The Cure co-founder's history of goth goes to Quercus

Quercus’ non-fiction publishing director Richard Milner has bought a history of goth sub-culture from one of the founding members of The Cure. 

Lol Tolhurst, who was the band’s drummer from its inception until 1989, will write Choosing Gloom: The Goth History of the World, which promises to be a “deep dive into the movers and shakers of goth with stories and anecdotes from the musicians, magicians, producers, and promoters who created such a galvanizing, global and enduring music movement”.  

Milner acquired world rights excluding North America from Caspian Dennis at Abner Stein, on behalf of Peter McGuigan at Ultra Literary. 

Milner said: “I grew up in Leeds and suffered the loss of a beloved Cramps T-shirt at a Sisters of Mercy gig, so I felt an immediate affinity to Lol’s proposed goth history of the world.”

Tolhurst co-founded The Cure with his childhood friend, the band’s leader Robert Smith, and was the drummer and keyboardist through its breakout phase in the 1980s when it had a huge influence on shaping goth culture. However, Tolhurst was sacked from the band in 1989—widely reported at the time due to a drinking problem—and in the 1990s he sued Smith for royalties. The two later reconciled and he has played some Cure reunion gigs since as well as recording and touring with his own bands. Tolhurst’s memoir, Cured: The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys, was published by Milner and Quercus in 2016. 

Tolhurst said that he will be writing about what became a global movement: “Goth wasn’t just for the kids in London. It wasn’t just for the hipsters around the globe in New York City, Paris, or Berlin, who were picking up on our dark vibe. Young people worldwide, from the deep, dark heart of the American Midwest to the forgotten villages of England, could find something in this music, this movement. It spoke to them and a way of life, a form of being, that they could believe in.”