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Fact #159599

When:

Short story:

Lol Tolhurst, a founding member of The Cure, is ejected from the band, largely because his drinking habits have made him unreliable.

Full article:

Lol Tolhurst had been in The Cure from day one. He and schoolmate Robert Smith had formed the band and watched it grow from local gigs around Crawley to international success. But, twelve years on, Tolhurst wasn’t just off the rails - he was on his way to the breaker’s yard.

“When me and Simon (Gallup) and Lol were a three piece,” remembers Smith, “Lol was a normal human, who played drums, understood what was going on, talked lucidly and was good to have around.”

By January 1995, everything had changed. According to Smith, “Lol had friends in the city who drove Porsches, he flashed his money around and was a boring wanker!”

Gallup responded with constant needling. “One thing was that Simon would laugh the theme tune to Hawaii Five-O, like ‘Ha-ha ha-ha HAH-ha…’ getting louder and more manic and then he’d suddenly stop and say ‘All right, Lol?’ and walk off. None of us understood why, except that it annoyed Lol.”

The band’s two newer members, Boris Williams and Porl Thompson, handled Lol differently. “If Lol was being obnoxious and drunk and leering all over him, Boris would just yell "Fuck off, Lol", short sharp and cheerful. Porl wouldn’t say anything. He would just hit him.”

“Lol would get pissed on brandy at breakfast,” points out Gallup, “then go to bed at seven, get up at two, have more brandy and go to bed again. He would also try to provoke us into physical fights. I would look at him and think, ‘You useless shit,’ and punch his lights out.”

“Robert kept him on because he was an old friend. Porl even went round his house to teach him keyboards so he could do something useful, but he wasn’t interested. He wouldn't come in the control room or listen to what we had done.”

On the first night of one American tour, recalls Gallup, “We had to get him into his hotel on a baggage trolley, because he had passed out. We all took turns to check his room to see if he had chucked up and died.”

By 1987, during recording of Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Gallup’s taunts had evolved into practical jokes such as putting balloons down his toilet, but nothing seemed to penetrate the Tolhurst skull. The band decided not to tour with him again unless he got his act back together.

While recording their 1989 album Disintegration, Smith sat down at a table with Lol and put it to him bluntly. “Look, this is your last chance,” said Smith. “If you don't stop drinking now there isn't going to be a group for you to be in - everyone is going to leave.”

He didn’t and, by April, the whole world knew that Tolhurst was out on his ear.

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Robert Smith : I really thought that after Disintegration that would be it. But I suddenly realised what was depressing me was that I was in a group with Lol. He was reflecting all the things I thought were wrong - becoming lazy, indulgent, and useless. My having the courage to actually kick him out of the band was a new lease on life.
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