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Former Cure Drummer Lol Tolhurst Slams Peter Hook's 'Sold Out' Accusations

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Lol Tolhurst, former drummer/keyboardist of the Cure and one of the band's founding members, has slammed embattled ex-New Order/Joy Division member Peter Hook's claims in his memoir regarding the Cure "wishing" they were Joy Division and that they "sold out."

Earlier this week Spin released excerpts from Hook's book Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division, one of which contained memories of a 1979 London gig both bands played.

"I don't think the Cure liked us," Hook wrote. "I think they resented us in some way, because we'd managed to stay cool, credible, and independent and they'd, well, sort of sold out a bit... I think they thought, Wish we were Joy Division."

The obvious dig at the Robert Smith-led group didn't go over well with some people, including Tolhurst. According to fan blog Chain of Flowers, Tolhurst posted a reply on his band's Levinhurst Facebook page on Tuesday dismissing the accusations.

"I don't normally add my two cents to stuff but I understand Peter Hook has a new book out wherein he speaks about a certain 1979 gig that Joy Division supported the Cure at?" Tolhurst says. "Well I remember that particular gig too and my memory is somewhat different from Pete's. See we arranged a show at the Marquee club in London for every Sunday for a month (called it a month of Sundays I think) and picked every band that opened for us. Because we, LIKED them and wanted to help them out. Not for any reason other than that."

The reply didn't end there however. In the comments section to his post Tolhurst went after Hook for his accusation the Cure sold out.

"And Sell outs? I think Robert has done a most marvelous job over the years of making sure that the Cure were the LEAST sellout band possible," he wrote. "He's always operated with the utmost integrity as concerns that side of the music business. And to insinuate otherwise is absolutely false and just plain bollocks too!"

"Straight from the horses mouth!" The Cure's keyboardist Roger O'Donnell added in the comments area. "No offence Lol hahahaha... Lol has an incredible memory for stuff like this!"

Tolhurst added a few more comments to his post.

"Dont worry I take no offense," he wrote. "Just wanted to set the record straight here because as time passes its harder to verify the facts and I just wanted Cure fans to know the truth here from someone who was most certainly involved haha!"

He also said the Cure "still have the preeminent bassist of our generation in Simon [Gallup]. And he's also the hunkiest still!"

The Chain of Flowers site also posted a link to a YouTube clip featuring a Sunkist advertisement New Order nearly did in the '80s, reworking their song "Blue Monday" for the beverage.

"Well it's starts with doing a Sunkist advert which was a shame 'cause we got offered I think it was $200,000 to use the music for 'Blue Monday' but exchange the lyrics with ones that were flattering towards their particular soft drink," singer Bernard Sumner said in the clip. "So what we did in the studio was that I had the lyrics on the lyrics stand, but on the mixing desk I had a big piece of cardboard with '$200,000' painted on it right in front of me while I was singing the lyrics. But I just couldn't stop laughing."

According to noted rock historian Alan Cross' e-book New Order: the Secret History, the band's manager Rob Gretton nixed the idea and the advertisement never aired.

In related news, the Cure recently announced a Latin American tour starting April 4 in Rio de Janeiro and concluding in Mexico City on April 21. The group -- now consisting of Smith, Gallup, O'Donnell, drummer Jason Cooper and guitarist Reeves Gabrels -- released its last studio album 4:13 the Dream in 2008.

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Mark

from a fans point a view, i love both the Cure and Joy Division/ New Order. what fans might not think about is bands are competing with each other. who is better, who has more fans, who plays more shows, who makes more money... the list goes on but i think when the dust has settled and the lights come on, and the bands are playing. in the end that's what makes me happy. being able to turn on the radio and your still there.

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