Fascination Street - 2010 Remaster

“Fascination Street” was written by songwriter Robert Smith about one particular ‘band adventure’ to Bourbon Street, New Orleans in 1985.

It was the first US single from the album Disintegration and the band’s first song to hit #1 on the newly-created Billboard Modern Rock chart. The song also performed admirably on the Pop Chart as well, peaking at #46. It was not released as a single in the UK.

“Fascination Street” was also featured on the soundtrack to the 1989 indie film Lost Angels.

In the liner notes for the compilation Galore, Robert Smith describes “Fascination Street” as:

"A ‘generic’ song about the (often cynical) delights of exploring a new city nightlife; based loosely on one particular ‘band adventure’ in New Orleans 1985 – Bourbon Street, the cliché perhaps."

Separately, he’s also said:

"I was thinking of Bourbon Street in New Orleans when I wrote it – I was getting ready to go there and I thought, What the fuck do I think I’m going to find? It’s about the incredulity that I could still be fooled into looking for a perfect moment."

Smith shared his opinion of the song’s music video in 1991 with Select Magazine:

"Awful. The original idea was a Doctor Who video. That’s why there’s a phone box and a clock with rooms within rooms, done very tackily. But it was done on a low budget. Normally Elektra (Records) and Polydor (Records) both give us money. But this was only for America, so only Elektra did. The fantasy got lost."

Keyboardist Roger O'Donnell thinks the New Orleans trip that inspired this song was in 1987, not 1985:

"Yes, I was there in New Orleans in 1987 and it is about that I think. Robert had a list of possible names for the street and we all chose Fascination."