David Thomas, the live-wire frontman for experimental rockers Pere Ubu, has died. He was 71.
The band posted news of Thomas’ death on its official Facebook page, where the cause of death was given as “a long illness.”
Thomas “died in his home town of Brighton & Hove, with his wife and youngest stepdaughter by his side,” the statement continued. “MC5 were playing on the radio. He will ultimately be returned to his home, the farm in Pennsylvania, where he insisted he was to be ‘thrown in the barn.’”
Thomas, born in Miami, was a pivotal figure in Cleveland’s experimental rock underground (a regional scene that would go on yield the Dead Boys, Devo and Nine Inch Nails). Thomas first came to prominence in the group Rocket From the Tombs, which, despite never recording an album, became an influential act locally in its brief tenure. Known for his near-falsetto high voice and contrarian fondness for professorial suits onstage, Thomas cut as distinct a figure onstage as his music did on record.
Several Rocket From the Tombs members split off to form Pere Ubu — named after a play by French writer Alfred Jarry — in 1975. The band was wildly progressive for its era (and continues to sound bracing today), forgoing the sneering blasts of the simmering punk movement for arty dissonance, paired with ponderous rhythms, affection for B-movie soundtracks and Thomas’ idiosyncratic, sung-spoken literary allusions and bruised poetry.
The group’s 1978 LP, “The Modern Dance,” was a landmark of post-punk and new wave ambition that arrived just as punk itself crested in the U.S. While never a commercial success during its initial run from 1975 to 1982, Pere Ubu would inspire generations of experimental rockers and producers, and re-formed over the years with a revolving lineup around Thomas. The group recorded 19 studio albums, including its highly regarded 1978 LP, “Dub Housing,” and 1979’s “New Picnic Time,” a stressful and abrasive record that helped inspire acts like Sonic Youth.
Thomas’ solo career included collaborations with singer-songwriter Richard Thompson and “Saturday Night Live” music producer Hal Willner.
New Pere Ubu music may come posthumously. “David Thomas and his band have been recording a new album. He knew it was to be his last,” Pere Ubu wrote on Facebook. “We will endeavour to continue with mixing and finalising the new album so that his last music is available to all. … His autobiography was nearly completed and we will finish that for him.
“We’ll leave you with his own words, which sums up who he was better than we can,” the band’s statement continued. “‘My name is David F— Thomas … and I’m the lead singer of the best f— rock n roll band in the world.’”
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