams.

Effect of food and drink on sleep

Hypnotics

Nonbenzodiazepine hypnotics such as eszopiclone (Lunesta), zaleplon (Sonata), and zolpidem (Ambien) are commonly used as sleep aids prescribed by doctors to treat forms of insomnia. Nonbenzodiazepines are the most commonly prescribed and OTC sleep aids used worldwide and have been greatly growing in use since the 1990s. They target the GABA_A receptor.

Benzodiazepines target the GABA_A receptor also, and as such, they are commonly used sleep aids as well, though benzodiazepines have been found to decrease REM sleep.

Antihistamines, such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl) and doxylamine (found in various OTC medicines, such as NyQuil)

Alcohol – Often, people start drinking alcohol in order to get to sleep (alcohol is initially a sedative and will cause somnolence, encouraging sleep). However, being addicted to alcohol can lead to disrupted sleep, because alcohol has a rebound effect later in the night. As a result, there is strong evidence linking alcoholism and forms of insomnia. Alcohol also reduces REM sleep. Barbiturates cause drowsiness and have actions similar to alcohol in that they have a rebound effect and inhibit REM sleep, so they are not used as a long-term sleep aid.

Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone that regulates sleepiness. It is made in the brain, where tryptophan is converted into serotonin and then into melatonin, which is released at night by the pineal gland to induce and maintain sleep. Melatonin supplementation may be used as a sleep aid, both as a hypnotic and as a chronobiotic (see phase response curve, PRC).

Siesta and the "post-lunch dip" – Many people have a temporary drop in alertness in the early afternoon, commonly known as the "post-lunch dip." While a large meal can make a person feel sleepy, the post-lunch dip is mostly an effect of the biological clock. People naturally feel most sleepy (have the greatest "drive for sleep") at two times of the day about 12 hours apart—for example, at 2:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. At those two times, the body clock "kicks in." At about 2 p.m. (14:00), it overrides the homeostatic buildup of sleep debt, allowing several more hours of wakefulness. At about 2 a.m. (02:00), with the daily sleep debt paid off, it "kicks in" again to ensure a few more hours of sleep.

Tryptophan – The amino acid tryptophan is a building block of proteins. It has been claimed to contribute to sleepiness, since it is a precursor of the neurotransmitter serotonin, involved in sleep regulation. However, no solid data have ever linked modest dietary changes in tryptophan to changes in sleep.

Marijuana – Some people use marijuana to induce sleepiness. Users often report relaxation and drowsiness. It has been shown that Tetrahydrocannabinol, the principal psychoactive constituent in marijuana, reduces the amount of REM sleep. Frequent users often report being unable to recall their dreams.

Stimulants

Amphetamine (dextroamphetamine, and a related, slightly more powerful drug methamphetamine, etc.) are used to treat narcolepsy. Their most common effects are anxiety, insomnia, stimulation, increased alertness, and decreased hunger.

Caffeine is a stimulant that works by slowing the action of the hormones in the brain that cause somnolence, particularly by acting as an antagonist at adenosine receptors. Effective dosage is individual, in part dependent on prior usage. It can cause a rapid reduction in alertness as it wears off.

Cocaine and crack cocaine – Studies on cocaine have shown its effects to be mediated through the circadian rhythm system. This may be related to the onset of hypersomnia (oversleeping) in regard to "cocaine-induced sleep disorder."

MDMA, including similar drugs like MDA, MMDA, or bk-MDMA – The class of drugs called empathogen-entactogens keep users awake with intense euphoria. Commonly known as "ecstasy."

Methylphenidate – Commonly known by the brand names ''Ritalin'' and ''Concerta'', methylphenidate is similar in action to amphetamine and cocaine; its chemical composition more closely resembles that of cocaine.

Tobacco – Tobacco has been found not only to disrupt but also to reduce total sleep time. In studies, users have described more daytime drowsiness than nonsmokers.

Other analeptic drugs like Modafinil and Armodafinil are prescribed to treat narcolepsy, hypersomnia, shift work sleep disorder, and other conditions causing Excessive Daytime Sleepiness. The precise mechanism of these CNS stimulants is not known, but they have been shown to increase both the release of monoamines and levels of hypothalamic histamine, thereby promoting wakefulness.

Insomnia

Insomnia is a general term describing difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. Insomnia can have many different causes, including psychological stress, a poor sleep environment, an inconsistent sleep schedule, or excessive mental or physical stimulation in the hours before bedtime. Insomnia is often treated through behavioral changes like keeping a regular sleep schedule, avoiding stimulating or stressful activities before bedtime, and cutting down on stimulants such as caffeine. Patients are often counseled to improve their sleep environment by installing heavy drapes to shut out all sunlight, and keeping computers, televisions and work materials out of the sleeping area.

A 2010 review of published scientific research suggested that exercise generally improves sleep for most people, and helps sleep disorders such as insomnia. The optimum time to exercise ''may'' be 4 to 8 hours before bedtime, though exercise at any time of day is beneficial, with the exception of heavy exercise taken shortly before bedtime, which may disturb sleep. However there is insufficient evidence to draw detailed conclusions about the relationship between exercise and sleep.

Sleeping medications such as Ambien and Lunesta are an increasingly popular treatment for insomnia, and have become a major source of revenue for drug companies. Although these nonbenzodiazepine medications are generally believed to be better and safer than earlier generations of sedatives, they have still generated some controversy and discussion regarding side-effects.

White noise appears to be a promising treatment for insomnia.

Obstructive sleep apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition in which major pauses in breathing occur during sleep, disrupting the normal progression of sleep and often causing other more severe health problems. Apneas occur when the muscles around the patient's airway relax during sleep, causing the airway to collapse and block the intake of oxygen. As oxygen levels in the blood drop, the patient then comes out of deep sleep in order to resume breathing. When several of these episodes occur per hour, sleep apnea rises to a level of seriousness that may require treatment.

Diagnosing sleep apnea usually requires a professional sleep study performed in a sleep clinic, because the episodes of wakefulness caused by the disorder are extremely brief and patients usually do not remember experiencing them. Instead, many patients simply feel tired after getting several hours of sleep and have no idea why. Major risk factors for sleep apnea include chronic fatigue, old age, obesity and snoring.

Other sleep disorders

Sleep disorders include narcolepsy, periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD), restless leg syndrome (RLS), and the circadian rhythm sleep disorders. Fatal familial insomnia, or FFI, is an extremely rare genetic disease with no known treatment or cure, is characterized by increasing insomnia as one of its symptoms; ultimately sufferers of the disease stop sleeping entirely, before dying of the disease.

Older people are more easily awakened by disturbances in the environment and may to some degree lose the ability to consolidate sleep.

Anthropology of sleep

Research suggests that sleep patterns vary significantly across cultures. The most striking differences are between societies that have plentiful sources of artificial light and ones that do not. The primary difference appears to be that pre-light cultures have more broken-up sleep patterns. For example, people might go to sleep far sooner after the sun sets, but then wake up several times throughout the night, punctuating their sleep with periods of wakefulness, perhaps lasting several hours. The boundaries between sleeping and waking are blurred in these societies. Some observers believe that nighttime sleep in these societies is most often split into two main periods, the first characterized primarily by deep sleep and the second by REM sleep.

Some societies display a fragmented sleep pattern in which people sleep at all times of the day and night for shorter periods. In many nomadic or hunter-gatherer societies, people will sleep on and off throughout the day or night depending on what is happening. Plentiful artificial light has been available in the industrialized West since at least the mid-19th century, and sleep patterns have changed significantly everywhere that lighting has been introduced. In general, people sleep in a more concentrated burst through the night, going to sleep much later, although this is not always true. Historian Roger Ekrich thinks that the traditional pattern of "segmented sleep" as it is called began to disappear among the urban upper class in Europe in the late 17th century and the change spread over the next 200 years; by the 1920s "the idea of a first and second sleep had receded entirely from our social consciousness." Ekrich attributes the change to increases in "street lighting, domestic lighting and a surge in coffee houses," which slowly made nighttime a legitimate time for activity, decreasing the time available for rest.

In some societies, people generally sleep with at least one other person (sometimes many) or with animals. In other cultures, people rarely sleep with anyone but a most intimate relation, such as a spouse. In almost all societies, sleeping partners are strongly regulated by social standards. For example, people might only sleep with their immediate family, extended family, spouses, their children, children of a certain age, children of specific gender, peers of a certain gender, friends, peers of equal social rank, or with no one at all. Sleep may be an actively social time, depending on the sleep groupings, with no constraints on noise or activity.

People sleep in a variety of locations. Some sleep directly on the ground; others on a skin or blanket; others sleep on platforms or beds. Some sleep with blankets, some with pillows, some with simple headrests, some with no head support. These choices are shaped by a variety of factors, such as climate, protection from predators, housing type, technology, personal preference, and the incidence of pests.

Sleep in non-humans

Neurological sleep states can be difficult to detect in some animals. In these cases, sleep may be defined using behavioral characteristics such as minimal movement, postures typical for the species, and reduced responsiveness to external stimulation. Sleep is quickly reversible, as opposed to hibernation or coma, and sleep deprivation is followed by longer or deeper rebound sleep. Herbivores, who require a long waking period to gather and consume their diet, typically sleep less each day than similarly sized carnivores, who might well consume several days' supply of meat in a sitting.

Horses and other herbivorous ungulates can sleep while standing, but must necessarily lie down for REM sleep (which causes muscular atony) for short periods. Giraffes, for example, only need to lie down for REM sleep for a few minutes at a time. Bats sleep while hanging upside down. Some aquatic mammals and some birds can sleep with one half of the brain while the other half is awake, so-called unihemispheric slow-wave sleep. Birds and mammals have cycles of non-REM and REM sleep (as described above for humans), though birds' cycles are much shorter and they do not lose muscle tone (go limp) to the extent that most mammals do.

Many mammals sleep for a large proportion of each 24-hour period when they are very young. However, killer whales and some dolphins do not sleep during the first month of life. Such differences may be explained by the ability of land-mammal newborns to be easily protected by parents while sleeping, while marine animals must, even while very young, be more continuously vigilant for predators.

See also

Cortisol awakening response

Microsleep

Morvan's syndrome

Polyphasic sleep

Power nap

Segmented sleep

Sleep architecture

Sleep medicine

Somnology

Sudden infant death syndrome

Sudden unexpected death syndrome

Positions, practices, and rituals

Sleeping positions

Co-sleeping

Hypnosis

Meditation

Neutral spine

Sleep hygiene

Yoga-nidra

World Sleep Day

References

Naska, A., Oikonomou, E., Trichopoulou, A., Psaltopoulou, T. and Trichopoulos, D. (2007). Siesta in healthy adults and coronary mortality in the general population. Archives of Internal Medicine, 167, 296-301.

MohammadReza Zaregarizi, Ben Edwards, Keith George, Yvonne Harrison, Helen Jones and Greg Atkinson. (2007). Acute changes in cardiovascular function during the onset period of daytime sleep: Comparison to lying awake and standing. American J Appl Physiol 103:1332-1338.

MohammadReza Zaregarizi (Author). Effects of Exercise & Daytime Sleep on Human Haemodynamics: With Focus on Changes in Cardiovascular Function during Daytime Sleep Onset. BOOK, ISBN (978-3-8484-1726-1), March, 2012.

Notes

[Review]

Tamar Shochat and Sonia Ancoli – Specific Clinical Patterns in Aging – Sleep and Sleep Disorders [website]

Zepelin H. Normal age related changes in sleep. In: Chase M, Weitzman ED, eds. Sleep Disorders: Basic and Clinical Research. New York: SP Medical; 1983:431–434.

Naska, A., Oikonomou, E., Trichopoulou, A., Psaltopoulou, T. and Trichopoulos, D. (2007). Siesta in healthy adults and coronary mortality in the general population. Archives of Internal Medicine, 167, 296-301.

MohammadReza Zaregarizi, Ben Edwards, Keith George, Yvonne Harrison, Helen Jones and Greg Atkinson. (2007). Acute changes in cardiovascular function during the onset period of daytime sleep: Comparison to lying awake and standing. American J Appl Physiol 103:1332-1338.

MohammadReza Zaregarizi (Author). Effects of Exercise & Daytime Sleep on Human Haemodynamics: With Focus on Changes in Cardiovascular Function during Daytime Sleep Onset. BOOK, ISBN (978-3-8484-1726-1), March, 2012.

External links

NIH.gov, National Center on Sleep Disorders Research

National Sleep Foundation, information on School Start Time and Sleep at National Sleep Foundation

HealthySleep.med.harvard.edu, from the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School and WGBH Educational Foundation

PLOSjournals.org, Is Sleep Essential? by Chiara Cirelli and Giulio Tononi, from the Public Library of Science, Biology

Category:Neuroscience Category:Unsolved problems in neuroscience

ar:نوم bn:ঘুম bjn:Guring zh-min-nan:Khùn-bîn be:Сон be-x-old:Сон bcl:Torog bg:Сън bs:Spavanje ca:Son cs:Spánek cy:Cwsg da:Søvn de:Schlaf et:Uni el:Ύπνος es:Sueño eo:Dormo eu:Lo fa:خواب fr:Sommeil fy:Sliep ga:Codladh gd:Cadal gl:Sono gan:睏覺 ko:잠 hi:निद्रा hr:Spavanje id:Tidur is:Svefn it:Sonno he:שינה kn:ನಿದ್ರೆ ka:ძილი kk:Ұйқы la:Somnus lv:Miegs lt:Miegas hu:Alvás mk:Спиење ml:ഉറക്കം mr:झोप arz:نوم ms:Tidur my:အိပ်စက်ခြင်း nl:Slaap (rust) new:न्ह्यः ja:睡眠 no:Søvn nn:Søvn mhr:Малымаш uz:Uyqu pl:Sen pt:Sono ro:Somn qu:Puñuy ru:Сон sq:Gjumi scn:Sonnu si:නින්ද simple:Sleep sk:Spánok sl:Spanje so:Hurdo sr:Spavanje sh:Spavanje su:Saré fi:Nukkuminen sv:Sömn tl:Tulog ta:தூக்கம் te:నిద్ర th:การนอน tg:Хоб tr:Uyku uk:Сон ur:نیند vi:Ngủ war:Katurog yi:שלאף zh-yue:睏覺 zh:睡眠

background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
birth name	Lester William Polsfuss
birth date	June 09, 1915
Birth place	Waukesha, Wisconsin, United States
death date	August 13, 2009
Death place	White Plains, New York, United States
genre	Jazz, country, blues, rock and roll
occupation	Innovator, Inventor, Musician, Songwriter
instrument	Guitar, Banjo, Harmonica
years active	1928–2009
website	lespaulfoundation.org
notable instruments	Gibson Les Paul }}

Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 13, 2009)—known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was the inventor of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations. Although he was not the first to use the technique, his early experiments with overdubbing (also known as sound on sound), delay effects such as tape delay, phasing effects and multitrack recording were among the first to attract widespread attention.

His innovative talents extended into his playing style, including licks, trills, chording sequences, fretting techniques and timing, which set him apart from his contemporaries and inspired many guitarists of the present day. He recorded with his wife Mary Ford in the 1950s, and they sold millions of records.

Among his many honors, Paul is one of a handful of artists with a permanent, stand-alone exhibit in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is prominently named by the music museum on its website as an "architect" and a "key inductee" along with Sam Phillips and Alan Freed.

Biography

Early life

Les Paul was born Lester William Polsfuss outside Milwaukee, in Waukesha, Wisconsin, to George and Evelyn (1888–1989) (née Stutz) Polsfus. His family was of German ancestry. Paul's mother was related to the founders of Milwaukee's Valentin Blatz Brewing Company and the makers of the Stutz automobile. His parents divorced when he was a child. The Prussian family name was first simplified by his mother to Polfuss before he took his stage name of Les Paul. He also used the nicknames Red Hot Red and Rhubarb Red.

While living in Wisconsin, he first became interested in music at age eight when he began playing the harmonica. After an attempt at learning the banjo, he began to play the guitar. It was during this time that he invented a neck-worn harmonica holder, which allowed him to play the harmonica hands-free while accompanying himself on the guitar. Paul's device is still manufactured using his basic design. By age thirteen, Paul was performing semi-professionally as a country-music singer, guitarist and harmonica player. While playing at the Waukesha area drive-ins and roadhouses, Paul began his first experiment with sound. Wanting to make himself heard by more people at the local venues, he wired a phonograph needle to a radio speaker, using that to amplify his acoustic guitar. At age seventeen, Paul played with Rube Tronson's Texas Cowboys, and soon after he dropped out of high school to join Wolverton's Radio Band in St. Louis, Missouri, on KMOX.

Early career

Paul migrated to Chicago in 1934, where he continued to perform on radio, and met pianist Art Tatum, whose playing influenced him to a career devoted to guitar rather than original plans of taking on the piano. His first two records were released in 1936. One was credited to "Rhubarb Red", Paul's hillbilly ''alter ego'', and the other was as an accompanist for blues-artist Georgia White. It was during this time that he began playing jazz and adopted his stage name.

Paul's jazz-guitar style was strongly influenced by the music of Django Reinhardt, whom he greatly admired. Following World War II, Paul sought out and befriended Reinhardt. After Reinhardt's death in 1953, Paul furnished his headstone. One of Paul's prize possessions was a Selmer Maccaferri acoustic guitar given to him by Reinhardt's widow.

Paul formed a trio in 1937 with singer/rhythm guitarist Jim Atkins (older half-brother of guitarist Chet Atkins) and bassist/percussionist Ernie "Darius" Newton. They left Chicago for New York in 1939, landing a featured spot with ''Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians'' radio show. Chet Atkins later wrote that his brother, home on a family visit, presented the younger Atkins with an expensive Gibson archtop guitar that had been given to Jim Atkins by Les Paul. Chet recalled that it was the first professional-quality instrument he ever owned.

Paul was dissatisfied with acoustic-electric guitars and began experimenting at his apartment in Queens, NY with a few designs of his own. Famously, he created several versions of "The Log", which was nothing more than a length of common 4x4 lumber with a bridge, guitar neck and pickup attached. For the sake of appearance, he attached the body of an Epiphone hollow-body guitar, sawn lengthwise with The Log in the middle. This solved his two main problems: feedback, as the acoustic body no longer resonated with the amplified sound, and sustain, as the energy of the strings was not dissipated in generating sound through the guitar body. These instruments were constantly being improved and modified over the years, and Paul continued to use them in his recordings long after the development of his eponymous Gibson model. In 1945, Richard D. Bourgerie made an electric guitar pickup and amplifier for professional guitar player George Barnes. Bourgerie worked through World War II at Howard Radio Company making electronic equipment for the American military. Barnes showed the result to Les Paul, who then arranged for Bourgerie to have one made for him.

While experimenting in his apartment in 1940, Paul nearly succumbed to electrocution. During two years of recuperation, he relocated to Hollywood, supporting himself by producing radio music and forming a new trio. He was drafted into the US Army shortly after the beginning of World War II, where he served in the Armed Forces Network, backing such artists as Bing Crosby, the Andrews Sisters, and performing in his own right. As a last-minute replacement for Oscar Moore, Paul played with Nat King Cole and other artists in the inaugural Jazz at the Philharmonic concert in Los Angeles, California, on July 2, 1944. The recording, still available as Jazz at the Philharmonic- the first concert- shows Paul at the top of his game, both in his solid four to the bar comping in the style of Freddie Green and for the originality of his solo lines. Paul's solo on 'Blues' is an astonishing tour de force and represents a memorable contest between himself and Nat 'King' Cole. Much later in his career, Paul declared that he had been the victor and that this had been conceded by Cole. His solo on Body and Soul is a fine demonstration both of his admiration for and emulation of the playing of Django Reinhardt, as well as his development of some very original lines.

Also that year, Paul's trio appeared on Bing Crosby's radio show. Crosby went on to sponsor Paul's recording experiments. The two also recorded together several times, including a 1945 number-one hit, "It's Been a Long, Long Time." In addition to backing Crosby, The Andrews Sisters and other artists, Paul's trio also recorded a few albums of their own on the Decca label in the late 1940s. Paul was particularly enamored by the famous Andrews Sisters, who hired The Les Paul Trio as their opening act while they toured in 1946. Lou Levy, the sisters' manager and a music publishing giant of the big band era and beyond, once said, "Watching his fingers work was like watching a locomotive go." The trio's longtime conductor, Vic Schoen, said of Les, "You could always count on him to come up with something no one else had thought of," while Maxene Andrews once remembered, "It was wonderful having him perform with us. He'd tune into the passages we were singing and lightly play the melody, sometimes in harmony. We'd sing these fancy licks and he'd keep up with us note for note in exactly the same rhythm...almost contributing a fourth voice. But he never once took the attention away from what we were doing. He did everything he could to make us sound better." Two Decca recordings from 1946 pairing Paul with The Andrews Sisters ("Rumors Are Flying" and "It's a Pity to Say Goodnight") exist today to well affirm such comments. Paul's many hits with wife Mary Ford recording her vocals in triplicate in the 1950s produced a sound eerily similar to the harmonious blend of The Andrews Sisters. As Les Paul biographer Mary Alice Shaughnessy noted of Paul's association with The Andrews Sisters, "Les welcomed the opportunity to study them in full flight."

In January 1948, Paul shattered his right arm and elbow in a near-fatal automobile accident on an icy Route 66 just west of Davenport, Oklahoma. Mary Ford was driving the Buick convertible, which rolled several times down a creekbed; they were on their way back from Wisconsin to Los Angeles after performing at the opening of a restaurant owned by Paul's father. Doctors at Oklahoma City's Wesley Presbyterian Hospital told him that they could not rebuild his elbow so that he would regain movement; his arm would remain permanently in whatever position they placed it in. Their other option was amputation. Paul instructed surgeons, brought in from Los Angeles, to set his arm at an angle—just under 90 degrees—that would allow him to cradle and pick the guitar. It took him nearly a year and a half to recover.

Guitar builder

Paul's innovative guitar, "The Log", built after-hours in the Epiphone guitar factory in 1940, a 4" × 4" chunk of pine with strings and a pickup, was one of the first solid-body electric guitars. Paul Tutmarc of Audiovox Manufacturing Co. built a solid body electric bass in 1935 and Adolph Rickenbacker had marketed a solid-body guitar in the 1930s and Paul A. Bigsby had built one for Merle Travis in 1948 and Leo Fender also independently created his own (the Fender "Broadcaster" later changed to "Esquire" for copyright reasons, a single pickup model) in 1948. Although Paul approached the Gibson Guitar Corporation with his idea of a solid body electric guitar, they showed no interest until Fender began marketing its Esquire which later had a second pick-up added and became known as the Telecaster.

The arrangement persisted until 1961, when declining sales prompted Gibson to change the design without Paul's knowledge, creating a much thinner, lighter and more aggressive-looking instrument with two cutaway "horns" instead of one. Paul said he first saw the "new" Gibson Les Paul in a music-store window, and disliked it. Although his contract required him to pose with the guitar, he said it was not "his" instrument and asked Gibson to remove his name from the headstock. Others claimed that Paul ended his endorsement contract with Gibson during his divorce to avoid having his wife get his endorsement money. Gibson renamed the guitar "Gibson SG", which stands for "Solid Guitar", and it also became one of the company's best sellers.

The original Gibson Les Paul-guitar design regained popularity when Eric Clapton began playing the instrument a few years later, although he also played an SG and an ES-335. Paul resumed his relationship with Gibson and endorsed the original Gibson Les Paul guitar from that point onwards. His personal Gibson Les Pauls were much modified by him—Paul always used his own self-wound pickups and customized methods of switching between pickups on his guitars. To this day, various models of Gibson Les Paul guitars are used all over the world by both novice and professional guitarists. A less-expensive version of the Gibson Les Paul guitar is also manufactured for Gibson's lower-priced Epiphone brand.

On January 30, 1962, the US Patent and Trademark Office issued Paul a patent, Patent No. 3,018,680, for an "Electrical Music Instrument."

Multitrack-recording innovations

Paul had never been happy with the way his records sounded. During a post-recording session talk with Bing Crosby, the crooner suggested Paul try building his own recording studio so he might be able to get the sound he wanted. At first Paul discounted the idea only to give it a few more minutes thought before deciding Crosby was right. Paul started his own studio in the garage of his home on Hollywood's North Curson Street. The studio drew many other famous vocalists and musicians who wanted the benefit of Paul's expertise. The home and studio are still standing, but both had been moved to Pasadena at some point after Paul no longer owned the home.

In 1948, Les Paul was given one of the first Ampex Model 200A reel-to-reel audio tape recording decks by Crosby and went on to use Ampex's eight track "Sel-Sync" machines for Multitrack recording. Capitol Records released a recording that had begun as an experiment in Paul's garage, entitled "Lover (When You're Near Me)", which featured Paul playing eight different parts on electric guitar, some of them recorded at half-speed, hence "double-fast" when played back at normal speed for the master. ("Brazil", similarly recorded, was the B-side.) This was the first time that Les Paul used multitracking in a recording (Paul had been shopping his multitracking technique, unsuccessfully, since the '30s. Much to his dismay, Sidney Bechet used it in 1941 to play half a dozen instruments on "Sheik of Araby"). These recordings were made not with magnetic tape, but with acetate discs. Paul would record a track onto a disk, then record himself playing another part with the first. He built the multitrack recording with overlaid tracks, rather than parallel ones as he did later. By the time he had a result he was satisfied with, he had discarded some five hundred recording disks.

Paul even built his own disc-cutter assembly, based on automobile parts. He favored the flywheel from a Cadillac for its weight and flatness. Even in these early days, he used the acetate-disk setup to record parts at different speeds and with delay, resulting in his signature sound with echoes and birdsong-like guitar riffs. When he later began using magnetic tape, the major change was that he could take his recording rig on tour with him, even making episodes for his fifteen-minute radio show in his hotel room. He later worked with Ross Snyder in the design of the first eight-track recording deck (built for him by Ampex for his home studio.)

Electronics engineer Jack Mullin had been assigned to a U.S. Army Signal Corps unit stationed in France during World War II. On a mission in Germany near the end of the war, he acquired and later shipped home a German Magnetophon (tape recorder) and fifty reels of I.G. Farben plastic recording tape. Back in the U.S., Mullin rebuilt and developed the machine with the intention of selling it to the film industry, and held a series of demonstrations which quickly became the talk of the American audio industry.

Within a short time, Crosby had hired Mullin to record and produce his radio shows and master his studio recordings on tape, and he invested US$50,000 in a Northern California electronics firm, Ampex. With Crosby's backing, Mullin and Ampex created the Ampex Model 200, the world's first commercially produced reel-to-reel audio tape recorder. Crosby gave Les Paul the second Model 200 to be produced. Using this machine, Paul placed an additional playback head, located before the conventional erase/record/playback heads. This allowed Paul to play along with a previously recorded track, both of which were mixed together on to a new track. This was a mono tape recorder with just one track across the entire width of quarter-inch tape; thus, the recording was "destructive" in the sense that the original recording was permanently replaced with the new, mixed recording.

Paul's re-invention of the Ampex 200 inspired Ampex to develop two-track and three-track recorders, which allowed him to record multiple tracks on one tape without erasing previous takes. These machines were the backbone of professional recording, radio and television studios in the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1954, Paul continued to develop this technology by commissioning Ampex to build the first 8-track (multitrack) tape recorder, at his own expense. His design became known as "Sel-Sync" (Selective Synchronization), in which specially modified electronics could either record or play back from the record head, which was not optimized for playback but which had acceptable sound quality for musicians to listen to for the purposes of recording an "overdub" (OD) in sync with the original recording. This is the core technology behind multitrack recording.

Les Paul & Mary Ford

Paul met country-western singer Colleen Summers in 1945. They began working together in 1948, at which time she adopted the stage name Mary Ford. They were married in 1949. The couple's hits included "How High the Moon", "Bye Bye Blues", "Song in Blue", "Don'cha Hear Them Bells", "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise", and "Vaya con Dios". These songs featured Ford harmonizing with herself.

Like Crosby, Paul and Ford used the now-ubiquitous recording technique known as close miking, where the microphone is less than from the singer's mouth. This produces a more-intimate, less-reverberant sound than is heard when a singer is or more from the microphone. When implemented using a cardioid-patterned microphone, it emphasizes low-frequency sounds in the voice due to a cardioid microphone's proximity effect and can give a more relaxed feel because the performer isn't working so hard. The result is a singing style which diverged strongly from unamplified theater-style singing, as might be heard in musical comedies of the 1930s and 1940s.

Radio and television programs

Paul had hosted a fifteen-minute radio program, ''The Les Paul Show'', on NBC radio in 1950, featuring his trio (himself, Ford and rhythm player Eddie Stapleton) and his electronics, recorded from their home and with gentle humor between Paul and Ford bridging musical selections, some of which had already been successful on records, some of which anticipated the couple's recordings, and many of which presented re-interpretations of such jazz and pop selections as "In the Mood", "Little Rock Getaway", "Brazil" and "Tiger Rag". Over ten of these shows survive among old-time radio collectors today.

The show also appeared on television a few years later with the same format, but excluding the trio and retitled ''The Les Paul & Mary Ford Show'' (also known as ''Les Paul & Mary Ford at Home'') with "Vaya Con Dios" as a theme song. Sponsored by Warner Lambert's Listerine mouthwash, it was widely syndicated during 1954–1955, and was only five minutes (one or two songs) long on film, therefore used as a brief interlude or fill-in in programming schedules. Since Paul created the entire show himself, including audio and video, he maintained the original recordings and was in the process of restoring them to current quality standards until his death.

During his radio shows, Paul introduced the fictional "Les Paulverizer" device, which multiplies anything fed into it, like a guitar sound or a voice. Paul has stated that the idea was to explain to the audience how his single guitar could be multiplied to become a group of guitars. The device even became the subject of comedy, with Ford multiplying herself and her vacuum cleaner with it so she could finish the housework faster.

Later career

In 1965, Paul went into semi-retirement, although he did return to the studio occasionally. He and Ford had divorced in December 1962, as she could no longer cope with the traveling lifestyle their act required of them. Paul's most-recognizable recordings from then through the mid-1970s were an album for London Records/Phase 4 Stereo, ''Les Paul Now'' (1968), on which he updated some of his earlier hits; and, backed by some of Nashville's celebrated studio musicians, a meld of jazz and country improvisation with fellow guitar virtuoso Chet Atkins, ''Chester and Lester'' (1976), for RCA Victor.

In 1987, Paul underwent heart surgery. He then returned to active live performance, continuing into his 80s even though he often found it painful to play the guitar because of arthritis in his hands. In 2006, at age 90, he won two Grammys at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards for his album ''Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played''. He also performed every Monday night, accompanied by a trio which included guitarist Lou Pallo, bassist Paul Nowinksi (and later, Nicki Parrott) and pianist John Colaianni, originally at Fat Tuesdays, and later at the Iridium Jazz Club on Broadway in the Times Square area of New York City.

Composer Richard Stein (1909–1992) sued Paul for plagiarism, charging that Paul's "Johnny (Is the Boy for Me)" was taken from Stein's 1937 song "Sanie cu zurgălăi" (Romanian for "Sleigh with Bells"). A 2000 cover version of "Johnny" by Belgian musical group Vaya Con Dios that credited Paul prompted another action by the Romanian Musical Performing and Mechanical Rights Society.

For many years Les Paul would sometimes surprise radio hosts Steve King and Johnnie Putman with a call to the "Life After Dark Show" on WGN (AM) in Chicago. These calls would take place in the wee hours of Tuesday Morning following his show at the Iridium Jazz Club. Until they ended their show on WGN, Steve and Johnnie continued to honor Les on Tuesday Mornings at 2:35 AM with their segment "A Little More Les" drawing from around 30 hours of recorded conversations with Les.

Death

On August 13, 2009, Paul died of complications from pneumonia at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, New York. His family and friends were by his side. Paul is survived by his four children and his companion Arlene Palmer. His attorney told the media that he had made several hospital stays over the past few months. His last concert took place a few weeks before his death.

Upon learning of his death many artists and popular musicians paid tribute by publicly expressing their sorrow. After learning of Paul's death, former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash called him "vibrant and full of positive energy.", while Richie Sambora, lead guitarist of Bon Jovi, referred to him as "revolutionary in the music business". U2 guitarist The Edge said, "His legacy as a musician and inventor will live on and his influence on rock and roll will never be forgotten."

On August 21, 2009, he was buried near Milwaukee in Waukesha, Wisconsin at Prairie Home Cemetery which indicated that his plot would be in an area where visitors can easily view it. Like his funeral in New York on August 19, the burial was private, but earlier in the day a public memorial viewing of the closed casket was held in Milwaukee at Discovery World with 1,500 attendees who were offered free admission to the Les Paul House of Sound exhibit for the day.

Awards and honors

Paul was initiated into the Gamma Delta chapter of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity at the University of Miami in 1952. He has earned the Presidential award from the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

In 1979, Paul and Ford's 1951 recording of "How High the Moon" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Paul received a Grammy Trustees Award for his lifetime achievements in 1983, and in 2001 the Special Merit/Technical Grammy Award.

In 1988, Paul was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Jeff Beck, who said, "I've copied more licks from Les Paul than I'd like to admit." In 1991, the Mix Foundation established an annual award in his name; the Les Paul Award which honors "individuals or institutions that have set the highest standards of excellence in the creative application of audio technology". In 2005, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his development of the solid-body electric guitar. In 2006, Paul was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. He was named an honorary member of the Audio Engineering Society. In 2007, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.

In 2003, Les was ranked as #46 on ''Rolling Stone'''s "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

A one-hour biographical documentary film ''The Wizard of Waukesha'' was shown at the Los Angeles International Film Exposition (FILMEX) March 4–21, 1980, and later on PBS television. A biographical, feature-length documentary titled ''Chasing Sound: Les Paul at 90'' made its world première on May 9, 2007, at the Downer Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Paul appeared at the event and spoke briefly to the enthusiastic crowd. The film is distributed by Koch Entertainment and was broadcast on PBS on July 11, 2007, as part of its American Masters series and was broadcast on October 17, 2008, on BBC Four as part of its Guitar Night. The première coincided with the final part of a three-part documentary by the BBC broadcast on BBC ONE ''The Story of the Guitar''.

In June 2008, an exhibit showcasing his legacy and featuring items from his personal collection opened at Discovery World in Milwaukee. The exhibit was facilitated by a group of local musicians under the name Partnership for the Arts and Creative Excellence (PACE). Paul played a concert in Milwaukee to coincide with the opening of the exhibit.

Paul's hometown of Waukesha is planning a permanent exhibit to be called "The Les Paul experience."

In July 2005, a 90th-birthday tribute concert was held at Carnegie Hall in New York City. After performances by Steve Miller, Peter Frampton, Jose Feliciano and a number of other contemporary guitarists and vocalists, Paul was presented with a commemorative guitar from the Gibson Guitar Corporation.

On November 15, 2008, he received the American Music Masters award through the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at a tribute concert at the State Theater in Cleveland, Ohio. Among the many guest performers were Duane Eddy, Eric Carmen, Lonnie Mack, Jennifer Batten, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, Dennis Coffey, James Burton, Billy Gibbons, Lenny Kaye, Steve Lukather, Barbara Lynn, Katy Moffatt, Alannah Myles, Richie Sambora, The Ventures and Slash.

In February 2009, only months prior to his death, Les Paul sat down with Scott Vollweiler of Broken Records Magazine, in which would be one of Les Paul's final interviews. His candid answers were direct and emotional. Broken Records Magazine had planned to run that cover feature the following month but due to delays was held until the summer. 3 days before the release, Les Paul died. The issue would be his final cover feature of his storied career.

In August, 2009, Paul was named one of the ten best electric guitar players of all-time by ''Time'' magazine.

On June 9, 2010, which would have been Les Paul's 95th birthday, a tribute concert featuring Jeff Beck, Imelda May, Gary U.S. Bonds and Brian Setzer among others, was held at the Iridium Jazz Club where Les Paul played nearly every week almost to the end of his life. The concert was released on the live album Rock 'n' Roll Party (Honoring Les Paul) in 2011.

On June 9–10, 2011 Google celebrated what would have been Paul's 96th birthday with a Google doodle of an interactive guitar.

In 2010, Paul was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Paul married Virginia Webb in 1938. They had two children, Gene (Lester Jr.), born in 1941 and named after actor-songwriter Gene Lockhart, and Russell (Rusty), born 1944, before divorcing in 1949. Later that year, Paul and Mary Ford (born Iris Colleen Summers) were married. They adopted a girl, Colleen, in 1958 and their son Robert (Bobby) was born the following year. They had also lost a child, who was born prematurely and died only four days old. Les Paul and Mary Ford divorced in 1963.

Paul was the instructor of rock guitarist Steve Miller of the Steve Miller Band, to whom Paul gave his first guitar lesson. Miller's father was best man at Paul's 1949 wedding to Mary Ford.

Paul resided for many years in Mahwah, New Jersey.

Discography

Hit singles

Year	Single	Chart positions
		! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"
1945		1
1946		4
		21
	22
	11
		9
	21
	18
	6
		23
	2		7
	1	2
	12
	18
	2
	7
	5
	10
		2
	13
	14
	15
	14
	5
	15
	8
	7
		5
	10
	21
style="text-align:left;"	1			7
	15
	25
	13
		11
	6
	10
	19
		7
	38
	96
		91
	49
	91
1957		35
1958		32
		37
	105

Albums

''Feedback'' (1944)—compilation

''Les Paul Trio'' (1946)—compilation

''Hawaiian Paradise'' (1949)

''The New Sound'' (1950)

''Les Paul's New Sound, Volume 2'' (1951)

''Bye Bye Blues!'' (1952)

''Gallopin' Guitars'' (1952)—compilation

''The Hit Makers!'' (1953)

''Les and Mary'' (1955)

''Time to Dream'' (1957)

''Lover's Luau'' (1959)

''The Hits of Les and Mary'' (1960)—compilation

''Bouquet of Roses'' (1962)

''Warm and Wonderful'' (1962)

''Swingin' South'' (1963)

''Fabulous Les Paul and Mary Ford'' (1965)

''Les Paul Now!'' (1968)

''Guitar Tapestry''

''Lover''

''The Guitar Artistry of Les Paul'' (1971)

''The World is Still Waiting for the Sunrise'' (1974)—compilation

''The Best of Les Paul with Mary Ford'' (1974)—compilation

''Chester and Lester'' (1976)—with Chet Atkins

''Guitar Monsters'' (1977)—with Chet Atkins

''Les Paul and Mary Ford'' (1978)—compilation

''Multi Trackin' '' (1979)

''All-Time Greatest Hits'' (1983)—compilation

''The Very Best of Les Paul with Mary Ford'

''Famille Nombreuse'' (1992)—compilation

''The World Is Waiting'' (1992)—compilation

''The Best of the Capitol Masters: Selections From "The Legend and the Legacy" Box Set'' (1992)—compilation

''All-Time Greatest Hits'' (1992)—compilation

''Their All-Time Greatest Hits'' (1995)—compilation

''Les Paul: The Legend and the Legacy'' (1996; a four-CD box set chronicling his years with Capitol Records)

''16 Most Requested Songs'' (1996)—compilation

''The Complete Decca Trios—Plus (1936–1947)'' (1997)—compilation

''California Melodies'' (2003)

''Les Paul – The Legendary Fred Waring Broadcasts (2004)

''Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played'' (2005)

''Les Paul And Friends: A Tribute To A Legend'' (2008)

Singles

"It's Been a Long, Long Time"—Bing Crosby & The Les Paul Trio (1945), #1 on Billboard Pop singles chart, 1 week, December 8

"Rumors Are Flying"—Andrews Sisters & Les Paul (1946)

"Guitar Boogie" (1947)

"Lover (When You're Near Me)" (1948)

"Brazil" (1948)

"What Is This Thing Called Love?" (1948)

"Nola" (1950)

"Goofus" (1950)

"Little Rock 69 Getaway" (1950/1951)

"Tennessee Waltz"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1950/1951), #1, Cashbox

"Mockingbird Hill"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1951), #1, Cashbox

"How High The Moon"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1951), #1, Billboard Pop singles chart, 9 weeks, April 21 – June 16; #1, Cashbox, 2 weeks; #2, R&B; chart

"I Wish I Had Never Seen Sunshine"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1951)

"The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1951), #2, Billboard; #3, Cashbox

"Just One More Chance"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1951)

"Jazz Me Blues" (1951)

"Josephine" (1951)

"Whispering" (1951)

"Jingle Bells" (1951)

"Tiger Rag"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1952), #2, Billboard; #8, Cashbox

"I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1952)

"Carioca" (1952)

"In the Good Old Summertime"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1952)

"Smoke Rings"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1952)

"Meet Mister Callaghan" (1952), #5, Billboard

"Take Me In Your Arms And Hold Me"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1952)

"Lady of Spain" (1952)

"My Baby's Coming Home"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1952)

"Bye Bye Blues"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1953)

"I'm Sitting On Top Of The World"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1953)

"Sleep" (Fred Waring's theme song) (1953)

"Vaya Con Dios"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1953), #1, Billboard Pop singles chart, 11 weeks, August 8 – October 3, November 7–14; #1, Cashbox, 5 weeks

"Johnny (Is The Boy For Me)"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1953), #15, Billboard; #25, Cashbox

"Don'cha Hear Them Bells"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1953), #13, Billboard; #32, Cashbox

"The Kangaroo" (1953), #25, Billboard; #23, Cashbox

"I Really Don't Want To Know"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1954)

"I'm A Fool To Care"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1954)

"Whither Thou Goest"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1954)

"Mandolino"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1954), #19, Billboard

"Song in Blue"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1954), #17, Cashbox

"Hummingbird"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1955)

"Amukiriki (The Lord Willing)"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1955)

"Magic Melody"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1955)

"Texas Lady"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1956)

"Moritat" (Theme from "Three Penny Opera") (1956)

"Nuevo Laredo"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1956)

"Cinco Robles (Five Oaks)"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1957)

"Put A Ring On My Finger"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1958)

"Jura (I Swear I Love You)"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1961)

"Love Sneakin' Up On You"-Les Paul, Joss Stone & Sting (2005)

Compositions

Paul was also a prolific composer. Some of the songs he wrote were "Song in Blue", "Cryin'", "Hip-billy Boogie", "Suspicion", "Mandolino", "Magic Melody", "Don'cha Hear Them Bells", "The Kangaroo", "Big-Eyed Gal", "All I Need is You", "Mammy's Boogie", “Pacific Breeze”, “Mountain Railroad”, “Move Along, Baby (Don’t Waste My Time)”, "Five Alarm Fire", and "Walkin' and Whistlin' Blues".

See also

Ampex

Discovery World

Gibson Les Paul

Gibson SG

List of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees

Mary Ford

References

External links

History of Les Paul

Les Paul: Chasing Sound (may require subscription) PBS Documentary on the life of Les Paul, including extended interviews with Paul.

Remembering Les Paul Photos and extended interviews with Les on WGN Chicago's Steve & Johnnie early morning show

Staff writer (August 13, 2009). "Les Paul", obituary at ''The Daily Telegraph'' (Accessed August 24, 2009)

"Les Paul, 'The Wizard of Waukesha'", a biography (undated) at the Wisconsin Historical Society's official website

''Les Paul – Discovery World 2005'' video (requires Adobe Flash) at Discovery World's (museum) official website

''The Les Paul Show'', archive of Paul's NBC radio show at the Internet Archive's official website (includes MP3 files (free) of eleven of their radio shows including their audition show)

"Les Paul: Legacy of a Guitar Hero" at LIFE

''The Wizard of Waukesha'' (1980) at Allmovie's official website

''Les Paul – 'Miles of Music''', two video interviews of and performances by Paul (5–6 minutes each; requires Adobe Flash) with Bob Miles on ''Miles of Music'' (milesofmusic.tv), a Public-access television cable TV program

CLASSIC TRACKS: Les Paul & Mary Ford 'How High The Moon'

Photo Library from performances at Iridium

Les Paul's final interview

Category:American jazz guitarists Category:American musical instrument makers Category:American radio personalities Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Deaths from pneumonia Category:Decca Records artists Category:American musicians of German descent Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Guitar makers Category:Infectious disease deaths in New York Category:Inventors of musical instruments Category:Lead guitarists Category:Musicians from New Jersey Category:Musicians from Wisconsin Category:National Inventors Hall of Fame inductees Category:People from Mahwah, New Jersey Category:People from Waukesha, Wisconsin Category:RCA Victor artists Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:1915 births Category:2009 deaths Category:American rock guitarists Category:American inventors Category:American blues guitarists Category:Mercury Records artists

ar:لس بول zh-min-nan:Les Paul bg:Лес Пол ca:Les Paul cs:Les Paul cy:Les Paul da:Les Paul (musiker) de:Les Paul et:Les Paul es:Les Paul eo:Les Paul fa:لس پال fr:Les Paul ga:Les Paul gl:Les Paul hr:Les Paul io:Les Paul id:Les Paul is:Les Paul it:Les Paul he:לס פול la:Les Paul lv:Less Pols lb:Les Paul hu:Les Paul ml:ലെസ് പോൾ nl:Les Paul ja:レス・ポール no:Les Paul nn:Les Paul uz:Les Paul pl:Les Paul pt:Les Paul ro:Les Paul ru:Лес Пол simple:Les Paul sk:Les Paul szl:Les Paul sh:Les Paul fi:Les Paul sv:Les Paul th:เลส พอล tr:Les Paul uk:Лес Пол vi:Les Paul zh-yue:Les Paul zh:萊斯·保羅

name	The Cure
background	group_or_band
origin	Crawley, England
genre	Gothic rock, alternative rock, New Wave, post-punk
years active	1976–present
label	Fiction, Suretone, Geffen, Polydor, Elektra, Asylum, Sire|, Warner
associated acts	Malice, Easy Cure, The Glove, Siouxsie and the Banshees
website
current members	Robert SmithSimon Gallup Roger O'Donnell Jason Cooper
past members	Lol TolhurstMichael DempseyMatthieu HartleyAndy AndersonPhil ThornalleyBoris WilliamsPorl ThompsonPerry Bamonte }}

The Cure are an English alternative rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member. The Cure first began releasing music in the late 1970s with its debut album ''Three Imaginary Boys'' (1979); this, along with several early singles, placed the band as part of the post-punk and New Wave movements that had sprung up in the wake of the punk rock revolution in the United Kingdom. During the early 1980s, the band's increasingly dark and tormented music helped form the gothic rock genre.

After the release of ''Pornography'' (1982), the band's future was uncertain and Smith was keen to move past the gloomy reputation his band had acquired. With the 1982 single "Let's Go to Bed" Smith began to place a pop sensibility into the band's music (as well as a unique stage look). The Cure's popularity increased as the decade wore on, especially in the United States where the songs "Just Like Heaven", "Lovesong" and "Friday I'm in Love" entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. By the start of the 1990s, The Cure were one of the most popular alternative rock bands in the world. The band is estimated to have sold 27 million albums as of 2004. The Cure have released thirteen studio albums, 10 EPs and over thirty singles during the course of their career. Since 2010, they have been working on a fourteenth studio album.

History

Formation and early years (1973–1979)

The first incarnation of what became The Cure was The Obelisk, a band formed by students at Notre Dame Middle School in Crawley, Sussex. The band made their public debut in a one-off performance in April 1973, and featured Robert Smith (piano), Michael "Mick" Dempsey (guitar), Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst (percussion), Marc Ceccagno (lead guitar) and Alan Hill (bass guitar). In January 1976 the band took a more substantial form of what would be when Ceccagno formed Malice with Smith and Dempsey along with two other classmates from St. Wilfrid's Catholic Comprehensive School, with Ceccagno on lead, Smith on guitar, and Dempsey switching to bass. Ceccagno soon left, however, to form a jazz-rock fusion band called Amulet. Increasingly influenced by the emergence of punk rock, Malice's remaining members became known as Easy Cure in January 1977. By this time, Smith and Dempsey had been joined by Lol Tolhurst from The Obelisk on drums, and new lead guitarist Porl Thompson. Both Malice and Easy Cure auditioned several vocalists before Smith finally assumed the role of Easy Cure's frontman in September 1977.

That year, Easy Cure won a talent competition with German label Hansa Records, and received a recording contract. Although the band recorded tracks for the company, none were ever released. Following disagreements in March 1978 over the direction the band should take, the contract with Hansa was dissolved. Smith later recalled, "We were very young. They just thought they could turn us into a teen group. They actually wanted us to do cover versions and we always refused." Thompson was dropped from the band in May, and the remaining trio (Smith/Tolhurst/Dempsey) were soon renamed The Cure by Smith. Later that month the band recorded their first sessions as a trio at Chestnut Studios in Sussex, which were distributed as a demo tape to a dozen major record labels. The demo found its way to Polydor Records scout Chris Parry, who signed The Cure to his newly formed Fiction label—distributed by Polydor—in September 1978. The Cure released their debut single "Killing an Arab" in December 1978 on the Small Wonder label as a stopgap until Fiction finalised distribution arrangements with Polydor. "Killing an Arab" garnered both acclaim and controversy: while the single's provocative title led to accusations of racism, the song is actually based on French existentialist Albert Camus's novel ''The Stranger''. The band placed a sticker label that denied the racist connotations on the single's 1979 reissue on Fiction. An early ''NME'' article on the band wrote that The Cure "are like a breath of fresh suburban air on the capital's smog-ridden pub-and-club circuit" and noted "With a John Peel session and more extensive London gigging on their immediate agenda, it remains to be seen whether or not The Cure can retain their refreshing ''joie de vivre''."

The Cure released their debut album ''Three Imaginary Boys'' in May 1979. Because of the band's inexperience in the studio, Parry and engineer Mike Hedges took control of the recording. The band, particularly Smith, were unhappy with their debut; in a 1987 interview, he admitted, "a lot of it was very superficial – I didn't even like it at the time. There were criticisms made that it was very lightweight, and I thought they were justified. Even when we'd made it, I wanted to do something that I thought had more substance to it". The band's second single "Boys Don't Cry" was released in June. The Cure then embarked as the support band for Siouxsie and the Banshees' ''Join Hands'' promotional tour of England, Northern Ireland, and Wales between August and October. The tour saw Smith pull double duty each night by performing with The Cure and as the guitarist with The Banshees when John McKay quit the group. That musical experience had a strong impact on him: "On stage that first night with the Banshees, I was blown away by how powerful I felt playing that kind of music. It was so different to what we were doing with The Cure. Before that, I'd wanted us to be like The Buzzcocks or Elvis Costello, the punk Beatles. Being a Banshee really changed my attitude to what I was doing."

The Cure's third single "Jumping Someone Else's Train" was released in early October 1979. Soon afterwards, Dempsey was dropped from the band because of his cold reception to material Smith had written for the upcoming album. Dempsey joined the Associates, while Simon Gallup (bass) and Matthieu Hartley (keyboards) from The Magspies joined The Cure. The Associates toured as support band for The Cure and The Passions on the ''Future Pastimes Tour'' of England between November and December—all three bands were on the Fiction Records roster—with the new Cure line-up already performing a number of new songs for the projected second album. Meanwhile, a spin-off band comprising Smith, Tolhurst, Dempsey, Gallup, Hartley and Thompson, with backing vocals from assorted family and friends, and lead vocals provided by their local postman Frankie Bell released a 7-inch single in December under the assumed name of Cult Hero.

Early Gothic Phase (1980–1982)

Due to the band's lack of creative control on the first album, Smith exerted a greater influence on the recording of The Cure's second album ''Seventeen Seconds'', which he co-produced with Mike Hedges. The album was released in 1980 and reached number 20 on the UK charts. A single from the album, "A Forest", became the band's first UK hit single, reaching number 31 on the singles chart. The album was a departure from The Cure's sound up to that point, with Hedges describing it as "morose, atmospheric, very different to ''Three Imaginary Boys''." In its review of ''Seventeen Seconds'' the ''NME'' said, "For a group as young as The Cure, it seems amazing that they have covered so much territory in such a brief time." At the same time, Smith was pressed concerning the concept of an alleged "anti-image". Smith told the press he was fed up with the anti-image association that some considered to be "elaborately disguising their plainness", stating, "We had to get away from that anti-image thing, which we didn't even create in the first place. And it seemed like we were trying to be more obscure. We just didn't like the standard rock thing. The whole thing really got out of hand." That same year ''Three Imaginary Boys'' was repackaged for the American market as ''Boys Don't Cry'', with new artwork and a modified tracklist. The Cure set out on their first world tour to promote both releases. At the end of the tour, Matthieu Hartley left the band. Hartley said, "I realised that the group was heading towards suicidal, sombre music—the sort of thing that didn't interest me at all."

The band reconvened with Hedges to produce their third album ''Faith'' (1981), which furthered the mood of misery present on ''Seventeen Seconds''. The album peaked at number 14 on the UK charts. Included with cassette copies of ''Faith'' was an instrumental soundtrack for ''Carnage Visors'', an animated film shown in place of an opening act for the band's 1981 Picture Tour. In late 1981, The Cure released the non-album single "Charlotte Sometimes". By this point, the sombre mood of the music had a profound effect on the attitude of the band. The band would refuse requests for older songs in concert, and sometimes Smith would be so absorbed by the persona he projected onstage he would leave at the end in tears.

In 1982, The Cure recorded and released ''Pornography'', the third and final album of an "oppressively dispirited" trio that cemented the Cure's stature as purveyors of the emerging gothic rock genre. Smith has said that during the recording of ''Pornography'' he was "undergoing a lot of mental stress. But it had nothing to do with the group, it just had to do with what I was like, my age and things. I think I got to my worst round about ''Pornography''. Looking back and getting other people's opinions of what went on, I was a pretty monstrous sort of person at that time". Gallup described the album by saying, "Nihilism took over [. . .] We sang 'It doesn't matter if we all die' and that is exactly what we thought at the time." Parry was concerned that the album did not have a hit song for radio play and instructed Smith and producer Phil Thornalley to polish the track "The Hanging Garden" for release as a single. Despite the concerns about the album's uncommercial sound, ''Pornography'' became the band's first UK Top 10 album, charting at number eight. The release of ''Pornography'' was followed by the Fourteen Explicit Moments tour, where the band finally dropped the anti-image angle and first adopted their signature look of big, towering hair and smeared lipstick on their faces. The tour also saw a series of incidents that prompted Simon Gallup to leave The Cure at the tour's conclusion. Gallup and Smith did not talk to each other for eighteen months following his departure.

Increasing commercial success (1983–1986)

With Gallup's departure from The Cure and with Smith's work with Siouxsie and the Banshees, rumours spread that The Cure had broken up. In December 1982, Smith remarked to ''Melody Maker'', "Do The Cure really exist any more? I've been pondering that question myself [. . .] it has got to a point where I don't fancy working in that format again." He added, "Whatever happens, it won't be me, Laurence, and Simon together any more. I know that."

Parry was concerned at the state of his label's top band, and became convinced that the solution was for The Cure to reinvent its musical style. Parry managed to convince Smith and Tolhurst of the idea; Parry said, "It appealed to Robert because he wanted to destroy The Cure anyway." With Tolhurst now playing keyboards instead of drums, the duo released the single "Let's Go to Bed" in late 1982. While Smith wrote the single off as a throwaway, "stupid" pop song to the press, it became a minor hit in the UK, reaching number 44 on the singles chart. It was followed in 1983 by two more successful songs: the synthesiser-based "The Walk" (number 12), and "The Love Cats", which became the band's first British Top 10 hit, reaching number seven. The group released these studio singles and their B-sides as the compilation album ''Japanese Whispers'', designed by Smith for the Japanese market only, but released worldwide on the decision of the record company. The same year, Smith also recorded and toured with Siouxsie and the Banshees, contributing as guitarist on their ''Nocturne'' live video and their ''Hyaena'' studio album. Meanwhile, he recorded the ''Blue Sunshine'' album with Banshees bassist Steven Severin as The Glove, while Lol Tolhurst produced the first two singles and debut album of the English band And Also The Trees.

In 1984, The Cure released ''The Top'', a generally psychedelic album on which Smith played all the instruments except the drums—played by Andy Anderson—and the saxophone—played by returnee Porl Thompson. The album was a Top 10 hit in the UK, and was their first studio album to break the ''Billboard'' 200 in the U.S., reaching number 180. ''Melody Maker'' praised the album as "psychedelia that can't be dated", while pondering, "I've yet to meet anyone who can tell me why The Cure are having hits now of all times." The Cure then embarked on their worldwide "Top Tour" with Thompson, Anderson, and producer-turned-bassist Phil Thornalley on board. Released in late 1984, The Cure's first live album, ''Concert'' consisted of performances from this tour. Near the tour's end, Anderson was fired for destroying a hotel room and was replaced by Boris Williams. Thornalley also left because of the stress of touring. However, the bassist slot was not vacant long, for a Cure roadie named Gary Biddles had brokered a reunion between Smith and former bassist Simon Gallup, who had been playing in the band Fools Dance. Soon after reconciling, Smith asked Gallup to rejoin the band. Smith was ecstatic about Gallup's return and declared to ''Melody Maker'', "It's a group again."

In 1985, the new line-up of Smith, Tolhurst, Gallup, Thompson, and Williams released ''The Head on the Door'', an album that managed to bind together the optimistic and pessimistic aspects of the band's music between which they had previously shifted. ''The Head on the Door'' reached number seven in the UK and was the band's first entry into American Top 75 at number 59, a success partly due to the international impact of the LP's two singles, "In Between Days" and "Close to Me". Following the album and world tour, the band released the singles compilation ''Standing on a Beach'' in three formats (each with a different track listing and a specific name) in 1986. This compilation made the US Top 50, and saw the re-issue of three previous singles: "Boys Don't Cry" (in a new form), "Let's Go To Bed" and later "Charlotte Sometimes". This release was accompanied by a VHS or LaserDisc called ''Staring at the Sea'', which featured videos for each track on the compilation. The Cure toured to support the compilation and released a live concert VHS of the show, filmed in the south of France called ''The Cure in Orange''. During this time, The Cure became a very popular band in Europe (particularly in France, Germany and the Benelux countries) and increasingly popular in the U.S.

''Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me'' and worldwide success (1987–1993)

In 1987, The Cure released the double LP ''Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me'', which reached number six in the UK, the Top 10 in several countries and was the band's first entry into the U.S. Top 40 at number 35 (where it was certified platinum), due to the combination of the band's rising popularity and the success of lead single, "Why Can't I Be You?". The album's third single, "Just Like Heaven" was the band's most successful single to date in the US, being their first to enter the ''Billboard'' Top 40. After the album's release, the band embarked on the successful Kissing Tour. During the European leg of the tour, Lol Tolhurst's alcohol consumption was interfering with his ability to perform so The Psychedelic Furs keyboardist Roger O'Donnell was frequently called upon to stand in for him. In 1989, The Cure released the album ''Disintegration'', which saw a return to the gothic atmospheres of earlier releases like ''Faith'' and ''Pornography''. It became their highest charting album in the UK to date, entering at number three and featuring three Top 30 singles in the UK and Germany ("Lullaby", "Lovesong" and "Pictures of You"). ''Disintegration'' also reached number twelve on the US charts. The first single stateside, "Fascination Street", reached number one on the American Modern Rock chart, but was quickly overshadowed when its third US single, "Lovesong", reached number two on the American pop charts (the only Cure single to reach the US Top 10). By 1992, ''Disintegration'' had sold over three million copies worldwide.

During the ''Disintegration'' sessions, the band gave Smith an ultimatum that either Tolhurst would have to leave the band or they would. In February 1989, Tolhurst's exit was made official and announced to the press; this resulted in Roger O'Donnell becoming a full-fledged member of the band and left Smith as The Cure's only remaining founder member. Smith attributed Tolhurst's dismissal to an inability to exert himself and issues with alcohol, concluding, "He was out of step with everything. It had just become detrimental to everything we'd do." Because Tolhurst was still on the payroll during the recording of ''Disintegration'', he was credited in the album's liner notes as playing "other instruments", however it has since been revealed that he contributed nothing to the album in either performance or song writing. The Cure then embarked on the Prayer Tour, which saw the band playing stadiums in the US. On 6 September 1989, The Cure performed "Just Like Heaven" at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. In February 1990, the song won the Brit Award for Best British Video.

In May 1990, Roger O'Donnell quit and was replaced with the band's guitar technician Perry Bamonte. That November, The Cure released a collection of remixes called ''Mixed Up''. The album was not well received and quickly slid down the charts. The one new song on the collection, "Never Enough", was released as a single. In 1991 The Cure were awarded the Brit Award for Best British Group. That same year Tolhurst filed a lawsuit against Smith and Fiction Records in 1991 over royalties payments, and claimed joint ownership of the name "The Cure" with Smith; the verdict was handed out in September 1994 in favour of Smith. In respite from the lawsuit, the band returned to the studio to record their next album. ''Wish'' reached number one in the UK and number two in the US and yielded the international hits "High" and "Friday I'm in Love". The Cure also embarked on the "Wish Tour" with Cranes, and released the live albums ''Show'' (September 1993) and ''Paris'' (October 1993). As a promotional exercise with the Our Price music chain in the UK, a limited edition EP was released consisting of instrumental outtakes from the ''Wish'' sessions. Entitled ''Lost Wishes'', the proceeds from the four-track cassette tape went to charity. In 1993, the band were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album for ''Wish''.

In the years between the release of ''Wish'' and the start of sessions for The Cure's next album, the band's line-up shifted again. Thompson left the band once more during 1993 to play with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, and Bamonte took over as lead guitarist. Boris Williams also left the band, and was replaced by Jason Cooper (formerly of My Life Story).

Period of transition (1994–1998)

The album sessions began in 1994 with only Smith and Bamonte present; the pair were later joined by Gallup (who was recovering from physical problems) and Roger O'Donnell, who had been asked to rejoin the band at the end of 1994. The Cure performed "Burn" in the movie ''The Crow'' and "Dredd Song", the theme song of the 1995 movie ''Judge Dredd'' starring Sylvester Stallone (The former song despite never being released as a single nor ever played live, is regarded a fan favourite of Cure fans and fans of 'The Crow'). It was not released on a Cure album until 2004 on ''Join the Dots: B-Sides & Rarities 1978–2001 (The Fiction Years)''.

''Wild Mood Swings'', finally released in 1996, was poorly received compared with previous albums and marked the end of the band's commercial peak. Early in 1996, the Cure played festivals in South America, followed by a world tour in support of the album ''Galore''. ''Galore'' contained all of the Cure's singles released between 1987 and 1997, as well as the new single "Wrong Number", which featured longtime David Bowie guitarist Reeves Gabrels. Gabrels also accompanied The Cure on a brief American radio festival tour as an onstage guest guitarist for "Wrong Number". In 1998 The Cure contributed to the soundtrack album for ''The X Files'' feature film as well as the Depeche Mode tribute album ''For the Masses'', with their cover of "World in My Eyes".

Later years (1999–2009)

With only one album left in their record contract and with commercial response to ''Wild Mood Swings'' and the ''Galore'' compilation lacklustre, Smith once again considered that the end of The Cure might be near and thus wanted to make an album that reflected the more serious side of the band. The Grammy-nominated album ''Bloodflowers'' was released in 2000 after being delayed since 1998. According to Smith, the album was the third of a trilogy along with ''Pornography'' and ''Disintegration''. The band also embarked on the nine-month Dream Tour, attended by over one million people worldwide. In 2001, The Cure left Fiction and released their ''Greatest Hits'' album and DVD, which featured the music videos for a number of classic Cure songs. In 2002, the band headlined twelve major summer music festivals, and played three extended concerts (one in Brussels, two in Berlin) in which they performed the albums ''Pornography'', ''Disintegration'' and ''Bloodflowers'' in their respective entireties each night. The Berlin performances were released on DVD as ''The Cure: Trilogy'' in 2003.

In 2003, The Cure signed with Geffen Records. In 2004, they released a new four-disc boxed set on Fiction Records titled ''Join the Dots: B-Sides and Rarities, 1978-2001 (The Fiction Years)''. The compilation includes seventy Cure songs, some previously unreleased, and a 76-page full-colour book of photographs, history and quotes, packaged in a hard cover. The album peaked at number 106 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album charts. The band released their twelfth album ''The Cure'' on Geffen in 2004, which was produced by Ross Robinson. It made a top ten debut on both sides of the Atlantic in July 2004. To promote the album, the band headlined the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival that May. From 24 July to 29 August, The Cure headlined the Curiosa concert tour of North America. While attendances were lower than expected, Curiosa was still one of the more successful American summer festivals of 2004. The same year the band was honoured with an MTV Icon award in a television special presented by Marilyn Manson.

In May 2005, Roger O'Donnell and Perry Bamonte were fired from the band. O'Donnell claims Smith informed him he was reducing the band to a three-piece. Previously O'Donnell said he had only found out about the band's upcoming tour dates via a fan site and added, "It was sad to find out after nearly 20 years the way I did but then I should have expected no less or more." The remaining members of the band—Smith, Gallup and Cooper—made several appearances as a trio before it was announced in June that Porl Thompson would be returning for the band's 2005 Festival summer shows, as well as their set at Live 8 in Paris on 2 July. Later that year, the band recorded a cover of John Lennon's "Love" for Amnesty International's charity album ''Make Some Noise''. It is available for download on the Amnesty website, while the album was released on CD in 2006. On 1 April 2006, The Cure appeared at the Royal Albert Hall on behalf of the Teenage Cancer Trust. It was their only show through to the end the year. In December a live DVD, entitled ''The Cure: Festival 2005'' including 30 songs of their 2005 Festival tour was released.

The Cure began writing and recording material for their thirteenth album in 2006. Smith initially stated it would be a double album. The Cure announced a last-minute postponement of their autumn 2007 North American 4Tour in August in order to continue working on the album, rescheduling the dates for spring 2008. Titled ''4:13 Dream'', the album was released in October 2008. The group released four singles and an EP—"The Only One", "Freakshow", "Sleep When I'm Dead", "The Perfect Boy" and ''Hypnagogic States'' respectively—on or near to the 13th of each month, in the months leading up to the album's release. In February 2009, The Cure received the 2009 Shockwaves NME Award for Godlike Genius.

Reunion with former members and next album (2010–present)

On January 13, 2010, Smith announced on The Cure's website that they were working on the follow-up to ''4:13 Dream'' and an iTunes exclusive release. He explained, "There is an 'exclusive' iTunes Cure album still in the works... and part two of the ''Dream'' sessions is slowly taking shape." In August 2011, Smith told ''Hot Press'' that The Cure may not be interested in wrapping up the leftover material that was recorded during the ''4:13 Dream'' sessions. He explained, "It's one of those things that it's been left so long now I expect it will come out as a half-finished sort of thing. I'm not sure if the band wants to complete it, which is sort of the elephant in the room. What happened to the second half of the album? No one mentions it! We're aware that it's there. Nobody really wants to talk about it. Maybe it will come up after a few post-festival beers!". Smith later added, "I think between now and this time next year, The Cure will take precedence over anything else. Until I get the second half of this album out, I won't do another collaboration."

In 2011, the band played their first three studio albums in their entirety during two shows in Sydney, Australia. These "Reflections" shows notably featured Roger O'Donnell and Laurence Tolhurst, both in a keyboard and percussion role. Porl Thompson was absent from the performances. The shows are due to be released on DVD in 2012. The band later headlined Bestival. Roger O'Donnell again joined the band on stage. On 11 September 2011, Roger O'Donnell announced on his Facebook page that he had officially rejoined the band. The band announced seven more Reflections shows, one in London, three in New York City and three in Los Angeles. On Tuesday 27 September, The Cure was announced as a nominee for 2012 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Cure have been announced as one of the three headliners of the 2012 Reading and Leeds Festivals.

Musical style

The Cure are often identified with the gothic rock subgenre of alternative rock, and are viewed as one of the form's definitive bands. However, the band has routinely rejected classification, particularly as a gothic rock band. Robert Smith said in 2006, "It's so pitiful when 'goth' is still tagged onto the name The Cure", and added, "We're not categorisable. I suppose we were post-punk when we came out, but in total it's impossible [...] I just play Cure music, whatever that is." Smith has also expressed his distaste for gothic rock, describing it as "incredibly dull and monotonous. A dirge really." While typically viewed as producers of dark and gloomy music, The Cure have also yielded a number of upbeat songs. ''Spin'' has said "The Cure have always been an either/or sort of band: either [...] Robert Smith is wallowing in gothic sadness or he's licking sticky-sweet cotton-candy pop off his lipstick-stained fingers."

The Cure's primary musical traits have been listed as "dominant, melodic bass lines; whiny, strangulated vocals; and a lyric obsession with existential, almost literary despair." Most Cure songs start with Smith and Gallup writing the drum parts and bass lines. Both record demos at home and then bring them into the studio for fine-tuning. Smith said in 1992, "I think when people talk about the 'Cure sound,' they mean songs based on 6-string bass, acoustic guitar, and my voice, plus the string sound from the Solina." On top of this foundation is laid "towering layers of guitars and synthesisers". Keyboards have been a component of the band's sound since ''Seventeen Seconds'', and their importance increased with the instrument's extensive use on ''Disintegration''. With the Departure of Roger O'Donnell in 2005, keyboards have not been as prominent in the band's album ''4:13 Dream'' and their live shows.

Music videos

The band's early music videos have been described as "dreadful affairs" and have been maligned for their poor quality, particularly by the band itself. Lol Tolhurst said, "Those videos were unmitigated disasters; we weren't actors and our personalities weren't coming across." It was with the video for "Let's Go to Bed", their first collaboration with director Tim Pope, that The Cure would become noted for their videos. Pope added a playful element to the band's videos; the director insisted in a 1987 ''Spin'' interview, "I think that side of them was always there, but was never brought out." Pope would go on to direct the majority of The Cure's videos, and his videos, which became synonymous with the band, helped expand The Cure's audience during the 1980s. Pope explained the appeal of working with The Cure by saying, "The Cure is the ultimate band for a filmmaker to work with because Robert Smith really understands the camera. His songs are so cinematic. I mean on one level there's this stupidity and humour, right, but beneath that there are all [Smith's] psychological obsessions and claustrophobia."

Legacy

The Cure were one of the first alternative bands to have chart and commercial success in an era before alternative rock had broken into the mainstream. In 1992 the ''NME'' declared The Cure had during the 1980s become "a goth hit machine (19 to date), an international phenomenon and, yep, the most successful alternative band that ever shuffled disconsolately about the earth". Smith has noted he looks at Cure-influenced bands like Interpol and My Chemical Romance with affection, adding, "I also think [Interpol bassist] Carlos D.'s obsession with Simon Gallup is sweet." Interpol lead singer, Paul Banks was quoted as saying "The Cure is the band that all of us in Interpol can say influenced us. When I was younger I listened to them a lot. Carlos as well. Actually, he took a straight influence from this band on the way he played the bass and the keys. To me, Robert Smith is also one of these examples: you can't be Robert Smith if you're not Robert Smith. It's one of the bands with the deepest influence on Interpol, because we all like them. They're legendary."

Several references to The Cure and their music have been made in popular culture. A number of films have used the title of a Cure song as the film's title, including ''Boys Don't Cry'' (1999) and ''Just Like Heaven'' (2005). The Cure's gloomy image has been the subject of parody at times. In series two of ''The Mighty Boosh'', The Moon sings 'The Love Cats' over the credits. In the same episode, a powerful gothic hairspray, Goth Juice, is said to be "The most powerful hairspray known to man. Made from the tears of Robert Smith." ''The Mary Whitehouse Experience'' often featured brief clips of the stars of the show performing comical songs and nursery rhymes as The Cure in a morose style. Robert Smith appeared in the final episode of the first series of ''The Mary Whitehouse Experience'' singing "The sun has got his hat on" before punching the character Ray (played by Robert Newman) whilst uttering Ray's catchphrase "Oh no what a personal disaster". Robert Smith was also portrayed on an episode of ''South Park'' (Season 1, Episode 12) where he transforms into the form of Mothra and battles Mecha-Streisand to save the day and Kyle shouts "''Disintegration'' is the best album ever!" In Craig Thompson's graphic novel ''Blankets'' the chapter seven is called "Just Like Heaven". The same chapter shows Raina singing some lyrics from this song to Craig.

Discography

''Three Imaginary Boys'' (1979)

''Seventeen Seconds'' (1980)

''Faith'' (1981)

''Pornography'' (1982)

''The Top'' (1984)

''The Head on the Door'' (1985)

''Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me'' (1987)

''Disintegration'' (1989)

''Wish'' (1992)

''Wild Mood Swings'' (1996)

''Bloodflowers'' (2000)

''The Cure'' (2004)

''4:13 Dream'' (2008)

Members

;Current line-up

Robert Smith – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards (1976–present)

Simon Gallup – bass guitar, keyboards (1979–1982, 1985–present)

Roger O'Donnell – keyboards (1987–1990, 1995–2005, 2011–present)

Jason Cooper – drums, percussion (1995–present)

See also

References

Sources

Apter, Jeff. (2006). ''Never Enough: The Story of the Cure''. Omnibus Press. ISBN 1-84449-827-1

Further reading

''Ten Imaginary Years'', by L. Barbarian, Steve Sutherland and Robert Smith (1988) Zomba Books ISBN 0-946391-87-4

''The Cure: A Visual Documentary'', by Dave Thompson and Jo-Ann Greene(1988) Omnibus Press ISBN 0-7119-1387-0

''The Cure: Songwords 1978–1989'' S. Hopkins, Robert Smith and T. Foo (1989) Omnibus Press ISBN 0-7119-1951-8

''In Between Days: An Armchair Guide To The Cure'' by Dave Thompson, Helter Skelter Publishing (October 2005) ISBN 1-905139-00-4

''The Cure – Greatest Hits'' (songbook containing 20 of their best, transcribed note-for-note with tab, chord symbols and complete lyrics), Hal Leonard Corporation (May 2002) ISBN 0-634-04667-5

''Robert Smith: "The Cure" and Wishful Thinking'' by Richard Carman (2005) Independent Music Press (UK) ISBN 978-0-9549704-1-3

''Jeremy Wulc : My dream comes true : Carnet de route avec The Cure. (2009) Editions : Camion Blanc

External links

''The Cure Records'' – the most complete discography on the Internet

Category:Brit Award winners Category:English alternative rock groups Category:British New Wave musical groups Category:Gothic rock groups Category:Musical groups established in 1976 Category:British post-punk music groups Category:People from Crawley Category:NME Awards winners

af:The Cure ca:The Cure (música) cs:The Cure da:The Cure de:The Cure et:The Cure el:The Cure eml:The Cure es:The Cure eu:The Cure fa:د کیور fr:The Cure ga:The Cure gl:The Cure ko:더 큐어 hr:The Cure ia:The Cure is:The Cure it:The Cure he:הקיור ka:The Cure kk:The Cure lv:The Cure lb:The Cure lt:The Cure hu:The Cure mk:The Cure nah:The Cure nl:The Cure ja:ザ・キュアー no:The Cure uz:The Cure pl:The Cure pt:The Cure ro:The Cure ru:The Cure simple:The Cure sk:The Cure sr:The Cure su:The Cure fi:The Cure sv:The Cure th:เดอะเคียว tr:The Cure uk:The Cure vls:The Cure zh:治疗乐队

Name	Teddy Afro
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Tewodros Kassahun
Birth place	Addis Ababa
Instruments	Singing
Genre	Ethiopian music
Occupation(s)	musician
Years active	2001–present
Label	Nahom Records
Notable albums	Abugida (2001), Tarik Tesera (2003), Yasteseryal (2005)
Notable songs	"Haile, Haile", "Tarik Tesera" (Anbessa), "Lambadina"
Resides	addis abeba }}

Teddy Afro (in Amharic: ቴዲ አፍሮ; real name: Tewodros Kassahun, in Amharic: ቴዎድሮስ ካሳሁን, B. 14 July 1976) is a popular Ethiopian singer and critic of the ruling Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). His opposition to the government has led to legal troubles.

Rise to fame

In 2001, Teddy Afro released his second album, ''Abugida'', named after the Abugida syllabary of the Ge'ez language. Several tracks quickly caught the ear of many listeners in Ethiopia - "Halieselassie", a tribute to the late Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie I; "Haile, Haile", a single in honor of the Olympic long distance champion Haile Gebrselassie; and "Mona Lisa", a song about the measure of human beauty.

His third album, ''Yasteseryal'', was released in 2005. The release of this album coincided with elevated political tension in Ethiopia surrounding the Ethiopian general election, 2005. His politically- and socially-inspired songs acted as a call for unity and peace and made the 17 years of TPLF-led government in power concerned. Consequently the government banned four songs including "Yasteseryal" from playing on radios and TV (http://www.ethiopianreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t;=10689&p;=53228). The most popular song of the album "Yasetseryal" claims that there is no real change in Ethiopia but a new government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) fight against the Derg was nothing but an infamous military junta.The album sold more than a million copies within a few months after its release, becoming the biggest selling Ethiopian music album to date.

Legal troubles

Afro was accused of hit-and-run manslaughter and was imprisoned in April 2008. Some sources claimed that the accusation was politically motivated, following the release of several songs critical of the government, especially during the May 2005 national election. Afro pleaded not guilty to these allegations, and his court case and imprisonment were national talking points in Ethiopia. Some members of the opposition viewed his imprisonment as part of the regime in Ethiopia attack on symbols of Ethiopian unity, Afro was convicted of manslaughter on 5 December 2008 and the judge sentenced him to six years' imprisonment and a fine of 18,000 Birr (apr. 1800 USD). On 18 February 2009, Afro's prison sentence was reduced from six years to two years by an appellate court. On 13 August 2009, Afro was released from prison eight months early on account of good behaviour in prison.

Released works

Albums

Album Information
align="left"	*Released: 2001	*Record Label: Nahom Records	*Singles: "Lidjennet Alat", "Leman Lemash", "Mona Lisa"
	*Released: 2004	*Record Label: evangadi prodaction	*Singles: "Tarik Teserra" (Anbessa)
	*Released: 2005	*Record Label: Nahom Records	*Executive Producer: Elias Fikru	*Singles: "Yasteseryal", "Bel Stegne", "Lambadina", "Promise","alamin"
	*Released: 2005	*Record Label: Nahom Records	*Executive Producer: Elias Fikru	*Singles: "Yasteseryal", "Bel Stegne", "Lambadina", "Promise"
	*Released: 2006	*Record Label: Nahom Records	*Singles: "Menta Wedije", "Yregal", "Lamie Bora", "Sdet"
align="left"	*Released: 2012	*Record Label: AdikaRecords

DVDs

DVD Information
	*Released: 2004	*Record Label: Nahom Records	*Executive Producer: Elias Fikru	*Singles: "Tarik Tesera" (Anbessa)
	*Released: 2005	*Record Label: Nahom Records	*Executive Producer: Elias Fikru	*Singles: "Yasteseryal", "Promise", "Anbessa", "Seleme"

References

External links

Teddy Afro Charity Song - Sew EthioTube Video

Teddy Afro Music video Collection

Teddy Afro court Case

Teddy Afro works and court proceedings

Category:Ethiopian male singers Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Ethiopian prisoners and detainees Category:Ethiopian people convicted of manslaughter Category:Prisoners and detainees of Ethiopia

am:ቴዲ አፍሮ de:Teddy Afro nl:Teddy Afro no:Teddy Afro sv:Teddy Afro