The Cure’s Lol Tolhurst picks his favourite albums of all time
Laurence ‘Lol’ Tolhurst met Robert Smith when he was just five years old, beginning a friendship that blossomed into a creative partnership. In 1976, the pair, alongside Michael Dempsey, formed The Cure, swiftly becoming one of Britain’s most successful bands.
The band consistently released hit tracks, from ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ to ‘Friday I’m in Love’, becoming one of the earliest examples of an alternative rock band attracting significant commercial success. Yet, Tolhurst’s time in The Cure was cut short in 1989 when Smith asked him to leave the band. While recording the stunning record Disintegration, the drummer-turned-keyboardist developed a dependency on alcohol and narcotics, which affected his ability to perform professionally.
Since then, Tolhurst has worked on his own projects, such as Presence and Levinhurst, although he temporarily reunited with The Cure in 2011 to play some of the band’s early work at live shows. In 2016, he released a memoir, Cured: The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys, which explored his time in The Cure. While promoting the book, the musician sat down with the Express to discuss some of his favourite albums, ranging from David Bowie to Carlos Santana.
His first pick was Jimi Hendrix’s Axis: Bold As Love, the legendary guitarist’s second album, released in 1967. Tolhurst explained: “I bought this for £1, got it home and thought that being able to play drums like Mitch Mitchell would be great. Hendrix’s song technique is to the fore on this, not just the crazy guitar stuff, and I can pretty much remember all the lyrics.”
Next up is one of the most important experimental rock albums, Trout Mask Replica, by Captain Beefheart. Released in 1969, the record was produced by music’s strangest visionary, Frank Zappa. According to Tolhurst, “I’d never heard anything like this. At first, it sounds like utter chaos, but, listening to it carefully, it’s beautifully put together. He influenced so many. As a teenager, you feel a bit alienated, and this was a good album to be an outsider with.”
Tolhurst also has a penchant for Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin’s Love Devotion Surrender, describing “the first 30 seconds” as “like a spiritual musical orgasm”. He continued: “Even today, I wonder how they did it. Their version of ‘A Love Supreme’ is stunning. I saw John McLaughlin in Los Angeles a few years ago, and his guitar playing was still mind-blowing.”
The ex-drummer also had a lot to say about the British punk movement, including The Clash’s self-titled debut as one of his most coveted albums. He shared: “I was besotted with this when it came out. It gave us the confidence to do something like it, and it spoke to what was going on in my life.” Similarly, he loved The Stranglers, citing Rattus Norvegicus as one of his favourite records. “Up to that point, music was disco or overblown progressive rock, and neither of those resonated with me. They were exciting. I got up on stage to dance with them. I was the first punk in Crawley.”
Lol Tolhurst’s favourite albums:
- Axis: Bold as Love – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
- Trout Mask Replica – Captain Beefheart
- Love Devotion Surrender – Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin
- The Clash – The Clash
- Rattus Norvegicus – The Stranglers
- Low – David Bowie
Finally, Tolhurst’s collection would not be complete without some David Bowie, and he opted for Low. The record was released in 1977 when The Cure were in the early stages of their career. It greatly influenced their sound, with Robert Smith previously stating that he consistently listened to the record when making Seventeen Seconds. Tolhurst elucidated: “I could feel the beauty of the lyrical ideas on this, even though I wasn’t sure what he was talking about until later on. On vinyl, one side was instrumental, which was weird but exciting. I like other Bowie albums as well, but I still play this one at least once a week in my car”.
