TFF reunion 1999
I wanted to put their quotes about this topic in chronological order and in one place. Just because. Here's a really long post (lots of text and lots of gifs):
Billboard.com (13.05.2000): "We had dinner when I went back to England in January," says Smith. "We hadn't spoken in nearly a decade. [Producer] Chris Hughes is the one person that both of us still talk to [from the TFF days], and he said, 'Why don't we all go out to dinner?' So we went out, and it was kind of cool. We started talking about music, and it was clear that we had some of the same ideas again and that we had a lot in common musically." The pair has been writing trans-Atlantically, says Smith, who adds that it is too early to predict where the process will lead them. "Until we know if we like what we're doing, we don't really know what's going to come of it," he says. But he adds that the twosome plans to demo some of the material in England. "If we decided to go further with this, we would record as Tears For Fears," says Smith, "but we're being very laid-back, which is a good thing; we're not being precious about it." In the meantime, Smith says he's still pursuing his solo career under his name (he reviously had recorded as "Mayfield"). An EP of his new solo material will come out in August, followed by a full-length album early next year. The projects will be released through his own label, Zero Disc, which goes through Proper Distribution.
Roland, Lexicon Magazine, Bath, UK (09.2000/2001[?]): We've had on-going business together so I had to do something for him regarding one of his properties in America, and he sent an email saying, "Thanks, brilliant, that's excellent. Give me a call, or I'll call you". So we spoke on the phone and after that long I think we both realized that we'd grown up! So much time had elapsed that I think we both realized we were different people, big time. We started talking again, which was kind of a relief really, as there were so many horrendous grudges kinda floating around. We really have gone in different ways although we are both in the music industry. We aren't tied to each other so we are going to try it out. We did a couple of weeks together in October and in LA in December. It's strange cos in the 90's when I started working with Al, we'd get together and just write songs. We'd jam and it almost sounds finished while we are jamming. That wasn't how it was in the old days, writing songs was like getting blood out of a stone. Everything was so laboured and studied. Then when I hooked up with Curt again, it was very strange not to be working in the stream-of-conscious way, which I had been doing with Al. Chris Hughes came in as a kind of go-between, to speak both our languages. We went into the studio and really tried to get something that was more commercial, something really up! We had a very frustrating time, then something broke all of a sudden and it was really, really catchy! It's been nothing like I've been doing, more like the "Seeds Of Love" period. We've got a couple of tracks, but it's a very different way of working. I've been working with Alan as well in regards to a TFF album. Curt is in LA and I've been going over and working at Alan's place, all towards the same goal. Also Charlton Pettus, who Curt's been working with for years, so he's involved as well. A big family get together! [...] There have been a few offers, not that we've taken them up, obviously, as we wanted to see whether we were still fertile in a sense. At one point, out of the two of us, regardless of who did what, there sprung up an interesting beast. The fact is that I've had enough with doing TFF as myself, as me. I wanted to truly be on my own, and therefore that leaves the option of "Tears For Fears": what is it, what was it, does it have a future...we don't know. We're going to get together and see what emerges. Yes, there has been a lot of interest, but you can't live your life by those things. It has to feel right. I don't think either of us are the type of people who could actually put our prejudices aside and say, "We're going do this for the money!" We're not like that.
Bath Chronicle (24.11.2000): Earlier this year, there were strong rumours of a comeback, but Curt's mother Norma, who lives in Bath, said she had heard nothing of the plans at the time. Her son is based in Los Angeles and has been recording under the name of Mayfield. Roland travelled to Bath yesterday from London where he has been filming a video for his new single Lowlife, due for release in February.
Bath Chronicle (25.11.2000): On Curt's own website he reports that he was recently in England and that trip included some work with Roland. The former Beechen Cliff schoolboy said it was "surprisingly successful — no drama, no weirdness, and some good music. Something may come of it. "More trips are planned between now and the end of the year. In the meantime I'm back to finishing the solo project."
Roland, EUROGAY, Germany, [Google translate] (29.03.2001): “We hadn't spoken for nine years, and then we ran into each other by chance to sort out some legal matters. We ended up talking for a long time and decided to work together again. We already spent four weeks working in Los Angeles between December and January and came up with some very interesting things.”
Top Ten Electro Pop (04.2001[?]):
Roland, Rockol, Italy, [Google translate] (2001): “We wrote some songs together, and we even recorded them. Sure, there's a lot of anticipation about seeing each other again, but I think for now the best thing has been to get back together. When you fight in a band, it's a bit like a divorce, and the feelings that arise at a certain point are the worst you can have. We haven't spoken for 9 years, and now the most important thing, more than the reunion, is that we've made peace.” “We still had some unfinished business legally. I had to do him an administrative favor, so he sent me a thank-you fax telling me to call him because he didn't have my phone number. I emailed him my phone number, and he called me. And now here we are.”
Roland, Record Collector, Issue 262 (06.2001): R: Well, me and Curt are seeing if we can work together without punching each other. Q: And you are managing it? R: Yes, I went to LA to see him and we came up with something quite interesting, actually. Q: Does he, in turn, have issues with you? R: I've got no idea. I've got his number, you can ask him (laughs). Q: Now you're a bit older, can you discuss these things with each other? R: Not really, no. We're just trying to get on with each other, because it's good for our mental health. I don't think we need to open Pandora's box...
danwilson9530's comment, about 10.09.2001: "I had the good fortune of having pizza with Roland Orzabal in 2001 when he made a visit to my office to promote his solo record “Tomcats Screaming Outside “. We chatted about Curt, who was not in Tears at that moment, Bob Geldof over a charity re-recording called “Everybody Wants To Run The World” he hated that Geldof talked him into doing (Roland took my 12” copy and pretended to break it over his knee) and even Paul McCartney came up over a studio mixing console Roland purchased from him. This video made me think of that. I’ll never forget the date I met Roland because it was 9/10/2001. Less than 24 hours before the world changed."
Roland, BBC Radio Interview (2002): ...we'd always had ongoing business commitments and mutual friends, so we couldn't quite sort of separate totally. And I had to do something for him, some sign off on some piece of paper or something. And he sent me a fax saying, 'Thanks a lot, I don't have your number' or something, or words to that effect, and 'Give me a call', and I thought, 'Oh, God. Do I?', you know. So what I did I faxed him back my home number, and then he rang up the next day, which is very strange. Very strange indeed. But... and so we got mutual friends, and the next time he was in the country we got together, had a meal and realized that... We was both sort of grown up, you know, and all the sort of angst and differences sort of had evaporated.
MTV Tears For Fears Bio (03.2004): “Every time I walked into a record company with any music, they were going, 'Oh, this is great! Can you get back together with Curt?' It was just on and on and on — market forces, and that kind of thing.” Finally, the inevitable occurred — Curt and Roland again met, and the meeting was good. “We’ve always had business interests which have carried on after we split in ’90,” says Roland. “So we’re always signing off on things together anyway. We have mutual friends, and it was just a matter of time, really, before so much water passed under the bridge. And it was like — well, what are we worried about? Let’s start chatting and see where it goes.” [...] Fresh, colorful, and splendidly contemporary, 'Everybody Loves A Happy Ending' takes the Tears For Fears legacy well into the 21st Century, and continues one of pop music's more productive musical collaborations. How long will it last? “To be honest, I have no clue,” says Curt candidly. ‘We’ll go on tour, we’ll take it a step at a time, and then…” He pauses. “There are songs lying around at the moment,” notes Roland, “songs we didn’t do for this album. But you can’t say. Once we finish the promotion of this project, we’ll know in our hearts whether it really is an ongoing thing… or it really was just a happy ending.”
Newhouse News Service (08.09.2004): "There was a point where we had to talk to each other over the phone regarding some business stuff and that led to us kind of chatting," Smith recalled. "Roland at that point lived in Bath, my hometown. My brothers and my mother still live there. And basically I said, 'The next time I'm in town let's go out to dinner.' It seemed ridiculous that we hadn't spoken for that long. There was enough water under the bridge. We're older; we have kids." When they got together the "conversations would always come around to music," Smith said. "That's the sort of main thing we have in common. We have very similar tastes obviously."
Richmond Times-Dispatch (09.09.2004): "We always had ongoing business commitments and friends in common, so every time Curt would come to England, he'd visit our friends and avoid me," Orzabal relates with a chuckle. [...] Eventually, Orzabal and Smith started talking by phone. The most awkward obstacle? Hearing Smith's "mid-Atlantic accent," Orzabal says, noting that after his partner spent 16 years of living in America, he can understand how his Bath accent disappeared.
Roland, The Oklahoman (10.09.2004): "We didn't talk for nine years. But we had all these business things we couldn't sort of dissolve. So we were always signing up on bits of paper. So, there was always some kind of relations. Also, we had a lot of friends in common." [...] "I think at some point we both sort of realized that it was, as Curt said, the longest sulk in history", Orzabal said. "It was just time to finish it. So we started talking together again and, you know, we were both doing solo stuff, and we started swapping songs, really." [...] "We weren't sure whether we were actually gonna be able to come up with anything that was worthy of getting back together", Orzabal said. "The whole project was just sort of stop-start, and it's been that way ever since. It's been quite remarkable. It was a severe test."
MSN Entertainment (20.09.2004): In 1999, the pair had their first conversation in eons, prompted by some routine legal dealings. As they spoke, Smith found himself softening. "We felt, 'What the hell were all those years apart about?'" he laughs.
TV Guide (01.10.2004): It was a "stony silence," as Orzabal calls it, until five years ago, when a mundane business transaction resulted in a long overdue phone call. Says Orzabal, "It was just one conversation, really, that made us both realize there was no point in not talking."
No tears shed as duo work on a 'Happy Ending' (29.10.2004): "We sat around strumming acoustic guitars and drinking lots of coffee," says Orzabal. "But in just under two weeks, Curt hit a couple of chords and I was on the piano and [the song] 'The Closest Thing to Heaven' came out pretty much as it is. We said, 'Strange, it sounds just like the old Tears for Fears.' And that was the point where we felt that maybe there was something." "Suddenly," Smith says, "we started to appreciate each other again, which was a big step."
Reunited Tears for Fears enjoys 'Happy Ending' (30.10.2004): "Curt sort of rang me up out of the blue about four years ago", Orzabal said, "and I realized then we didn't have any shared experiences anymore, and that was fabulous. We could each have our own space and not fear of merging into something else. `"So we hooked up for dinner and saw that there was no angst or tension between us anymore. He started playing stuff for me he already had, like 'Ladybird' and 'The Closest Thing to Heaven.' '' They then began collaborating again. <...> This could be the final tour for the band, the new disc possibly the last one. But Orzabal believes the duo's original chemistry is back. `"When Curt and I work together, something in that relationship makes us want to make larger statements and be more competitive and see more success. On our own, we're both happy to just do what we want, and who cares about the consequences?''
Dublin paper (04.2005): "We started talking to each other because we still had business dealings together and we got to the stage where we felt it was a little juvenile," Curt reveals. "We were paying accountants and lawyers to do things because we weren't talking to each other. It was costing us a fortune because we were sulking." "I called Roland and I said we should talk about these things. We talked on the phone and felt there wasn't any weirdness there anymore." "We had grown up, we had families and I don't think that either of us felt their was strangeness there anymore." <...> "The most important part of it was the personal side of it, which is we were talking to each other again and having a great time in the studio."
Kelly Show, Belfast, NI (04.2005):
Soundtrack (07.08.2008):
Retro Rewind Dave Harris (03.11.2008):
Kevin Pollak's Chat Show (10.05.2009): [it's quite a long and chaotic video so it's hard to gif mostly because of the host who is interrupting all the time lol, so I'm posting a short transcript] C: So we [with Charlton] started writing another album. And then during this period, Roland called me from out of nowhere. Well, it was his manager first. Just checking in, yeah, exactly. 10 years, haven't spoken. For nearly 10 years, yeah. We hadn't said a word to each other. We fell out to such an extent at the end of that tour that... H: So when you said, 'I'm done, I'm walking away', was his attitude good, good riddance? Or was he, 'Where the hell do you think you're going?' C: No, I think it was more good riddance, probably. I mean, we were fighting with each other all the time. I mean, we were living... in each other's pockets for a lot of years. Professionally, since we were 18, so until we were nearly 30, which, you know, it's a long time at that age, to spend all your 20s effectively with one person all the time working and doing stuff. H: [...] And suddenly you get a phone call from his manager saying... C: "Any interest in doing another Tears For Fears album with Roland?" [...] It's interesting because obviously my initial reaction is, ‘You got to be fucking kidding me’. H: 'Go fuck yourself'. C: Yeah. H: Seriously. That's a beautiful go fuck yourself moment. C: Yeah. But then, you know — and I pat myself on the back for being grown up enough. I decided to take some time and think about this for a bit, you know, and things had changed. I was just about to have my 1st kid back then because it was a while ago now. Roland had two kids already. And I had to think back of what it was that made it all go horribly wrong. I honestly couldn't apportion the blame to either one of us. Because I was as big an asshole as he was, probably, while we were going through all this. We just, the only people we could take it out on were each other, because those were the only people we had. So the only people we could fight with were each other, because wives are much better fighters, so that's out there. There's no point with that one. So having said that, I called back. I spoke to his manager. I said, 'Look, I'll be in England to visit my family'. He still lives in Bath, or did at that point. 'This Christmas', I think it was Christmas time, I was going back or something. 'Why don't I just go out to dinner with Roland, and we'll see'. Just see if there's any weirdness there. H: And sitting down the first time, after all that time, had to have been strange, and yet kind of nice? C: Yeah, it was weird, but... [long pause] After about 5-10 minutes, it didn't feel that strange, you know. H: You each had a drink? C: Yeah, I mean, yeah, basically have a drink and then like 10 minutes later, you know, shoot up. I'm kidding with the last bit, of course. And we realized we'd grown up, for one thing. That became quite apparent. Other things in our lives have become more important than music. [...] We realized we weren't quite as precious as we used to be. And we'd grown up enough where it wasn't like... we weren't alpha-dogging anymore. That's what we used to do. It used to be, 'I want it my way!', 'But I'm going to argue against it just so I can argue against it!' Because one of us has got to be the boss. But we're way past that now. We've gotten too old for that. And so it seemed fine. And so the next step was, let's go in and try and write something. And see if any good music comes out. And we did, and we went in, we wrote this track called 'Closest Thing to Heaven', which I still love to this day. It's a great song. And it was like, 'Oh! That's what it sounds like when we work together'.
Roland, The Sun (15.11.2014): Curt also had a bit of an American accent, which I gave him stick for… but only later.
Curt, Herald Sun (05.12.2017): "It wasn’t the bad kind of lawyer,” Smith jokes. “It was a real estate lawyer, not a litigation lawyer. We own buildings together in England, so we were still tied together through business. That’s how we started talking again."
Roland, Rockonteurs podcast, se1ep22 (31.01.2021): I mean, we spent nine years not talking to each other. I did the 'Elemental', 'Raul and the Kings of Spain'. I did a solo album called 'Tomcats Screaming Outside'. And I'd had enough of myself, to be honest with you. I was over me. And I decided we started talking again. We started making music again. And so we've been back together for 19 years or something like that. 21 years, actually.
Curt, Rockonteurs podcast, se2ep1, (09.01.2022): So we ended up talking. We haven’t spoken to each other in nearly 10 years and, um, it seemed fine, you know, other than he would, you know, since then has never stopped talking about how much my accent would change. But that’s what happens when you move to America, I guess.
Roland, GQ (18.02.2022): Once we had a phone conversation we both realized that the animosity just wasn’t there. We’d had separate life experiences, and there’s nothing better than when you both have something different to talk about.
BBC Breakfast (03.03.2022):
‘Naked Lunch’ podcast (09.05.2024): H: Did you call him out of the blue? Is that how it rekindled him or something? C: Yeah, it was... 'Cause we have and still do have this sort of property together we own in England. It's an industrial property, and we bought it for some tax dodge years ago. I mean, not illegal, completely legal. But we still own it. And there was some paper we had to do something about it. And he sent me a fax and these faxes were going back and forth, and I said, 'Wouldn't this be easy just to do over the phone?' So we spoke on the phone, which was sort of interesting. He'd had kids by then, I hadn't yet. I think Frances might have just become pregnant with Diva, I think, at the time. H: And you hadn't spoken for how long? C: 10 years. He thought it was weird because I had an American accent according to him after living. H: Yeah, you sound very American now. C: Yeah. And then next thing I know... he had a manager at the time who was in LA and I got a phone call out of the blue, and he... the manager wanted to meet with me and he asked me, you know, he said, 'What do you think about working with Roland again? Would you be into it?' H: This was after this first phone call? C: Yeah. H: Which went civilly enough. C: It was very civil. Yeah, because what... to be honest there was so much water under the bridge and we didn't really... you know. H: Yeah, but listen, that never underestimate a human’s ability to hold a grudge. C: Yeah. I know. Well, yeah, talk to my wife about that. Boy, can she hold a grudge? But... My initial reaction was no, because I'm happy and content now, and my memory of that was not good. But then I thought about it for a while and I thought about the conversation we had, and I thought, 'It seemed okay'. So I said, 'Well, why don't we just get together' — this is all via his manager — 'and just see what happens. Just write a song or two and see if we... if it clicks or if anything happens'. And then the first thing we wrote was this song called 'Closest Thing to Heaven', which I still love to this day, which was on 'ELAHE'. And we realized, 'Oh yeah, there is something different about when we work together than when we work separately.' H: Can you tell me about that first reunion meeting? C: Well, we first had dinner, 'cause we were literally sort of tippy toeing into it again. So I said, you know, I actually said, 'Let's just go out to dinner first and just, you know, talk and see what that...' you know. And the dinner was pleasant, it was nice. I think we were over the grudges and everything else. It was just kind of like we were older, more mature. As I said, he had a family. I was about to start one. I'd been settled with Frances for 10 years. I'd lived in New York for 10 years, which changes you immensely. H: Did you bring up the past and any problems at that dinner or just talking about? ‘Hey, how you doing?’ C: No. Just... Talking about what happened in the 10 years, what are you been doing? H: So, you’ve never… This is so interesting to me, because it’s such a great story of reconciliation. You never addressed those problems back then, you didn’t have to. C: We didn't really have to, 'cause both of us... we know each other very well. H: Yes, since you're kids. C: We're incredibly different people. I mean very different. But we know how each other works. I mean quite intimately. And it's not something we need to kind of talk about. Since then we've done interviews like this and discussed those things, and the fact that it was hard for us at that age. We were both 25, 26 making TSOL. You know, a pissing contest, effectively, because, you know, we're trying to find out who we are as individuals, not as this guy from this band. So we're both desperately trying to be, you know, have our say. And in the end, I was like, 'Screw it'. And off I went, 'cause I just didn't feel it was worth it. H: So there was a mutual understanding that that was then, this is now. C: Yeah!
Curt, Rock & Roll High School with Pete Ganbarg podcast, se4ep10 (10.2024): We still had ongoing business interests, this property we owned together in the north of England, which we still own, don't ask why, but I think it was a taxed property at the time. His manager approached me, his manager at the time, and said, would you have any desire to work with Roland again? And my initial response was no, because I was happy. You know, I just moved to LA. And then, you know, I sort of talked to Frances about it. And she's like, look, you're different. So don't presume he's the same. You know, he's going to be different. He's had kids, he's grown up, he's, you know, so I was like, you know what, you're right. It's just a presumption on my behalf that everything would be bad as it was back then, when I left. [...] So we got together for dinner myself and Roland when I was back in Bath, he was still living in Bath. And I when I was back visiting my family. And it seemed okay! We definitely had both grown up. I was definitely more American, as he has mentioned many times. The accent had changed a little bit. And he was a parent. I was about to become a parent. So we both decided we'd go back in the studio and see if it worked or not. And the first thing that we came up with was a song called 'Closest Thing to Heaven', which I loved, which ended up, you know, leading us into recording 'ELAHE'.
extratv (07.01.2025):