Synopsis
The Cure perform "Fascination Street" in a dark, smoke-filled industrial setting. Robert Smith delivers the song from a shadowy stage while the other members appear through moody close-ups and instrumental performance shots. Slow dissolves, layered images and superimposed footage give the video a hazy, hypnotic quality that matches the song's nocturnal tension. Rather than build a narrative around the lyrics, the clip focuses on atmosphere, the band's imposing visual identity and the track's heavy, propulsive groove.
Factoids & Trivia
- The video was made alongside "Lullaby" during the Disintegration era. Roger O'Donnell recalled that the two productions shared a budget, with the more ambitious "Lullaby" video effectively subsidizing the low-cost performance clip for "Fascination Street."
- The band reportedly filmed several performances in an old power station in south London, playing through smoke while most of the video's dreamlike visual effects were added later in the studio.
- Two versions of the video circulated. O'Donnell recalled that Robert Smith felt the first edit featured too much of the keyboard player, leading to footage of him being reduced in the commonly seen version.
- "Fascination Street" was the first US single from *Disintegration*. It became The Cure's first number-one hit on the US Modern Rock chart, helping establish the album's commercial impact in North America.