Michael Dempsey
Encyclopedia
Michael Dempsey is a bassist
from England
, who has performed as a member of several post-punk
and New Wave
bands including The Cure
and Associates.
(now known as Harare
, Zimbabwe
); the son of Nancy and William. He moved to Salfords
in Surrey
, England
in 1961, and attended Salfords County School from 1963 to 1970.
He then went to Notre Dame Middle School between 1970 and 1972, where he met Robert Smith
, Marc Ceccagno and Lol Tolhurst. Here they first played music together as The Obelisk in December 1972, giving an end-of-year performance for their classmates. Although he is ordinarily known as a bass guitar
player, Dempsey played guitar
for The Obelisk's only known live performance, whereas one Alan Hill played bass.
He later attended Saint Wilfrid's Catholic Comprehensive School (1972–1976), and Crawley College from 1976 to 1978.
In January 1976 Dempsey became a co-founding member of Malice, along with Smith, Ceccagno, and others. The band also later featured Laurence Tolhurst, and Porl Thompson
. They played only a few live shows in December of that same year.
, who became known as The Cure
following Thompson's departure in April 1978. Dempsey appeared as bassist on The Cure's singles "Killing an Arab
" (1978) and "Boys Don't Cry
" (1979) and on the 1979 album Three Imaginary Boys
. Other than frontman Smith, Dempsey had the distinction of being the only other member of The Cure (besides Simon Gallup
on the unreleased demo, "Violin Song") to sing lead vocals. He sang the cover version
of the Jimi Hendrix
song "Foxy Lady
", which appears on Three Imaginary Boys. He made his final live performance as a member of The Cure on 15 October 1979 at London
's Hammersmith Odeon on the last night of The Cure's tour in support of Siouxsie and the Banshees. In November of that year, however, the singles "Jumping Someone Else's Train
" by The Cure and "I'm a Cult Hero" / "I Dig You" by Cure side-project Cult Hero
were also released with Dempsey performing, respectively, bass and keyboards. The Cure's Three Imaginary Boys album and singles from 1978–1979 featuring Dempsey were later repackaged for the US market as the Boys Don't Cry
album in 1980, and he appears on the band's early Peel Sessions between 1978 and 1979.
's Associates, who (like The Cure) were signed to Fiction Records
. He had already performed with Associates prior to leaving The Cure, but made his debut as their new fulltime bassist on 16 November 1979 at Eric's Club
in Liverpool
; the first night of the Future Pastimes Tour; a "Fiction Records Package" tour featuring The Cure, The Passions
and Associates. He remained Associates' bassist from 1979 to 1983, appearing on the albums Fourth Drawer Down
(1981) and Sulk
(1982) along with a number of singles between 1980 and 1983. He also performed with the group on a series of radio sessions recorded for Radio 1
's John Peel
and David Jensen
shows, which were later released in 2003 as the album Radio 1 Sessions Volume 1; 1981-83.
, however frontman Billy Mackenzie
continued to work under the name of Associates with various collaborators, including Dempsey at times. Dempsey has also continued to collaborate with Rankine. His replacement on bass during Associates' second phase was Roberto Soave, who has since appeared in several bands also featuring members of The Cure including Shelleyan Orphan
, Presence
and Babacar, as well as taking Gallup's place in The Cure for some live performances.
After MacKenzie's death in 1997, Dempsey was responsible for remastering and reissuing much of the band's early material as part of the V2 Records
project, collaborating with MacKenzie's estate to ensure that his legacy was preserved. Dempsey has since then been responsible for making available archival Associates materials such as rare tracks and other media via his own media company.
: he appeared playing bass in the video for their hit single "Avalon". He also toured with the band to promote the album of the same name.
band The Lotus Eaters, replacing original bassist Phil Lucking. They signed to Arista Records
and released their debut single "The First Picture of You
" in June 1983 (reaching number 15 in the UK charts), followed by the singles "You Don't Need Someone New" (August '83) and "Set Me Apart" (1984). The 1984 debut album No Sense of Sin followed with the single "Out On Your Own", and finally "It Hurts" in early 1985. Both Dempsey and founding member Jem Kelly left the group in 1985: co-founder Peter Coyle continued under The Lotus Eaters name for a short time live with replacement members whilst Kelly went on to reform his earlier band The Wild Swans
.
Kelly stated in a 2002 interview that "Michael Dempsey and I are working on an album and looking for French female singers. Do you know any? It’s inspired by cinemas and film music – music to make the spirit soar and get you thinking of scripts for Art house movies"
In a 2004 interview with the Cure fansite A Pink Dream, Dempsey said that he had at one time been a collaborator on a project called Act
, which he described as "a spin-off from Propaganda
and The Lotus Eaters".
) were recording demos together with a view to forming a new band following Tolhurst's departure from The Cure. With the addition of keyboardist Chris Youdell (of Then Jerico
) and drummer Alan Burgess the band emerged in 1991 as Presence
with the singles "In Wonder" and "All I See". Dempsey received co-writing credit for "Amazed", a b-side from "All I See", but took a background role as a session bassist and did not appear in the band's photos or press. Porl Thompson also made guest appearances on guitar for some of these recordings, but by 1992 both Dempsey and Thompson were officially replaced by bassist Roberto Soave (formerly of Associates and Shelleyan Orphan) and guitarist Rob Steen respectively. Dempsey also received co-writing credits for another two tracks on the 1993 debut album Inside
.
In 2004 Dempsey said that he still worked regularly with Tolhurst and that he had some contact with Thompson, but had not spoken to Smith in many years. Tolhurst is also one of the artists associated with Dempsey's music and media publishing company.
In 2007 Dempsey also remixed Tolhurst's post-Presence project Levinhurst
, contributing the "Imaginary Boy Mix" of the track "Never Going to Dream Again" to Levinhurst's The Grey EP
(released in February 2007). Dempsey remixed some tracks from Levinhurst's second album House by the Sea
(2007) and was co-writer and performer on their third album, Blue Star
(2009). Levinhurst toured Europe in 2009 and 2010 with Dempsey playing bass.
, Universal Music Group
and V2 Records and he has his own company, MDM Media, specialising in these areas. He is also part of an affiliate company, BDM Music, whose other writers include Tolhurst, Rankine and many other musicians, composers and producers that Dempsey has worked with over the years. The company specialises in composing and licensing music for advertising.
Associates
The Lotus Eaters
Levinhurst
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, who has performed as a member of several post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
and New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
bands including The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English 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...
and Associates.
Early years
Michael Dempsey was born on 29 November 1958 in Salisbury, Southern RhodesiaSouthern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British colony situated north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa. From its independence in 1965 until its extinction in 1980, it was known as Rhodesia...
(now known as Harare
Harare
Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
); the son of Nancy and William. He moved to Salfords
Salfords
Salfords is a village in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It lies approximately 3 miles or 5 km south of Redhill on the A23 London to Brighton road. It was the original UK home of the Monotype Corporation and Salfords railway station was originally built to service the...
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1961, and attended Salfords County School from 1963 to 1970.
He then went to Notre Dame Middle School between 1970 and 1972, where he met Robert Smith
Robert Smith (musician)
Robert James Smith is an English musician. He is the lead singer, guitar player and principal songwriter of the rock band The Cure, and its only constant member since its founding in 1976...
, Marc Ceccagno and Lol Tolhurst. Here they first played music together as The Obelisk in December 1972, giving an end-of-year performance for their classmates. Although he is ordinarily known as a bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
player, Dempsey played guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
for The Obelisk's only known live performance, whereas one Alan Hill played bass.
He later attended Saint Wilfrid's Catholic Comprehensive School (1972–1976), and Crawley College from 1976 to 1978.
In January 1976 Dempsey became a co-founding member of Malice, along with Smith, Ceccagno, and others. The band also later featured Laurence Tolhurst, and Porl Thompson
Porl Thompson
Porl Thompson is an English musician best known for his work with The Cure.-Life and work:Thompson is the oldest of four children; he has two brothers and one sister...
. They played only a few live shows in December of that same year.
Easy Cure and The Cure 1977–1979
In 1977 Dempsey, Tolhurst, Smith and Thompson formed Easy CureEasy Cure
Easy Cure were a British punk rock and post-punk band from Crawley, Sussex formed during the late '70s by former members of Malice. Easy Cure went on to fame when, after several lineup changes, they became The Cure.-History:...
, who became known as The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English 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...
following Thompson's departure in April 1978. Dempsey appeared as bassist on The Cure's singles "Killing an Arab
Killing an Arab
"Killing an Arab" is the first single by The Cure. It was recorded at the same time as their first LP in the UK, Three Imaginary Boys but not included on the album...
" (1978) and "Boys Don't Cry
Boys Don't Cry (song)
"Boys Don't Cry" was the second single to be released by The Cure, released in June 1979. It was released in the UK as a stand-alone single, and was included as the title track on Boys Don't Cry, the American equivalent to Three Imaginary Boys....
" (1979) and on the 1979 album Three Imaginary Boys
Three Imaginary Boys
The album included an uncredited, final instrumental track informally called "The Weedy Burton". The fact was not acknowledged until the Deluxe Edition re-issue.-2004 Deluxe Edition:...
. Other than frontman Smith, Dempsey had the distinction of being the only other member of The Cure (besides Simon Gallup
Simon Gallup
Simon Jonathon Gallup is an English musician and bassist of the post-punk band The Cure.-Early years:...
on the unreleased demo, "Violin Song") to sing lead vocals. He sang the cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
song "Foxy Lady
Foxy Lady
"Foxy Lady" is a song by The Jimi Hendrix Experience from their 1967 album Are You Experienced. It can also be found on a number of Hendrix's greatest hits compilations, including Smash Hits and Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix...
", which appears on Three Imaginary Boys. He made his final live performance as a member of The Cure on 15 October 1979 at London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Hammersmith Odeon on the last night of The Cure's tour in support of Siouxsie and the Banshees. In November of that year, however, the singles "Jumping Someone Else's Train
Jumping Someone Else's Train
"Jumping Someone Else's Train" is a single by The Cure. The song was covered by the Brooklyn-based band "Luff" for the 2008 American Laundromat Records tribute album Just Like Heaven - A Tribute to The Cure and by Army Navy on Manimal Vinyl's tribute Perfect as Cats: A Tribute to The...
" by The Cure and "I'm a Cult Hero" / "I Dig You" by Cure side-project Cult Hero
I'm a Cult Hero
"I'm a Cult Hero" is a single released by an extended lineup of The Cure under the name Cult Hero.-History:The single was conceived by Robert Smith and Simon Gallup as a way to test their musical compatibility...
were also released with Dempsey performing, respectively, bass and keyboards. The Cure's Three Imaginary Boys album and singles from 1978–1979 featuring Dempsey were later repackaged for the US market as the Boys Don't Cry
Boys Don't Cry (album)
Boys Don't Cry is a U.S. debut album by The Cure, released in February 1980 in the UK and in August 1980 in the U.S. It is a compilation of songs from Three Imaginary Boys, but replacing five of that album's tracks with "Jumping Someone Else's Train", "Boys...
album in 1980, and he appears on the band's early Peel Sessions between 1978 and 1979.
Post-Cure
In 1986 Dempsey appeared on the music video for a new version of "Boys Don't Cry". In 2004 the deluxe edition of Three Imaginary Boys was issued featuring a second disc of rare and previously unreleased material recorded between 1977 and 1979, which again feature Dempsey on bass. He also appears on some tracks on the deluxe edition of Seventeen Seconds.Associates 1979–1983
Upon leaving The Cure Dempsey became the bassist for ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
's Associates, who (like The Cure) were signed to Fiction Records
Fiction Records
Fiction Records is a UK label founded by Chris Parry in 1978 that is best known for being the home of The Cure for over 20 years. Formerly independent, the label is now owned by Polydor, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group.-History:...
. He had already performed with Associates prior to leaving The Cure, but made his debut as their new fulltime bassist on 16 November 1979 at Eric's Club
Eric's Club
Eric's Club was a music club in Liverpool, England. It opened on October 1, 1976 in a building basement on Mathew Street opposite The Cavern Club where The Beatles and other bands of the 1960s played, and became notable for hosting early performances by many punk and post-punk bands.The club was...
in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
; the first night of the Future Pastimes Tour; a "Fiction Records Package" tour featuring The Cure, The Passions
The Passions
The Passions were a British band which formed in 1978, and disbanded in 1983. They were one-hit wonders with their misty song, "I'm in Love with a German Film Star". which was released in early 1981.-Career:...
and Associates. He remained Associates' bassist from 1979 to 1983, appearing on the albums Fourth Drawer Down
Fourth Drawer Down
Fourth Drawer Down is the second album by Scottish Post-Punk/New Wave group Associates released in 1981. It is a singles and b-sides compilation from all 6 singles they released that year on Situation Two records...
(1981) and Sulk
Sulk (album)
Sulk is the third album by Scottish New Wave band Associates. It was released in May 1982, and reissued as a CD in 2000 with extra tracks...
(1982) along with a number of singles between 1980 and 1983. He also performed with the group on a series of radio sessions recorded for Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
's John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
and David Jensen
David Jensen
David "Kid" Jensen , is a Danish Canadian-born, British radio DJ.-Early career:Born in a Danish family residing Victoria, British Columbia, Jensen began his career in his home country at the age of sixteen playing jazz and classical music. He then joined Radio Luxembourg at the age of eighteen in...
shows, which were later released in 2003 as the album Radio 1 Sessions Volume 1; 1981-83.
Post-Associates
The original group disbanded in 1983 following the departure of co-founder Alan RankineAlan Rankine
Alan Rankine played keyboards, and guitars, for the rock band, Associates, which he co-founded with Billy Mackenzie in the late 1970s....
, however frontman Billy Mackenzie
Billy Mackenzie
William MacArthur "Billy" Mackenzie was a Scottish singer, with a distinctive falsetto voice best known as a member of The Associates.- Biography :...
continued to work under the name of Associates with various collaborators, including Dempsey at times. Dempsey has also continued to collaborate with Rankine. His replacement on bass during Associates' second phase was Roberto Soave, who has since appeared in several bands also featuring members of The Cure including Shelleyan Orphan
Shelleyan Orphan
Shelleyan Orphan is a British alternative music group, that peaked during the 1980s and early 1990s.-Career:In 1980, Caroline Crawley and Jemaur Tayle met in Bournemouth, England, where they discovered a mutual appreciation of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley...
, Presence
Presence (band)
Presence was a short-lived British new wave band started by Gary Biddles, Lol Tolhurst, and Michael Dempsey. Dempsey and Tolhurst were founding members of The Cure, and Biddles was a former Cure roadie who previously played in Fools Dance with Simon Gallup...
and Babacar, as well as taking Gallup's place in The Cure for some live performances.
After MacKenzie's death in 1997, Dempsey was responsible for remastering and reissuing much of the band's early material as part of the V2 Records
V2 Records
V2 Records is a record label that is owned by Universal Music Group as of October 2007. The label was founded in 1996 by Richard Branson, five years after he sold Virgin Records to EMI....
project, collaborating with MacKenzie's estate to ensure that his legacy was preserved. Dempsey has since then been responsible for making available archival Associates materials such as rare tracks and other media via his own media company.
Roxy Music 1982
One of Dempsey's most notable but often overlooked appearances was for the legendary British band Roxy MusicRoxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
: he appeared playing bass in the video for their hit single "Avalon". He also toured with the band to promote the album of the same name.
The Lotus Eaters 1983–1985
In 1983 Dempsey became the bassist for Liverpool's then-recently formed new waveNew Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
band The Lotus Eaters, replacing original bassist Phil Lucking. They signed to Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
and released their debut single "The First Picture of You
The First Picture of You
"The First Picture of You" is the debut single by the new wave group The Lotus Eaters. The song was first recorded during a John Peel Radio 1 session in 1982 and when aired, stimulated a bidding war between major UK record labels...
" in June 1983 (reaching number 15 in the UK charts), followed by the singles "You Don't Need Someone New" (August '83) and "Set Me Apart" (1984). The 1984 debut album No Sense of Sin followed with the single "Out On Your Own", and finally "It Hurts" in early 1985. Both Dempsey and founding member Jem Kelly left the group in 1985: co-founder Peter Coyle continued under The Lotus Eaters name for a short time live with replacement members whilst Kelly went on to reform his earlier band The Wild Swans
The Wild Swans (band)
The Wild Swans are a post-punk band from Liverpool, England, which originally formed in 1980 shortly after Paul Simpson left The Teardrop Explodes and teamed up with Jeremy Kelly , Ged Quinn , James Weston and Justin Stavely...
.
Post-Lotus Eaters
In 1998, the Lotus Eaters released First Picture of You - BBC Sessions, a compilation of Radio 1 sessions recorded between 1982 and 1983 and live material from 1984 featuring Dempsey on bass. Founding members Coyle and Kelly later reformed the Lotus Eaters in 2000 and released the album Slentspace, with a second album recorded and awaiting released in 2009: however Dempsey was no longer a member.Kelly stated in a 2002 interview that "Michael Dempsey and I are working on an album and looking for French female singers. Do you know any? It’s inspired by cinemas and film music – music to make the spirit soar and get you thinking of scripts for Art house movies"
In a 2004 interview with the Cure fansite A Pink Dream, Dempsey said that he had at one time been a collaborator on a project called Act
Act (band)
Act were a short-lived synthpop group signed to ZTT Records in the late 1980s, and comprising Thomas Leer and ex-Propaganda vocalist Claudia Brücken. Besides electro-pop and disco the group were also influenced by psychedelic rock and musical theatre...
, which he described as "a spin-off from Propaganda
Propaganda (band)
Propaganda is a German synthpop group, formed in 1982. They were one of the initial roster of acts signed to Trevor Horn's ZTT label, between 1984 and 1986, during which they released the critically acclaimed album A Secret Wish....
and The Lotus Eaters".
Animation
In early 2000 Dempsey composed music for the children’s animated TV Series PB Bear & Friends. He also worked on several shorts, including films by the animator Gil Alkabetz.Atom Heart Mother 2008
In 2008 Dempsey acted as producer for a staging of Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother at the Cadogan Hall, London. The shows featured the composer Ron Geesin performing with a full choir, band, brass and guest appearance from David Gilmour.Association with Lol Tolhurst
In 1990 Dempsey, Tolhurst and Gary Biddles (of Fools DanceFools Dance
Fools Dance was a short-lived British rock band, formed in 1982 by Simon Gallup after he left The Cure, due to a conflict with Robert Smith. Initially calling themselves 'The Cry', the band played their first gig at the Covent Garden Rock Garden on the 19th April 1983...
) were recording demos together with a view to forming a new band following Tolhurst's departure from The Cure. With the addition of keyboardist Chris Youdell (of Then Jerico
Then Jerico
Then Jerico are a British rock band who became popular in the late 1980s.-Career:Mark Shaw formed the band at the age of 21, recruiting bassist Jasper Stainthorpe and drummer Steve Wren and poaching guitarist Scott Taylor from Belouis Some....
) and drummer Alan Burgess the band emerged in 1991 as Presence
Presence (band)
Presence was a short-lived British new wave band started by Gary Biddles, Lol Tolhurst, and Michael Dempsey. Dempsey and Tolhurst were founding members of The Cure, and Biddles was a former Cure roadie who previously played in Fools Dance with Simon Gallup...
with the singles "In Wonder" and "All I See". Dempsey received co-writing credit for "Amazed", a b-side from "All I See", but took a background role as a session bassist and did not appear in the band's photos or press. Porl Thompson also made guest appearances on guitar for some of these recordings, but by 1992 both Dempsey and Thompson were officially replaced by bassist Roberto Soave (formerly of Associates and Shelleyan Orphan) and guitarist Rob Steen respectively. Dempsey also received co-writing credits for another two tracks on the 1993 debut album Inside
Inside (Presence album)
-Personnel:Presence*Gary Biddles — vocals*Alan Burgess — drums*Roberto Soave — bass guitar*Rob Steen — guitar*Laurence Tolhurst — keyboard*Chris Youdell — keyboardProduction*Produced by Presence...
.
In 2004 Dempsey said that he still worked regularly with Tolhurst and that he had some contact with Thompson, but had not spoken to Smith in many years. Tolhurst is also one of the artists associated with Dempsey's music and media publishing company.
In 2007 Dempsey also remixed Tolhurst's post-Presence project Levinhurst
Levinhurst
Levinhurst is an independent music band formed by Lol Tolhurst, a founding member of The Cure, and his wife Cindy Levinson. Levinson provides vocals while Tolhurst writes the majority of the tracks, musically and lyrically, and programmes the drums and keyboards...
, contributing the "Imaginary Boy Mix" of the track "Never Going to Dream Again" to Levinhurst's The Grey EP
The Grey (Levinhurst EP)
The Grey is an EP released by Levinhurst just a few months prior to the release of their second album House by the Sea in 2007. The opening track, "All Cats Are Grey", was originally done by The Cure - the band that made Tolhurst famous - off their album Faith...
(released in February 2007). Dempsey remixed some tracks from Levinhurst's second album House by the Sea
House By the Sea
House by the Sea has received mixed reviews since its release. Margaret Regesof Allmusic gave it 3 out of 5 stars, writing "House by the Sea is graced with a continuity and vision that surpasses its predecessor...
(2007) and was co-writer and performer on their third album, Blue Star
Blue Star (album)
Blue Star is the third album by Levinhurst, released in the U.S. on June 9, 2009 and worldwide on February 2, 2010. Although Michael Dempsey had previously worked with Lol Tolhurst in The Cure and Presence, this marks the first album that the two of them have recorded together since Three...
(2009). Levinhurst toured Europe in 2009 and 2010 with Dempsey playing bass.
MDM Media
Since the 1990s Dempsey has also gone on to work in audio digital restoration, remastering, licensing, media content consultancy and original soundtracks for film, television and other media. His clients have included Warner Music GroupWarner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
, Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
and V2 Records and he has his own company, MDM Media, specialising in these areas. He is also part of an affiliate company, BDM Music, whose other writers include Tolhurst, Rankine and many other musicians, composers and producers that Dempsey has worked with over the years. The company specialises in composing and licensing music for advertising.
Discography
The Cure- Three Imaginary BoysThree Imaginary BoysThe album included an uncredited, final instrumental track informally called "The Weedy Burton". The fact was not acknowledged until the Deluxe Edition re-issue.-2004 Deluxe Edition:...
(1979) - Boys Don't CryBoys Don't Cry (album)Boys Don't Cry is a U.S. debut album by The Cure, released in February 1980 in the UK and in August 1980 in the U.S. It is a compilation of songs from Three Imaginary Boys, but replacing five of that album's tracks with "Jumping Someone Else's Train", "Boys...
(1980) - Standing on a BeachStanding on a BeachStanding on a Beach is a singles compilation released by the British rock band The Cure in May, 1986, marking a decade since the band's founding in 1976...
(1986) - Greatest HitsGreatest Hits (The Cure album)Greatest Hits is a 2001 compilation album by The Cure. The band's relationship with longtime label Fiction Records came to a close, and The Cure were obliged to release one final album for the label. Robert Smith agreed to release a greatest hits album under the condition that he could choose the...
(2001)
Associates
- Fourth Drawer DownFourth Drawer DownFourth Drawer Down is the second album by Scottish Post-Punk/New Wave group Associates released in 1981. It is a singles and b-sides compilation from all 6 singles they released that year on Situation Two records...
(1981) - SulkSulk (album)Sulk is the third album by Scottish New Wave band Associates. It was released in May 1982, and reissued as a CD in 2000 with extra tracks...
(1982)
The Lotus Eaters
- No Sense of Sin (1984)
Levinhurst
- Blue StarBlue Star (album)Blue Star is the third album by Levinhurst, released in the U.S. on June 9, 2009 and worldwide on February 2, 2010. Although Michael Dempsey had previously worked with Lol Tolhurst in The Cure and Presence, this marks the first album that the two of them have recorded together since Three...
(2009)