Singer and songwriter David Thomas, who led Pearub and other bands, who have extended the parameters of punk and art rock, passed away on Wednesday in Brighton and Hove, England. He was 71 years old.
Thomas suffered from kidney disease, but the announcement of his death on Pereub's Facebook and Instagram sites did not identify the cause, citing only “long illness.” He lived in Brighton and Hove, but the announcement did not say whether he died at home or not.
Through 50 years of recordings and performance, Thomas maintained a bold, unpredictable, messy and ambitious spirit. He rebelled forever, overturned structures and expectations, and enlightened the dissonance and ornamental sounds.
In the mid-1970s, at the dawn of punk rock, Pereub described it as “avan garage.” And when Punk developed its own constraints and practices, Thomas intentionally distorted or ignored them. He played in suits and tie when punk bands from the late 70s wore T-shirts, leather and torn jeans. And while much of his music was based on rock, he also delved into chamber music, cabaret, electronics and improvisation.
His voice was always unique. Hermaphrodite tenor with the liquid he pushed to its limits – crooning, chanting, pertussis, muttering, barking, burning, screaming. His lyrics can be apocalyptic, free union, ock laugh, euphoric, inexplicable, or surprisingly direct. On stage, he gestured violently, he connected between affection and habits.
Mr. Thomas was overweight with a big bone painted, and he proudly swung a large portion of him on stage. On his first band, Rocket from the Tomb and later on his official website, he called himself the Crocus Giant.
He released 32 studio albums and 32 studio albums with Tomb and Rocket and numerous live recordings, recording solo projects. In a 2021 interview with the magazine's Psychedelic Baby, he said: “The 'sound' never changes. You won't change. The world will not change. We will not change. Each album must go on to a deeper, more complicated rendering of the human experience.
David Lynn Thomas was born in Miami on June 14, 1953. His father, John David Lynn Thomas, was a professor of American literature. His mother, Mary Drake Carter, was a painter. David grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and spent a short time at university before dropping out.
By the name Crocus Behemoth, he wrote about the music of Sheen, Cleveland's Alternative Weekly newspaper, before deciding to make himself, but he described himself as a tone deaf.
“He never let the lack of music training get in the way,” Peleub's longtime bassist Tony Maimon said in an interview.
Making music in Cleveland in the 1970s – a distant hub of the music business among industrial sites – fostered a free-minded thinking in Cleveland magazines in 2017. “It probably won't happen again. We don't live in that world anymore. It was possible because of the isolation and despair of the time.
“Everything was destined from Cleveland,” he added. “So if no one likes what you're doing, if no one likes what you're doing, then no one will see you, you do what you want to do.”
His first band, the rocket from the tomb, lasted only a year from 1974 to 1975. That live recording was released long after the breakup, revealing the band bristling psychedelia and garage rock and wandering around “An unforgettable song across Tokyo in 30 seconds.”
Shortly after the Rocket from the Tomb disbanded, Mr. Thomas and another band member guitarist Peter Lafner framed Pereub and named it after the main character in Hublot, an avant-garde play by French symbolist writer Alfred Jarry. The studio recording of “30 Seconds on Tokyo” was the group's debut single. Like much of the rest of Thomas' career, it will be praised for his praise from music coverage, recognition from his dedicated audience, and minimal sustainable commercial success.
“I don't think he's made any money ever,” said Allen Ravensintin, who played the synthesizer in Pele Ubu's early lineup and recently recorded again with Thomas, in an interview. “He wasn't living a comfortable life. He was like a worker digging up a trench. He went to work every day and was exhausted.
Pere Ubu won a recording contract on two labels along with Punk Rock's Rise of Of Punk Rock, and in 1978 released two albums, “The Modern Dance” and “Dub Housing.” They happily blended succinct riffs, noisy sounds, discordant solos and Mr. Thomas' mercury vocals in a jarring way. The album had a lasting influence on countless post-punk bands, earning international attention and tour dates in the UK and continental Europe. Pere Ubu worked constantly for the next few years, touring and releasing three more albums before breaking up in 1982.
Thomas married Lynn Ferguson in 1980. They divorced in 2007.
Thomas quickly turned to his solo project and formed the group at various times, including English tradrock guitarist Richard Thompson and members of the UK progressive rock band Henry Cow. He also regained the name Pere Ubu when most of the band re-registered in the late 1980s, including his former bandmate. Their 1989 album “Cloudland” marked the band's closest approach to pop.
Thomas moved to the UK in 1994, but also shared ownership of a family farm in Pennsylvania.
Although Pere Ubu's lineup has been quite different over the next few decades, Thomas continued to lead the band through touring and albums, releasing “Trouble on Beat Street.” For that album, he wrote, “These new songs were played only once by the band and recorded at the same time.”
However, Peleub was not his only project. In 2003 he was reunited to perform with surviving members of the Tomb Rocket. They stayed together, releasing a much-related debut album in 2003, and another in 2010.
Thomas continued to release solo albums and recordings of live performances from his archives. He also wrote four books and two improvisations. “Mirror Man” and “The Head of Bring Me Ubu Roi” are adaptations for Alfred Jarry Play. He lectured and performed solo on the tour. Shortly before his death, he was working on his final Pere Ubu album and autobiography, according to his wife and manager Kiersty Boon.
“The man never stopped,” Maimonet said.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Thomas was survived by brothers Anne and Alan Thomas, as well as three stepchildren, Ione, Koren and Nina Gamble. .
“He will eventually be returned to his home, a farm in Pennsylvania,” Pele Ubu announced his death, claiming that he would be 'threwed into the barn.' ”
