Take this heart
And make it break

GLIMPSES OF EVERYDAY LIFE IN PORT OF SPAIN TRINIDAD IN THE 1940s

In 1918, a vis­i­tor to Port-of-Spain de­scribed the place thus: "The shop­ping dis­trict fair­ly teems with pedes­tri­ans and ve­hi­cles through­out the busi­ness hours, and Fred­er­ick Street, which is per­haps the busiest in the city, is a gay and in­ter­est­ing sight, kalei­do­scop­ic in colour, crowd­ed with life, and a very bee­hive of ac­tiv­i­ty.

"Here are stores, af­ter stores of every kind, many modeled on the plan of our own de­part­ment stores, and here one may find any­thing and every­thing the mar­kets of the world af­ford. Clerks crowd the shop en­trances. Goods heap the side­walks as at a Paris bazaar. A few blocks far­ther the crowd has thinned, and the shops are small­er and less pre­ten­tious."

One of the largest em­po­ri­ums was the Miller's Pub­lic Sup­ply Stores which be­gan life around 1835, when Irish­man John Miller broke with his em­ploy­ers at Wilsons (a large co­coa and sug­ar agent) and went in­to busi­ness on his own. Al­though he died in 1843, his store sur­vived and was ad­min­is­tered from Gat­e­ Church Street in Lon­don, by a rel­a­tive, James Miller Esq.

This photo taken in 1940s . Taken from Scott He Collection.

Not too many bands can claim they were pretty much single-handedly responsible for an entire genre and musical movement. The Cure can.

The post-punk found on their 1979 debut album, Three Imaginary Boys, quickly evolved into a gloomier and moodier form of music on their second LP, the following year's Seventeen Seconds. The next few years gave birth to the goth subgenre, as dark music, darker moods and a super-dark outlook went on to inspire a generation of sad-sack kids – and plenty of crappy music – over the next three decades.

But the Cure weren't done yet. As the '80s moved on, so did the band, which has been fronted by Robert Smith since the start. By the time the decade ended, their music had steered them into new territories, including psychedelic, jangly alt-rock and cheery pop.

Their dozen-plus LPs over the years have swung through all these almost effortlessly, as you'll see in the below list of Cure Albums Ranked Worst to Best. There were some stumbles along the way, but without an album like 1984's bleak The Top, they may have never gotten to The Head on the Door, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me and Disintegration.

Their influence continues, four decades after songs like "Killing an Arab," "Boys Don't Cry" and "Jumping Someone Else's Train" introduced them to the world. Their 2019 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame may not be the culmination of their long career, but it puts a stamp of validity on a catalog of music that helped shape an era.

13. 'Wild Mood Swings' (1996)
The Cure's 10th album sounds like kind of a mess because it was made under stormy conditions. Various members were in and out of the group at the time, and, after scoring the highest-charting album of its career with 1992's 'Wish,' Robert Smith took a four-year break – the longest hiatus between Cure albums at the time – that ended with an overlong, and underdeveloped, set of songs. The glory days were over.

12. 'The Top' (1984)
If it wasn't for the slinky "The Caterpillar," the Cure's fifth album would be their worst. It's certainly the most forgettable of all the early records. It's sludgy, murky, confusing and all over the place musically. Plus, Robert Smith seems scattered and unfocused for most of its 40 long minutes. They managed to return with one of their all-time best albums, 'The Head on the Door,' a year later.

11. '4:13 Dream' (2008)
Some of the songs on the band's 13th album dated back to the mid-'80s, and Robert Smith had so much material that he considered making it a double record at one point. Instead, he replaced the gloomier songs with more polished and upbeat ones. Not a good move. Like other Cure albums from the period, '4:13 Dream' tries too hard to replicate the band's best era, but the songs – besides a couple singles – just aren't there.

10. 'The Cure' (2004)
The group's self-titled album from 2004 was co-produced by Ross Robinson, who's worked with Korn, Limp Bizkit and Slipknot. So, it's a heavier album than fans probably expected (or even wanted) from the Cure. It's overlong, and it's kind of hard to get through, but 'The Cure' offers a somewhat new perspective on a band that had recently passed the quarter-century mark of their career.
Fiction

9. 'Bloodflowers' (2000)
The Cure's 11th LP was called a return to form following 1996's messy and disappointing 'Wild Mood Swings.' It's certainly mood-building – one track clocks in at more than 11 minutes, and the average song length is a taxing six minutes – but 'Bloodflowers' often comes off like it's trying a little too hard to sound like a Cure album. Not necessarily a bad thing, but there's not much originality here either.
Fiction

8. 'Wish' (1992)
After 'Disintegration' made them worldwide stars three years earlier, the Cure returned with a similar-sounding LP that downplayed the earlier album's gloomier elements. The result was the band's highest-charting album, reaching No. 2 in the U.S. "Friday I'm in Love" was the big single, but there's more to 'Wish' than that. Probably the most consistently joyful album the group has ever made.
Fiction

7. 'Faith' (1981)
Like the albums before ('Seventeen Seconds') and after ('Pornography') it, 'Faith' forms a trilogy of records that helped seal the Cure's reputation as gloomy, black-clad artsy post-punks. The songs are mood-building set pieces, so radio airplay was pretty much non-existent. But as doomy, artsy goth, the Cure's third album is a cornerstone work by a band that excelled at it.
Fiction

6. 'Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me' (1987)
Following the 1985 rebound 'The Head on the Door,' Robert Smith led the band through a double-LP extravaganza that included some of his most joyous songs. The excellent "Just Like Heaven" is here and helped drive the album into the Top 40 (a first in the U.S. for the Cure). There's some filler here – Side Four is a big come-down – but 'Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me' set up the group for its masterpiece two years later.
Fiction

5. 'Three Imaginary Boys' (1979)
The band's debut album is sketchy at times (Robert Smith practically disowned the LP after the record company released it without his approval), but the post-punk moodiness that elevated later records starts here. There's a conceptual tightness here, too, which carried over to some of their best albums. Even better: the reworked U.S. version – called 'Boys Don't Cry' and released a year later – which includes some great early singles.
Fiction

4. 'Seventeen Seconds' (1980)
A year after their debut, the Cure returned darker, more focused and moving closer to the sound that would help define their reputation. 'Seventeen Seconds' comes together as Robert Smith leads the expanded lineup through a group of songs that set the stage for the goth movement right around the corner. The first in a trilogy of landmark records that formed a genre.
Fiction

3. 'The Head on the Door' (1985)
Robert Smith wrote every single song for the first time, and his singular vision helped get the Cure back on track after 1984's dismal 'The Top.' They try on a few different styles here, with the pop songs – especially the bouncy "In Between Days" – finding new radio-ready textures to cling to. Modern-rock radio was starting up around this time, and 'The Head on the Door' turned out to be a perfect fit.
Fiction

2. 'Pornography' (1982)
The Cure at their gloomiest and doomiest. And no wonder: Everyone was fighting and taking drugs, while Robert Smith was fighting back some major bouts of depression. It all amounts to the pinnacle of the band's darkest period. 'Pornography' was the final album in the Cure's trilogy of landmark goth records. Next up was their first real stumble, then a period of renewed creativity and a golden era of hits and music.
Fiction

1. 'Disintegration' (1989)
Everything the Cure had learned over the past decade was summed up on their milestone eighth album. 'Disintegration' has it all: goth dirges, endless psychedelic jams, super-catchy pop songs. And it made them massive stars, setting up a commercial groundswell for the next few years. Some of their best songs are here – "Pictures of You," "Lovesong," "Fascination Street" – but more importantly, 'Disintegration' sounds like an album made by a band at the peak of its creative powers.

nagetemo mou imi datta chigiretetta kuso kurae omoide nanka


It’s useless to cry over it
I tore my memories apart, they can eat shit for all I care

New blood joins this earth
And quickly he's subdued
Through constant pain disgrace
The young boy learns their rules
With time the child draws in
This whipping boy done wrong
Deprived of all his thoughts
The young man struggles on and on he's known
A vow unto his own
That never from this day
His will they'll take away

They dedicate their lives
To running all of his
He tries to please them all
This bitter man he is
Throughout his life the same
He's battled constantly
This fight he cannot win
A tired man they see no longer cares
The old man then prepares
To die regretfully
That old man here is me


I'VE ALWAYS LIVED MY LIFE ALONE, DESTINY FORGOTTEN.

Frank Lentini, owner of 3 legs, 4 feet, 16 toes, and 2 functioning sets of genitals. (1884-1966)

Lying here wide awake on my own now
Silence is the loudest cry
I'm safe but I've lost everything I've known
I can smile because the pain has gone
But cry because it's where I'm from
God I turn to You to make me strong again

I have cried so many times
And all those tears have washed my eyes
I see clearly into the light
'Cause I believe
I know one day I'll be home again
To start a new life, with peace everywhere
Right from the start until the end
I believe

Did you know that Trinidad and Tobago was the first country in the world to have a national holiday to commemorate the abolition of slavery? On 1st August 1838, full freedom was granted to slaves, and every year on this day we celebrate the emancipation of our ancestors from the British empire. While the Act in Parliament came into effect on 1st August 1834, a period of apprenticeship was put in place for a minimum of four years to bridge the gap between slavery and complete freedom. August 1st, 1985 marks the first year that emancipation day became a national holiday in T&T.

Today emancipation day is celebrated in numerous Caribbean islands and here in Trinidad we have parades, vigils, fetes and of course a national holiday.

The Emancipation village is set up in the Queen’s Park Savannah where you will see pictures and live shows showing the history of slavery and what our ancestors endured before becoming free people.

There will be song, dance, visual images and speeches which are always educational and entertaining.

.