Tony Thompson; drummer with Chic
Hyfler/Rosner
(Filed: 14/11/2003) Telegraph
Tony Thompson, who has died in Los Angeles three days short of his 49th
birthday, was a session percussionist who played on Madonna's Like a Virgin
and David Bowie's Let's Dance, went on to back Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart,
Debbie Harry and Robert Palmer and play with Led Zeppelin at Live Aid; his
finest moments, though, came as the drummer with Chic, the band which became
synonymous with disco.
Chic, centred on the rhythms created by Thompson, Bernard Edwards (bass) and
Nile Rodgers (guitar), were one of the most influential bands of the 1970s,
and epitomised dance music at its most populist and stylish. Over Thompson's
tight, aggressive and ruthlessly precise drumming - the band never used
"click tracks" or any other artificial metronomes - Edwards's propulsive
basslines and Rodgers's crisp rhythm guitar provided the soundtrack for the
disco craze. Although their dominance of the charts was relatively
short-lived, Chic's output remained highly influential, and has frequently
been sampled by other pop stars since.
After leaving Chic in the early 1980s, Thompson became a much sought-after
session drummer, playing on records as varied as Debbie Harry's Kookoo,
Madonna's 1984 smash hit Like A Virgin (virtually a Chic production), most
of Robert Palmer's later albums, Rod Stewart's Out of Order (1988), Carly
Simon's Anthology (2002) and a stint with the Power Station, a spin-off from
Duran Duran.
He had been born in Queens, New York City, on November 12 1954, and - to the
disapproval of his father - grew up determined to play the drums. This, and
his initial enthusiasm for heavy rock, simply encouraged young Tony to adopt
a more hard-hitting technique. By the late 1970s, he was an established
figure on the New York music scene, having begun his career playing with
Patti LaBelle's band. Edwards and Rodgers recruited Thompson after the
drummer with their Big Apple Band had a fight with his girlfriend and put
his hand through a window.
Needing a replacement, they decided against Omar Hakim (who, at 16, was too
young to appear in clubs) and auditioned Thompson. Hearing Thompson's
fusion-inspired set, Edwards was at first sceptical, regarding him as a jazz
drummer, but was persuaded by Rodgers to sign him up.
The band soon became Chic, later recruiting the singers Alfa Anderson and
Norma Jean Wright (later replaced by Luci Martin), and scoring their first
hit with Dance Dance Dance (Yowsah Yowsah Yowsah) in 1977. It reached number
six in America; Everybody Dance followed, reaching number nine here, but it
was Le Freak which was the group's biggest hit.
The record had been written after they had failed to gain access to Studio
54 on New Year's Eve 1977, although they were on Grace Jones's guest list.
Disgusted, the band retired home and improvised a song directed at the
doorman, with the stirring chorus "Fuck Off". Suitably bowdlerised, it sold
five million copies. The band's next two albums, C'Est Chic (1978) and
Risque (1979), both went platinum, and they were much in demand as musicians
and producers on other disco tracks, notably on Sister Sledge's hit We Are
Family and Diana Ross's complex and inventive I'm Coming Out and Upside
Down.
After supporting David Bowie's disappointing foray into light funk, Let's
Dance, Thompson revived his interest in rock drumming by forming the Power
Station with Andy Taylor and John Taylor of Duran Duran; they had hits with
Some Like It Hot and a cover of T Rex's Get it On. In 1985, Thompson played
on Mick Jagger's She's the Boss; and that summer he was approached to fill
John Bonham's seat at the drumkit for Led Zeppelin's performance at Live
Aid.
The set was poor - not because of Thompson's playing, which was as
professional as ever, but thanks to a lack of rehearsal, and the last-minute
addition of Genesis's Phil Collins as an additional drummer.
A serious car accident slowed down Thompson's output for a short spell in
the 1990s, but he continued to be much in demand, contributing to tribute
albums and working as a session musician until earlier this month, when he
was diagnosed with renal cancer. He had no medical insurance, and his family
had to launch an appeal for funds.
Thompson, a mischievous figure who was fond of jokes and, latterly, a keen
visitor to the gym, is survived by his wife, the actress Patrice Jennings,
and two step-children.
PirateJohn
http://www.karentaylor.force9.co.uk/power%20station.htm
Sad that Tony would pass away so soon after Robert Palmer. Power Station
produced some great music for their time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pirat...@aol.com
Keeper of the Humour List at http://members.aol.com/PirateJohn/pirate1.html
"Mother, mother ocean... I have heard your call" - Jimmy Buffett, A Pirate
Looks At Forty.
Ed Varner
>Didn't Bernard Edwards also die about ten years ago ? I am sure he did.
>He worked on a lot of Diana Ross's later music.
from amg.com:
Bernard Edwards' supple, big bottom bass lines powered platinum hits by Chic,
the '70s dance/pop band that he co-founded with guitarist/songwriter/producer
Nile Rodgers. The group scored three gold singles and one platinum single
including two number one pop/R&B singles, "Le Freak" and "Good Times"; two
platinum albums, C'est Chic and Risque; and one gold album, Chic.
The bassist co-wrote and produced all of Chic's records as well as those the
duo produced for Diana Ross, Sister Sledge, and others. Edwards later produced
and played in '80s supergroup Power Station ; produced ABC's "When Smokey
Sings," Ross' "Telephone," and Rod Stewart; and played bass on the
Rodgers-produced Madonna LP Like a Virgin and Jody Watley's "Don't You Want
Me."
Born October 31, 1952, in Greenville, NC, Edwards met Rodgers in 1970. They
began playing at New York jazz clubs and taverns. Meeting drummer Tony Thompson
they formed the Big Apple Band, which backed the live concerts of vocal group
New York City. The two can be heard on Walter Murphy & the Big Apple Band's
gold single "A Fifth of Beethoven" (number ten R&B, number one pop, spring
1976).
Forming Chic, the group sold their instruments to raise money to record tracks
to secure a major-label record deal. They received the inevitable rejections
until they finally got a deal with Atlantic Records through president Jerry
Greenberg. Their first single, "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah),"
started out as a huge dance club hit and went gold hitting number six R&B/pop
on Billboard's charts in fall 1977. The debut LP issued in December 1977, Chic,
went gold, peaking at number 27 pop in spring 1978. Chic's biggest hit "Le
Freak" was recorded at the legendary Power Station in New York City.
(snip)
At the age of 43, Bernard Edwards died of pneumonia while touring with the
group Power Station in Tokyo, Japan, on April 18, 1996.
Echoes
Ed Varner
>Did I miss it - what did he die of/from?
Renal Cell Cancer.
http://www.tonythompsonfund.com/
Ed V
Bob Flaminio
> Photo of Mr. Thompson at
> http://www.karentaylor.force9.co.uk/power%20station.htm
>
> Sad that Tony would pass away so soon after Robert Palmer. Power
> Station produced some great music for their time.
Yep. For those keeping score on The Power Station:
Robert Palmer -- dead
John Taylor -- alive
Tony Thompson -- dead
Andy Taylor -- alive
Producer Bernard Edwards -- dead
Replacement singer Michael des Barres -- alive
--
Bob
Mordecai
"Hyfler/Rosner" <rel...@rcn.com> wrote:
> The set was poor - not because of Thompson's playing, which was as
> professional as ever, but thanks to a lack of rehearsal, and the last-minute
> addition of Genesis's Phil Collins as an additional drummer.
>
This is the second time in a week I've read about how "bad" the Led
Zeppelin Live Aid set was, which goes to show how much I know about
music. I thought it was the coolest part of Live Aid at the time, but
then again I was only 14 years and had never seen the original Zeppelin
in concert. Still, I'll always remember it as a big part of my musical
memory.
--
M.