Saturday, September 24, 2016

Extract from the 'Cured' audiobook



The audiobook will be available in the UK on Sept. 22nd here, and in the US on Oct. 11th here.

Update (Sept. 24th, 2016): Another bit from the audiobook posted at Rolling Stone.
Posted by Craig at 9:57 PM 4 comments

Lol at Rough Trade East (09-24-2016)





Posted by Craig at 8:53 PM 4 comments

Lol interview with Radio X

"Lol will be on John Kennedy's RadioX show on Wed 21 from 10pm (BST). Listen via http://RadioX.co.uk! And I dare say there'll be a podcast of it later on in the week..."
(Thanks @Martin_OGorman)

Update: If you missed it, listen to it here.


Update (Sept. 24th, 2016): Here's another Radio X interview with Lol. (Thanks @Martin_OGorman)
Posted by Craig at 8:48 PM 6 comments

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Lol at Waterstones Manchester (09-22-2016)










Posted by Craig at 9:12 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Lol at Waterstones Camden (09-21-2016)









Posted by Craig at 9:29 PM 0 comments

'Cured' UK book tour dates


Wednesday 21st September - Waterstones, Camden
Facebook Event Page

Thursday 22nd September - Waterstones, Manchester - Deansgate
Facebook Event Page

Saturday 24th September - Rough Trade East, London
Facebook Event Page

Monday 26th September - Toppings, Bath
Facebook Event Page

Wednesday 28th September – Off the Shelf Festival, Sheffield
Facebook Event Page

If you can't make it to any of the events, you can still pre-order a signed copy from Waterstones.

And there will be some posters featuring Pearl's artwork up for raffle. From Lol on Facebook: "At UK events I will be bringing a very limited amount of some very special posters featuring exclusive Art work by Pearl Thompson for the book tour. We will have a free raffle for a few of the posters at each event so get there early !"


And from Lol on Facebook: When asked about France and the rest of Europe: "Next year , book and tour." and "Next year European tour."
Posted by Craig at 6:35 AM 13 comments

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Happy Gothoween print

'Happy Gothoween', a new print from Matthew Lineham, who you might remember from his New Wave Saints and Valentines.
Posted by Craig at 7:51 PM 14 comments

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Lol interview in The Guardian

From The Guardian:

The suburbs of the 1970s are a vivid presence in the opening chapters of your book. Was forming a band a reaction to the bleakness of it all? 
People forget that in 1970s England there was still a hangover from the second world war, postwar austerity was still around and that didn’t change till the 80s. The only thing for us to do – our only defence – was to make our society. In that way it was a good thing, because it stimulated people to do stuff. If you’re too comfortable, you probably don’t want to change things too much.

You and Robert found an escape in punk – what was it that appealed? 
I can remember the first Clash album, and it was something completely different for us. We’d been used to either disco or overblown prog. But the energy of punk completely resonated, and that idea that something had to change. But then, of course, we put it through a slightly different lens because we were more isolated than somebody who was living in the capital; we took longer to register how things changed.

There are quite a few violent incidents in the book! 
I look back on it now and I realise it was probably all quite dangerous, but it was something we were used to. We dressed in old mohair jumpers and jumble-sale trousers and walking down the streets in Crawley, people would always say things to us. And then sooner or later, someone would come out and try to take a pop. At one of our first proper gigs in Soho, we had a lot of skinheads there who had assumed something entirely wrong about us from the title of Killing an Arab. We were expecting them to lay into us but then the biggest guy, with a tattooed eagle on his chest, decided he loved us and after that, we were fine. Even at that age, Robert was able to make people feel somehow included.

Read the rest at The Guardian.
Posted by Craig at 10:21 AM 0 comments

Friday, September 16, 2016

'It Can Never Be The Same' multicam

Posted by Craig at 8:58 AM 28 comments

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Ask Lol - Part 2

You had questions for Lol, and he's provided the answers. While the original thinking was that Lol would answer just 10-15 of them, he answered every single one! Part 1 was posted last week, now here's Part 2 Thanks once again to Lol for doing this, to Quercus Books for arranging it, and to everyone who sent in questions.

'Cured' will be released on Sept. 22nd in the UK and on Oct. 11th in the US, and autographed copies can be ordered from Waterstones. Or bring your copy of 'Cured' to one of these UK events or US events, meet Lol and have it signed in person.


From Keith:
Should The Cure have stopped at any time in its history, and if so, do you think theyd been doing the "Reunion" circuit these days?

LOL: No I don’t think the Cure should have stopped. What for ? I don’t think that The Cure should ever stop really.

Did Steve Goulding really play on LGTB because you couldnt play the "disco beat"? You were an acomplished drummer, I find it heard to believe you couldnt plat LGTB, its not very challenging.

LOL: WE wanted to change things up and it seemed like a good idea to get someone with a different feel. I could have played my “Lol disco beat” and it would have sounded like me ( as on The cult hero songs ) We always wanted to embrace change so we did!

Do you ever feel that your contribution to The Cure, especially in the first 5 (pivotal) albums, is unfairly forgotten about, given their relative lack of commercial and critical acclaim compared to the globally successful HotD to Wish period, during which many people would consider your involvement creatively to be minimal?

LOL: Not from where I’m sitting no! People always ask me about the early albums etc. especially in relation to what came after . This was especially noticeable after “ Reflections” The Cure has had a long and varied career and I think that depending on when you discovered our music it tends to shift the focus to that time. Eventually we have been around for so long that people that weren’t even alive when I was in the band listen to the songs and get attached to the music and that to me is a wonderful thing. It is almost eternal.

From word on a wing 1980: I wonder if you could share your views about performing live with The Cure. I'm particularly interested in whether you've experienced something special happening at a subtle level? And if so, whether you could share your views about what may 'really' be happening...

LOL: The most interesting question! I felt during the Sydney concert for reflections that something almost transcendent was happening on stage so yes in way I do feel that there’s a connection with the “other world” that’s going on but that’s just my view point..

Read more »
Posted by Craig at 9:00 AM 20 comments

Curezum covers 'A Forest'


Update (Sept. 13th, 2016): And here's the video from Bloody-Disgusting.

From Metal Injection:

Curezum made a big splash last year when they burst onto the scene with their cover of The Cure's "100 Years" Now the project is back with a cover of "A Forest" featuring the almighty Matron Thorn of Aevangelist. While "A Forest" is probably a kind of obvious song to black metalify, the band do it admirably. It captures all of the droning magic that the original whilst adding some wondrous black metal fury. Still – the overall delivery of this particular cover is rather artful and in a similar vein to the second or even third wave of black metal style compositions that defined the previous two songs that this band has put out.

What I love about Curezum is the fact that they are unironically showing their love for The Cure. As stupid as the general idea of a black metal The Cure cover band might sound – the dudes in Curezum pull it off with aplomb, showcasing their burning passion for this type of music and reminding us why we all fell in love with The Cure in the first place. Surprisingly vicious and deliciously executed I'm sitting here hankering for a full length. As is – rumor has it that the B side of this single is going to be "Siamese Twins" and feature Christopher Van Huffel, so it might be time to start getting hyped.

Listen to their cover at Metal Injection.
Posted by Craig at 8:38 AM 7 comments

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Andy from Twilight Sad with Robert

Getting the boat up the road with Rab @thetwilightsad @thecureofficial

A photo posted by AMF (@andyjmf) on

Posted by Craig at 12:31 PM 0 comments

So Tim and Robert get on this ferry...




But what's all this about?


Said what? "Hey Robert, let's release a 4K Blu-Ray of In Orange"? "Hey Robert, let's remaster and release DVD/Blu-Rays of all of the old VHS releases"? "Hey Robert, let's do an all new and updated video collection"? "Hey Robert, let's record the European leg, or certain shows, of Cure Tour 2016 and actually release them within a year"? "Hey Robert, I have an idea for some special shows next year..."?

Don't tease us, Tim! :)
Posted by Craig at 9:52 AM 10 comments

Mark and Andy from Ride with Robert

A photo posted by Andy Bell (@andybebop) on

Thanks John.
Posted by Craig at 9:48 AM 1 comments

Saturday, September 10, 2016

The Cure at Bestival (Sept. 10th, 2016)

Sept. 10th, 2016
Bestival on the Isle of Wight, UK
The Twilight Sad play The Big Top from 4:55 - 5:40 pm
Wolf Alice play the Main Stage from 5:55 - 6:40 pm
Ride play the Main Stage from 7:10 - 8 pm
The Cure play the Main Stage from  8:55 - 11:10 pm

Setlist: Tape / Open, High, The Walk, The Baby Screams, Push, In Between Days, Lullaby, The Caterpillar, Let's Go To Bed, Sleep When I'm Dead, Friday I'm in Love, Doing the Unstuck, Pictures of You, Lovesong, Just Like Heaven, Boys Don't Cry, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, End

1st encore: Burn, A Forest

2nd encore:  Fascination Street, Never Enough, Wrong Number

3rd encore: The Lovecats, Hot Hot Hot, Close to Me, Why Can't I Be You?

Thanks so much to Warren (@waswasere) for the set reports.

Photos: Mars / Getty Images

Reviews/Articles: The Guardian / The Telegraph / County Press Online / Island Echo

Videos: The Baby Screams 1 - 2 / Burn / The Lovecats 


Posted by Craig at 12:50 AM 46 comments

Friday, September 9, 2016

Lol in the UK


Posted by Craig at 12:12 PM 9 comments

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Lol's 'Cured' PledgeMusic campaign

Update (Sept. 9th, 2016): Wow! After only 1 day, the campaign is already at 57% of his goal! Well done! And Lol says he will be announcing the exact dates and venues for the US tour on Monday.


Lots of rare and exclusive items in this campaign, so be sure to check it out! Also, notice that Pearl will be attending select 'Cured' events!

And the US book tour cities have been revealed! NYC, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pasadena, San Diego, Portland, Seattle, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Denver, Chicago, Nashville, Austin, and Dallas. More cities still to be announced.

From PledgeMusic:
"For the release of his new memoir Cured: The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys, Cure co-founder Lol Tolhurst teamed up with bandmate/graphic artist Pearl Thompson to create exclusive new artwork for 2 different versions of the book’s cover and an exclusive PledgeMusic range of Cured t-shirts, posters, pins and more….

Pearl’s original designs were utilized by LA-based craftsman Brennan Wheeler as the basis for limited-edition presentation art boxes. Each box contains signed copies of the book, and some rather special additional Cured items.

Most excitingly of all, Lol has also opened up his personal archive for the first time to sell some one-of-a-kind items of memorabilia straight to you, the world’s biggest Cure fans. All memorabilia will be accompanied by signed letters of authenticity and a photo of Lol with the item itself.

The proceeds from this PledgeMusic campaign go to fund The Cured Book Tour. Throughout a series of special events, Lol will read key passages from the book while surrounded by an immersive audio/visual backdrop, and also conduct a fan Q&A and signing session. On select dates, he will also be accompanied by Pearl Thompson and exhibitions of original artwork.

Follow this PledgeMusic campaign to be the first to get all the details of all the Cured book tour dates…"
Posted by Craig at 1:01 PM 21 comments

Bestival merchandise

Thanks Paul

Posted by Craig at 12:53 PM 8 comments

50 Best New Wave Albums

Paste has a list of their 50 Best New Wave Albums, and 'Disintegration' is #10.

10. The Cure – Disintegration (1989)
Disintegration is a return to goth glory after The Cure’s foray into pop with 1987’s Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. It’s lush, mournful and gorgeous—in other words, it’s Robert Smith and company at their very best. From the first notes of “Plainsong” to the somber romance of “Lovesong” and the sweeping “Fascination Street,” the album is emotional but never overwrought. Smith surpasses hokey teen angst, instead creating a lasting work that’s entirely relatable. As the 1980s came to a close, this was the perfect ending to New Wave’s moment in the sun.—Bonnie Stiernberg

Posted by Craig at 12:50 PM 3 comments

Bid on guitar/drum lessons from Reeves/Jason

From Reeves on Facebook: "I am offering a guitar master class to benefit Ashden, an international charity focused on environmental health. Bid now thru their Sept 15th event in London."

Also, if you attend the live auction at Party in the Park at LookOut in Hyde Park on Sept. 15th, you can bid on a drum lesson from Jason. (Thanks Anita)
Posted by Craig at 8:54 AM 2 comments
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