Thinking Plague is an American avant-garde progressive rock group founded in 1982 by guitarist/composer

Mike Johnson James Michael Johnson (born January 30, 1972) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 56th speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2023. A member ...

and bass guitarist/drummer Bob Drake. Based in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, the band has been active off and on since 1982, taking on a number of musicians over the years. They have made seven studio albums between 1984 and 2017, and released one live album recorded at NEARfest in 2000. Their music is a mix of rock, folk, jazz and 20th-century classical music. Music.com remarked that "...Thinking Plague stand out as a shining example of avant-garde music blended with just enough rock for it to be called progressive rock..." While never directly related to

Rock in Opposition Rock in Opposition or RIO was a movement representing a collective of progressive rock bands in the late 1970s united in their opposition to the music industry that refused to recognise their music. It was initiated by English avant-rock gro ...

(RIO), Thinking Plague was strongly influenced by this late-1970s movement, particularly Henry Cow and

Art Bears Art Bears were an England, English avant-rock Musical ensemble, group formed during the disassembly of Henry Cow in 1978 by three of its members, Chris Cutler (percussion, texts), Fred Frith (guitar, bass guitar, violin, keyboards) and Dagmar Kr ...

. In spite of Johnson's dislike of the term, the band has often been categorized as a "RIO" band.

History

Early Thinking Plague

and Bob Drake first met and played in several cover bands. They began experimenting with basement recordings in 1980 and by 1982 they had enough song material to attempt a few live performances. For these shows they enlisted the services of classically trained vocalist Sharon Bradford,

luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

Harry Fleishman on keyboards, and Rick Arsenault on drums. This ensemble became the first incarnation of Thinking Plague. They played at a few venues around

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

in 1983 but their complicated music was not well received and Johnson and Drake decided to make an album of their material instead. With Bradford, Fleishman and Mark Fuller on drums the band worked on and off for almost a year recording their songs at a crude 8-track recording facility in the basement of an old

slaughterhouse In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a mea ...

called the Packing House Studios. Having limited funds they did all the tracking and mixing themselves, and released the album, ''...A Thinking Plague'' in 1984 on their own Endemic label. Only 500 LPs were pressed with each cover hand painted by Drake with spray-paint and a stencil. In spite of the small scale,

low-tech Low technology (low tech; adjective forms: low-technology, low-tech, lo-tech) is simple technology, as opposed to '' high technology''. In addition, low tech is related to the concept of mid-tech, that is a balance between low-tech and high-tec ...

quality of the release, a number of distributors, including Recommended Records and Wayside Music (Cuneiform Records) agreed to sell the album and it was well received by some critics. In 1985 Johnson and Drake began to record material for a new Thinking Plague album. The Packing House Studios had closed but they had access to a few "low budget" recording facilities in Denver. Having disbanded the "Packing House" group after their first album, Johnson and Drake recruited a new band: singer-songwriter Susanne Lewis, drummer Mark Fuller and keyboardist Eric Moon. Disregarding, or ignorant of the proper "industry" way of doing things, Thinking Plague recorded their second album, ''Moonsongs''. The title track was a fifteen-and-a-half minute "tribal-pagan-environmental-anti-materialistic avant-rock ritual" composed by Johnson.. Initially ''Moonsongs'' was released in 1986 on cassette by Endemic, but the following year the band signed with Dead Man's Curve Records in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and ''Moonsongs'' was released on LP. As with their first album, ''Moonsongs'' was praised in "progressive" circles and Thinking Plague enhanced their stature as an avant-rock band. Riding on the success of their two albums, Thinking Plague performed a series of live shows in 1987 in Denver, opening for

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...

at one of them. Pianist/clarinetist Lawrence Haugseth joined the band for the live performances, but left in early 1988. Haugseth's brief stay did, however, establish the need for a woodwind/reed section in the band. Fuller and Moon had also left the band in late 1987, which prompted the acquisition of three new musicians: classical pianist, Shane Hotle, bassist Maria Moran, and Mark Harris on clarinet, saxophones and flutes. Drake switched from bass guitar to drums.

''In This Life''

Recording for a new album began in early 1988 in various studios, including a large rehearsal room in an old

yogurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to ...

factory (referred to as the Yog Factory). Johnson and Lewis had collaborated on a collection of songs for the album, which featured several "new" instruments, including sampler, tabla, various

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

n and Balinese percussion instruments, and a fiddle (courtesy Bob Drake). Ex-Henry Cow guitarist

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as a founding member of the English avant-rock group Henry ...

guested on one track, "Organism (version II)", the original version (also with Frith) having been released on Recommended Records' '' RēR Records Quarterly Vol.2 No.4''. Drake did all the production work and the album, ''In This Life'' was finished in mid-1988. At the time ex-Henry Cow drummer and Recommended Records founder, Chris Cutler was on tour with Pere Ubu in Denver and Johnson gave Cutler a cassette tape of the new album. Cutler offered to release it on the Recommended label, and in September 1989, ''In This Life'' became the first US-made CD on the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

label. ''In This Life'' was widely distributed and began "gaining kudos from aficionados of avant rock from all around the world." But Thinking Plague's euphoria was short lived when Lewis moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Attempts to replace her with a local singer were unsuccessful and working "long distance" with her proved impractical at the time. Disillusioned, Drake relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to work as an engineer and producer, and Moran left the band, leaving Thinking Plague at the point of disintegrating. In Los Angeles, Drake met drummer Dave Kerman of an avant-rock band, the 5uu's and began working with Kerman's band. Kerman's interest in Thinking Plague led to him joining the Denver band. Drake and Lewis also agreed to "rejoin" (despite the distances) and with the other remaining members, Johnson, Harris and Hotle, Thinking Plague "reformed" in 1990. For the next few years the band worked intermittently at some long-distance rehearsals, performed in a few concerts and made some new recordings, after which all work was put on hold. During this period of dormancy Johnson toured across

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

in 1995 with Drake, Kerman and the 5uu's, but upon returning to the United States the three agreed that reviving Thinking Plague again was not a practical option.

Rebirth

Johnson joined another local avant-rock band, Hamster Theatre in 1996, and suggested to its leader, accordionist and bassist Dave Willey that he join a new incarnation of Thinking Plague. Willey agreed and recommended Deborah Perry as a singer. At much the same time, Kerman moved to Denver and rejoined the band. With existing members Harris and Hotle the new Thinking Plague began recording new material that Johnson had written. In early 1998 the finished tracks were sent to Drake (now living in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) for mixing and production, and the result was Thinking Plague's fourth album, ''In Extremis'', released in 1998 by Cuneiform Records. ''In Extremis'' was rated the top album in 1998 by ''Gnosis'', and its success resulted in new concert appearances for the band. A new member, Matt Mitchell on keyboards was recruited to replace Hotle who had left after the making of ''In Extremis'', and Thinking Plague performed at the 1999 ProgDay Festival, followed by a tour of the eastern and mid-western United States. In June 2000 the band played at NEARfest, a recording of which was mixed three years later by Drake and released as ''Upon Both Your Houses'' in 2004 by NEARfest Records. In July 2000 the band toured France and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. After the concerts in Europe, Kerman left the band and was replaced by ex- Sleepytime Gorilla Museum drummer David Shamrock. Work began on a new album, ''A History of Madness'', which was released in September 2003 by Cuneiform Records. It was recorded over a period of two years, with half the band members flying into Denver from across the United States to add their contributions. ''A History of Madness'' was the first Thinking Plague album that Bob Drake did not produce; Johnson and Mark McCoin, of the Brave New Audio studio where the album was recorded, did all the mixing.

Name

Thinking Plague's name was created by the band's founders,

and Bob Drake. According to Johnson, "The idea was to say something about that sort of existential condition of being unable to stop thinking, analyzing, or otherwise intellectualizing, which causes one to be separated from 'things in themselves', as it were."

Members

A number of musicians have passed through Thinking Plague over the years, except for Mike Johnson who has remained with the group since its inception. The dates below indicate the years that they were active in the group. *

(1982–present) – guitars, drums, percussion, vocals * Bob Drake (1982–1994) – bass guitar, drums, percussion, vocals, guitar, bowed balalaika, synthesizer, piano, organ, noise, violin * Sharon Bradford (1982–1984) – vocals, noise, casio mini-synth, drake noise box * Harry Fleishman (1982–1984) – piano, organ, vocals * Rick Arsenault (1982–1983) – drums * Mark Fuller (1983–1988) – drums * Susanne Lewis (1985–1990) – vocals * Eric Moon as known as Eric Jacobson (1985–1988) – keyboards * Lawrence Haugseth (1987–1988) – clarinet, synthesizer, vocals * Mark Harris (1988–present) – baritone saxophone, clarinet, flute * Shane Hotle (1988–1998) – piano, synthesizer, noise, organ, mellotron * Maria Moran (1988–1989) – bass guitar, guitars * Dave Kerman (1989–2000; 2007–2010) – drums, percussion * Stevan Kovacs Tickmayer (2008) – keyboards, zither, processing, bass, voice * Dave Willey (1996–present) – bass guitar, accordion * Deborah Perry (1996–2008) – vocals * Matt Mitchell (1999–2004) – keyboards * David Shamrock (2001–2004) – drums, percussion * Elaine Difalco (2008–present) – vocals * Kimara Sajn (2009–2014) – drums, percussion, keyboards, vocals * Robin Chestnut (2011–present) – drums, percussion * Bill Pohl (2013–present) – guitars

Discography

Studio albums

* ''...A Thinking Plague'' (1984, LP, Endemic Music, US) * ''Moonsongs'' (1986, LP, Dead Man's Curve Records, UK) * ''In This Life'' (1989, CD, Recommended Records, UK) * ''In Extremis'' (1998, CD, Cuneiform Records, US) * ''A History of Madness'' (2003, CD, Cuneiform Records, US) * ''Decline and Fall'' (2012, CD, Cuneiform Records, US) * ''Hoping Against Hope'' (2017, CD, Cuneiform Records, US)

Live album

* ''Upon Both Your Houses'' (live at NEARfest 2000) (2004, CD, NEARfest Records, US; Reissue: 2020, digital, Cuneiform Records, US)

Compilations

* ''Driving Me Backwards'' (1987, LP, Dead Man's Curve Records, UK) * '' RēR Records Quarterly Vol.2 No.4'' (1989, LP, Recommended Records, UK) * '' RēR Quarterly Vol.4 No.1'' (1994, CD, Recommended Records, UK) * ''Early Plague Years'' (2000, CD, Cuneiform Records, US) – remastered releases by Bob Drake of the LPs ''...A Thinking Plague'' and ''Moonsongs'' on one CD

Footnotes

References

Thinking Plague history
''Thinking Plague homepage''

External links

* *

''The Giant Progweed''.

''The Giant Progweed''. {{Authority control Musical groups from Denver Musical groups established in 1982 American progressive rock groups Rock in Opposition Cuneiform Records artists American experimental rock groups 1982 establishments in Colorado Rock music groups from Colorado