David Thomas, the singer live for the experimental rockers Father Ubu, died. He was 71 years old.
The group has published news from Thomas' death On his official Facebook pageWhere the cause of death was given as “a long illness”.
Thomas “died in his hometown of Brighton & Hove, with his wife and his youngest daughter-in-law by his side,” continued the press release. “MC5 was playing on the radio. He will finally be returned to his house, the Pennsylvania farm, where he insisted that he had to be “thrown into the barn”.
Thomas, born in Miami, was a pivotal figure in the experimental rock of Cleveland Underground (a regional scene that would go on dead boys, nine inch nails). Thomas first took on importance in the Rocket group of The Tombs, which, despite the fact of never recording an album, has become an influential act locally in his brief mandate. Known for his voice raised on the Falset and his tenderness Congri for the combinations professors on stage, Thomas cut a distinct figure on stage that his music did it on disc.
David Thomas, center, with Pere Ubu in Vaartkapoen, Brussels, in 1993.
(GIE KNAEPS / GETTY Images)
Several rockets of the members of the tombs have separated to form father Ubu – named after a play by the French writer Alfred Jarry – in 1975. The group was extremely progressive for his time (and continues to seem against the offender today), renouncing the rinse explosions of the affection punk simmér literary allusions and bruised poetry.
The group's 1978 LP, “The Modern Dance”, was a benchmark for post-punk ambition and the new wave that came just when Punk itself has crossed in the United States, when never a commercial success during its initial race from 1975 to 1982, Pere Ubu would inspire generations of rockers and experimental producers, and re-formulated over the years with a rotating line around Thomas. The group recorded 19 studio albums, including its much appreciated from 1978, “Dub Housing”, and “New Picnic Time” from 1979, a stressful and abrasive record that helped inspire acts like Sonic Youth.
Thomas' solo career included collaborations with the singer-songwriter Richard Thompson and the music producer of “Saturday Night Live” Hal Willner.
The new Ubu Pere Music can come posthumously. “David Thomas and his group recorded a new album. He knew it was his last,” wrote Pere Ubu on Facebook. “We will endeavor to continue to mix and finalize the new album so that his latest music is available to everyone. … his autobiography was almost finished and that we will finish this for him.
“We will leave you with his own words, which summarizes who he was better than us,” continued the group's declaration. “'My name is David F – Thomas… and I am the singer for the best rock n roll group in the world.' '
