Tony Thompson

Of the many numerous rumors which have surfaced over time of Led Zeppelin possibly re-forming, it would appear that the one period it came closest to really becoming a actuality (the mid-’80s), the drummer who was simply projected to consider the location of John Bonham was ex-Chic pounder Tony Thompson. Hailing from NEW YORK, Thompson produced a name for himself in the past due ’70s among the dance movement’s leading drummers — because of his hard-hitting design (which hinted that his playing was similarly inspired by hard rock and roll). Obtaining his begin playing briefly with LaBelle, Thompson discovered himself a part of an area Queens, NY, disco clothing by the center of the 10 years (known as Ecstasy, Enthusiasm & Discomfort), and along the way, befriended music artists Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. Rodgers and Edwards had been fresh out of the punk/new wave clothing (Allah & the Blade Wielding Punks), and had been looking to type a group even more aligned using the fast-rising disco motion. They couldn’t possess picked an improved drummer to propel the groove, as Thompson agreed upon on, aswell as performers Norma Jean Wright and Alfa Anderson, ensuing the forming of Chic. Agreed upon to Atlantic Information, Chic quickly became among disco’s leading rings (albeit for a short while), landing a big strike using its 1977 debut, Chic, which spawned the strike one “Dance Dance Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah).” Nonetheless it will be Chic’s sophomore work that might be the group’s ideal artistic and industrial triumph, 1978’s near chart-topping C’Est Elegant, which spawned among disco’s most immediately recognizable anthems, the main strike “PANIC.” Elegant would rating another chart-topping one a year afterwards, “MEMORIES,” but nearly immediately thereafter begun to fallout of favor using the pop viewers (because of a mass anti-disco motion). Upon splitting from Chic in the first ’80s, Thompson’s abilities were place to good make use of as a program drummer, showing up on high-profile recordings by Sister Sledge (Like Someone Today), Debbie Harry (Kookoo), Madonna (Such as a Virgin), and Mick Jagger (She’s the Employer), amongst others, aswell as David Bowie’s Let’s Dance and its own subsequent “Critical Moonlight” tour. Thompson’s stature as you of rock’s leading drummers just became better by the center of the 10 years, as he participated in the all-star Duran Duran aspect project, the energy Place. Although Duran associates Andy and John Taylor (also to a lesser level, frontman Robert Palmer) had been the main appeal, it had been Thompson’s effective drumming that propelled the group’s audio, as it have scored a high Ten EP (1985’s THE ENERGY Place) and a couple of MTV-approved strike singles, “Some ENJOY IT Scorching” and a cover of T. Rex’s “OBTAIN IT On (Bang a Gong).” Nonetheless it was Thompson’s following project that might be the most discussed of the 10 years for the drummer. Using the mammoth Live Help advantage concert booked in the summertime of 1985, the three making it through associates of Led Zeppelin (vocalist Robert Flower, guitarist Jimmy Web page, and bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones) made a decision to reunite for any mini overall performance at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. Filling up the shoes from the past due John Bonham will be an difficult but a very much sought-after gig, and Thompson got the nod. What adopted that day time was a horribly under-rehearsed and sloppy overall performance — nonetheless it had not been Thompson who was simply responsible (he was most likely among the set’s few shiny spots). In the last instant (for reasons unfamiliar), it had been decided to possess Phil Collins sign up for Thompson as another drummer. With Collins certainly unfamiliar with Zeppelin’s repertoire (and visibly taking a look at Thompson for cues throughout), it just put into the set’s woes. For a long time afterwards, it had been assumed that was the last hurrah for the “Thompson” edition of Zeppelin, nonetheless it afterwards became known it wasn’t. As it happens that in 1986, all kept some “top secret” recording periods in Bath, Britain. Although the periods became promising, they found an abrupt halt when Thompson was involved with a serious car crash. Thompson continued being a program drummer soon after (showing up on recordings by Robert Palmer, Duran Duran, Platinum Blonde, Fishing rod Stewart, and Jody Watley), but with the ’90s seemed to vanish completely — although he made an appearance sporadically within “tribute” albums (Jimi Hendrix’s Rock Free, Queen’s Rock Chilly Crazy, and Aerosmith’s ONE OF THE WAYS Road). This decrease in work might have been caused by serious hearing loss experienced by Thompson from his noisy and hard-hitting playing design and comprehensive touring career, regarding to friend and Chic bandmate Nile Rodgers, who caused him over the Rock Free sessions. Nevertheless, the middle-’90s discovered Thompson within a re-formed Power Place because of their second record in 11 years, 1996’s Surviving in Fear, and its own helping tour. The record and tour reunited Thompson with previous Chic bandmate and bassist Bernard Edwards, who created the record and managed bass responsibilities on preparations co-written by unique Power Train station bassist John Taylor. The reunion demonstrated brief and heartbreaking, as Edwards passed away of pneumonia through the Power Station’s tour of Tokyo in Apr 1996. Years later on after a struggle with renal cell tumor (and oddly 8 weeks after Power Train station bandmate Robert Palmer passed away of the coronary attack), Tony Thompson passed on on November 12, 2003, departing a wife and two kids.