The Cure’s original drummer, Laurence Tolhurst, who was publicly humiliated and subsequently fired by band leader Robert Smith for being “useless”, wants to rejoin the band for a 30th anniversary tour celebrating Faith, the band’s gloomily masterful third album. Despite Smith’s public thrashing of him, Tolhurst played an integral role in The Cure’s early years, not only for being present at such a creative apex for Smith but also for drumming on classics from Three Imaginary Boys through the transitional Japanese Whispers. He moved to keyboards when the band’s rhythms became too complex and was eventually replaced by Boris Williams. Tolhurst’s substance abuse was legendary in The Cure’s inner circle, and Smiths’s disdain for his mate reached a point where the business end of The Cure was threatened by the actions of his longtime friend. Tolhurst was dealt many passive aggressive blows until his inevitable firing. Even his keyboard playing was mocked when the band hired an additional keyboardist in Roger O’Donnell, circa Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me. And in the video for “Just Like Heaven,” Tolhurst’s presence was but a blurry blip in the background:

The final blow came in the liner notes to The Cure’s masterwork, Disintegration, where Tolhurst was credited with “Other Instrument,” as he had become little more than the band’s mascot and punching bag. He was sacked shortly before the band’s 1989 “Prayer Tour.” His asking to rejoin the band is far from the craziest thing in the Cure’s illustrious history. He and Smith have evidently patched things up to some degree with Tolhurst even tweeting about his recent communication with his old friend. If he can still bang out those dirges, I don’t see why not. Couldn’t be any worse than whatever dreck that’s been released in the past two decades under the name The Cure. I say go for it.