Rock Musician, Songwriter. A flautist, he was a founding member of the influential British progressive rock band "The Moody Blues". He attended the Paget Road Secondary Modern School and participated in the Birmingham Youth Choir. Initially a harmonica player, he formed the group, "The Krew Cats" with keyboardist Mike Pinder. Following the band's breakup, Pinder and Thomas formed the R&B/blues-based band, "The Moody Blues" along with Graeme Edge, Denny Laine (Paul McCartney & Wings) and Clint Warwick in Erdington, Birmingham, England. Signing a record deal with Decca Records, they would score a hit single with their cover of Bessie Banks' "Go Now" (1964). Following Laine and Warwick's departures from the group, bassist-singer John Lodge (previously a bandmate of Thomas in El Riot & the Rebels) and frontman-guitarist Justin Hayward were recruited in 1966, completing the classic lineup. After the regrouping, they signed with a Decca subsidiary, Deram Records, a progressive style was adapted with an emphasis on orchestration-multi-part vocal harmonies and the result was the groundbreaking "Days of Future Passed" (1967) album, which contained the classic songs "Tuesday Afternoon" and "Nights in White Satin". This landmark album was followed up with a string of classic albums via their collaboration with producer Tony Clarke such as: "In Search of the Lost Chord" (1968), "On the Threshold of a Dream" (1969), "To Our Children's Children's Children" (1969), "A Question of Balance" (1970), "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" (1971) & "Seventh Sojourn" (1972). The Moodies even formed their own record label-record store, Threshold Records. Later albums include: "Octave" (1978), "Long Distance Voyager" (1981), "The Other Side of Life" (1986) and Sur La Mer (1988). He remained a member of the group until the early 2000s when ill health forced him to retire in 2002. In 2006, The Moody Blues were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. In 2018, Thomas was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Moody Blues.
Rock Musician, Songwriter. A flautist, he was a founding member of the influential British progressive rock band "The Moody Blues". He attended the Paget Road Secondary Modern School and participated in the Birmingham Youth Choir. Initially a harmonica player, he formed the group, "The Krew Cats" with keyboardist Mike Pinder. Following the band's breakup, Pinder and Thomas formed the R&B/blues-based band, "The Moody Blues" along with Graeme Edge, Denny Laine (Paul McCartney & Wings) and Clint Warwick in Erdington, Birmingham, England. Signing a record deal with Decca Records, they would score a hit single with their cover of Bessie Banks' "Go Now" (1964). Following Laine and Warwick's departures from the group, bassist-singer John Lodge (previously a bandmate of Thomas in El Riot & the Rebels) and frontman-guitarist Justin Hayward were recruited in 1966, completing the classic lineup. After the regrouping, they signed with a Decca subsidiary, Deram Records, a progressive style was adapted with an emphasis on orchestration-multi-part vocal harmonies and the result was the groundbreaking "Days of Future Passed" (1967) album, which contained the classic songs "Tuesday Afternoon" and "Nights in White Satin". This landmark album was followed up with a string of classic albums via their collaboration with producer Tony Clarke such as: "In Search of the Lost Chord" (1968), "On the Threshold of a Dream" (1969), "To Our Children's Children's Children" (1969), "A Question of Balance" (1970), "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" (1971) & "Seventh Sojourn" (1972). The Moodies even formed their own record label-record store, Threshold Records. Later albums include: "Octave" (1978), "Long Distance Voyager" (1981), "The Other Side of Life" (1986) and Sur La Mer (1988). He remained a member of the group until the early 2000s when ill health forced him to retire in 2002. In 2006, The Moody Blues were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. In 2018, Thomas was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Moody Blues.
Bio by: C.S.
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