Yeah, I had the same thought. As I just wrote in another email, I don't think Lloyd and Verlaine were ever really friends (like Hell and Verlaine, or Verlaine with Fred Smith, Jimmy Rip, Patti etc). It's pretty clear that Verlaine was not an easy person to know - extremely private and guarded - and my guess is that it was possible to work with him but not really bond with him, if that makes sense.
20+ years ago, Lloyd responded to a Television reunion question that he never fully understood the attachment rock fans had to specific combos of players. In Lloyd's view, playing music should be like jazz, where it's normal to play with lots of other musicians and switch-up combos regularly.
Anyway, if you have the chance this year, go see Richard live! I hope he continues to tour and record for many years to come, but you never know when a tour will be the last one.
"Isn't that the funniest thing?
I think about it all the time.
But I don't want to talk much about it.
Ok, ok - anything you say."