Roger O'Donnell of The Cure has reacted to Paul Weller's vicious criticism of Robert Smith on a personal level.
In a lengthy interview for Record Collector magazine's upcoming Weller-themed issue, former The Jam frontman Weller referred to Smith as a "fucking big cunt" (via Louder Sound).
The interviewer brought up a similarity between one of Noel Gallagher's new album tracks and The Cure's iconic song "A Forest" at one point in the chat (1980).
Weller's reaction to this remark was described as being a mix of "incredulity and repulsion" by the author.
Really? ", exclaimed the soloist. "I fucking can't bear them. With his lipstick and all that bollox, the big cunt is fucking disgusting. He is your age too, right?
He's a fucking knob end, said Weller. I'm not a fan of him. You're all set. I know of someone I would cooperate with. I would absolutely slap him, or something.
O'Donnell, Smith's bandmate, has since added his own views via Twitter (November 9).
"I've always believed that, as Spike Milligan once said, residents of glass houses ought to draw the blinds before taking down their pants. Mr. Weller? The keyboard player typed.
It is unclear why the musician has such a strong disdain for Smith, however Louder Sound says that The Jam unintentionally assisted The Cure while they were making their debut album, "Three Imaginary Boys" (1979).
When he said that punk wasn't a political movement in an interview from 1985, Smith made reference to Weller, saying, "It eventually became that, because people wanted it to be viewed as a movement."
He continued by saying that people preferred to "hear something they could dance to" rather than listening to "bands like Yes and Genesis."
In the end, Smith said, "I mean, even individuals who think they're socially aware and donate their names to things, like Paul Weller and everything... I mean, it does no benefit at all." "Because it would take a pretty foolish person to believe Paul Weller.
"To believe someone like me, you'd have to be exceptionally foolish."
The same A&R scout, Chris Parry, who later signed The Jam to Polydor in 1977 and The Cure to his own label, Fiction Records, in 1978, was responsible for the discovery of both The Jam and The Cure.
Weller's remarks have not yet received a response from Smith.
While on their current headline tour in Europe, The Cure released a number of brand-new songs, including "And Nothing Is Forever," "Alone," "Endsong," "I Can Never Say Goodbye," and "A Fragile Thing."
The group's UK and Ireland tour is scheduled to begin in Dublin on December 1; the complete list of dates is below, and you can locate any tickets that are still available here.
