In 1980, 13 armed policemen arrived to arrest The Cure naked in the Netherlands
The Cure’s Robert Smith and lighting director Angus “Mac” MacPhail were arrested for public indecency after stripping off and swimming at a Dutch beach in 1980. The episode, during a tour promoting the band’s sombre post-punk album *Seventeen Seconds*, offers a contrast with their serious image at the time.
After a show in Rotterdam on 25 May, the band visited a drinking spot where drummer Lol Tolhurst reportedly mistook a phone booth for a toilet and urinated there. The group was thrown out, then Smith and MacPhail went swimming at Hoek van Holland Beach around 6.30am, while the others slept in the van. A passer-by called police, and about 13 armed officers arrived; Smith later said the pair went peacefully because they had no clothes on. The officers took some of their cassettes and released them.
In short
- Robert Smith was arrested after swimming naked at a Dutch beach.
- About 13 armed police officers responded to a caller’s report.
- The incident followed a Rotterdam show during The Cure’s 1980 tour.
Explained simply
The Cure are a British band formed in the 1970s, with Robert Smith as their singer and guitarist. By 1980, they were known for a sombre sound associated with post-punk, a movement that followed punk and explored a wider range of moods and styles.
The band were touring the Netherlands after releasing Seventeen Seconds, an album that helped establish that serious image. Their travels included drummer Lol Tolhurst and lighting director Angus “Mac” MacPhail, who worked on the concerts’ stage lighting.
The reported beach incident involved Smith and MacPhail, while the rest of the band stayed in their van. It is remembered partly because the light-hearted episode sits at odds with the music and public image for which The Cure were known at the time.