"Cured: Tale of Two Imaginary Boys" by Lol Tolhurst

[Ulrich]

Ireland (+ England) dates added for July.

https://www.hotpress.com/news/The-Cure-drummer-to-bring-book-tour-to-Ireland/20244799.html

("Drummer", well that's not wrong, but...)

[Ulrich]

New article/interview in the "Irish Times"! 

Considering The Cure sold more than 30 million albums, it was inevitable someone in their inner circle would eventually write a memoir to counter a slew of tacky cut-and-paste biogs.

Former keyboardist, drummer and founding member Lol Tolhurst has penned Cured: A Tale of Two Imaginary Boys; one of the most honest and moving music books of recent years. It candidly chronicles The Cure's emergence from the grey gloom of Crawley in West Sussex during the Thatcher years to blossom into one of the biggest bands in the world.

Tolhurst began writing the book after singer Robert Smith claimed he didn't feel up to the task.

"A few years ago, I asked Robert if he was ever going to write a book about the band," Tolhurst recalls. "Robert joked that he might do a 16-page comic, but he didn't have enough for a book. He never objected to me writing it because, while I know where the bodies are buried, I'm not going to sully the reputation of the band for the benefit of my own ego. I hate it when some memoirs and autobiographies turn into score-settling exercises.

"I gave Robert the first copy of Cured... last year. If there was anything at all in it he didn't like, I'd have heard from him the very next day."

"After every single book event I do, I get at least one or two people coming up and telling me Cured... really helped them," says Tolhurst. "This is incredibly flattering, obviously, but also very, very humbling. People need to be recognised. When I first became aware of my issues with alcohol, I just thought I was going mad. A music rehab facility in Detroit has made Cured... required reading, which totally blows my mind.

Read more at:
http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/surviving-the-cure-lol-tolhurst-on-life-in-the-original-goth-band-1.3150725

And another one:
https://www.hotpress.com/The-Cure/features/interviews/The-Cures-Lol-Tolhurst-bares-all-ahead-of-an-extensive-book-tour-in-Ireland/20384556.html

"My main reason was to explain my life to myself, but halfway through it, it appeared to me that the thing that makes any memoir or autobiography worth reading is that you feel the person and you feel the honesty, right? So that's what I wanted to convey. So far, the reaction's been very good and I feel very blessed with that."

Are they in regular contact?

"Yes, absolutely," he says. "The people that I grew up with like Mike Dempsey, Robert, Simon Gallup, Porl Thompson, those are my teenage friends. I stay in touch with them all the time. In fact Porl lives out here now, he's about half-an-hour's drive from me."

Any other projects on the horizon?

"I'm going do more with Levinhurst (the band he formed with wife Cindy Levinson) this year," he says. "The last two years the book has totally taken over my life. I haven't been up to anything except that. Also, I'm thinking of doing my own radio show. If Steve Jones can do it so can I!" Lol also recently tweeted about another writing project, with the working title Cured Part 2.

"There will actually be two more books," he smiles. "One is a sequel – I don't want to give too much away. It's a little different. The other one is a graphic novel that I'm going to do with Porl because he's such a great artist. So there are two on the horizon but it won't be for a while."

Lol Tolhurst will visit the Roisin Dubh, Galway (July 16); Crane Lane, Cork (19); Dolan's, Limerick (21); Boneyard Records, Omagh (22), Boyle Arts Festival (24) and Whelan's, Dublin (25) as part of his Irish book tour.

[Ulrich]

https://www.buzz.ie/music/interview-ex-cure-man-lol-tolhurst-new-memoir-cured-246777

As for the modern life is rubbish theory, Tolhurst says older music listeners just get lazy: "I really dislike when people say there is no good music around anyone. If you think that you are not looking hard enough or you are maybe even to old to look.

"I am kinda lucky though I am also able to listen to stuff my son Gray tells me about. Recently I have been listening to Broadcast and Caribou."

http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/artsfilmtv/something-had-to-break-and-it-was-me-455029.html

Writing about the ill-fated decision to sue Smith and record label Fiction for a greater cut of royalties and co-ownership of the band's name is one such moment of exposure. In hindsight, Tolhurst admits that pursuing the case, which dragged on for much of the 90s, was connected to his deep sense of hurt at having been expelled from the band.

"It was partially a relief, but there was a lot of sadness with it as well," he says of leaving the band. "I felt expelled from my family."

[dsanchez]

This reminds me I need to buy the book... :roll:

[Ulrich]

This reminds me I need to buy the book... :roll:

Better late than never, huh? 

[piggymirror]

This reminds me I need to buy the book... :roll:

Better late than never, huh? 

Eagerly waiting for the delivery.

[Ulrich]

Nice new review:

https://www.popmatters.com/cured-lol-tolhurst-2500322500.html

His style is very English -- that is, dry and direct, especially in his humor -- even as he is describing the most poetic and emotional of moments. There's also a sense of foreboding that pervades all the youthful innocence and the heady early days of the band. Writing with the benefit of hindsight, Tolhurst has a sense of how temporary it all is, and how quickly and violently it comes crashing down.
...
Happily, the book is a redemption story. As Tolhurst finds his way to sobriety, finds his way toward family, and finds his way toward reconciliation with the members of the band he had once blown up all bridges to get away from, there is a sense that Tolhurst has found a path to follow for the remainder of his life. He has finally found something to be proud of, something he can enjoy.

[piggymirror]

Eagerly waiting for the delivery.

Already finished it.

A nice read, better than expected.

A bit crestfallen that so little stories about the band surfaced, but then again, this is Lol's book, not The Cure's book (well, not completely).

I loved the beginning. I felt very much empathy for them, in many respects I feel the same way about my town as they did about Crawley.

I also liked the desert part.

[Ulrich]

Passenger Recovery is a Detroit-based nonprofit that aims to offer a sober space for recovering addicts who are visiting Detroit on the short-term, such as touring musicians.

https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/life/2018/07/24/local-nonprofit-launch-app-find-sober-spaces-compass-passenger-recovery/827202002/

Passenger Recovery founder Chris Tait and Lol Tolhurst of the Cure, who donated memorabilia for the crowdfunding effort to launch the Compass app.

[dsanchez]

I feel like a bad fan, as I purchased the book about two months ago (it was released nearly 2 years ago!) and just started reading it last days (I am in the half)... so my advise to those who didn't read the book: do NOT make the same mistake as me. Please DO buy the book and read it asap! Lol is a great storyteller and I was immediately captured by the tales surrounding the beginning of The Cure, the weird places they played, the mysteriousness of Robert, how England was back then, etc... I am looking forward to finishing the book this weekend. Can't wait for Part II!

[chemicaloverload]

I've been reading this recently, not too far into it. Its very enjoyable. I liked the story about the mental institution party, conjures up good imagery  Typical teenage boys.

[dsanchez]

Bestseller in the Pornography Biographies category

Well, I suppose it is great to have a #1 bestseller on Amazon..haha! pic.twitter.com/b5qkSEZMv3

— Lol Tolhurst (@LolTolhurst) January 31, 2019

[Sacha8]

I've recently bought it and read it straight away. I kind of felt disappointed a bit, because he never really seems to delve on the whole recovery process, but perhaps I just expected something different from the book. It's hard to explain. I think I wanted to see more of Lol the person than Lol the member of this huge band who parted ways with them then reconnected later. Maybe the fact I know former alcoholics made it difficult for me to access the book for what it is, who knows. I really enjoyed the parts about his relationship with his mother and the recounting of the disfunctional relationship with his dad though. And the chapter on the trip to the desert was gold.

[Ulrich]

I've recently bought it and read it straight away.
And the chapter on the trip to the desert was gold.

Funny how differently people view this book. I had no trouble about the "recovery" tales...

While I liked the desert trip chapter, I found it ludicrous that he felt he "changed" after only 1 or 2 days in the desert (does not seem nearly enough imho, other folks spend 40 days there)!

But never mind, on the whole I really liked the book (enough to re-read the whole of it during lockdowns). 

[Sacha8]

I've recently bought it and read it straight away.
And the chapter on the trip to the desert was gold.

Funny how differently people view this book. I had no trouble about the "recovery" tales...

While I liked the desert trip chapter, I found it ludicrous that he felt he "changed" after only 1 or 2 days in the desert (does not seem nearly enough imho, other folks spend 40 days there)!

But never mind, on the whole I really liked the book (enough to re-read the whole of it during lockdowns). 

Well, yes, it is unrealistic that he might have been changed by just two days in the desert, but here applies the so called suspension of disbelief many authors use in their works and expect readers to play along...