Creepy John Thomas

A guitarist named John Thomas seems to have as much chance of being recognized as an individual as a fire hydrant in an urban setting. An attached nickname can sometimes be helpful when faced with such a challenge, and this Australian-born performer came up with a good one when he dubbed himself Creepy John Thomas after moving to London. Still, not everyone who hired him wanted to call him a creep in liner notes so, for example, he is sometimes mistaken for the British guitarist John "J.T." Thomas, who joined <a href="spotify:artist:42RbQv212uOjyfIXECLKfR">Budgie</a> in 1978. Neither of these Commonwealth blokes have anything to do with the John Thomas who plays electric guitar on hip sides by <a href="spotify:artist:3BG0nwVh3Gc7cuT4XdsLtt">Joe Henderson</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1A0QR12gcj2L5hYh1WWDeh">Jimmy McGriff</a>.

Creepy John Thomas also made use of the stage name Johnny Driver. His first professional success took place as a songwriting member of the Flies, a combo based out of Melbourne that had Australian chart hits. The Flies were known to land on support gigs for some of the biggest '60s attractions touring down under, including <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">the Rolling Stones</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0JDkhL4rjiPNEp92jAgJnS">Roy Orbison</a>. British RCA put out his self-titled Creepy John Thomas in 1969, a follow-up enchantingly entitled Brother Bat Bone ensuing on Teldec. A firm entitled Fingerprint has apparently reissued both of these masterworks, yet Thomas himself warns fans that these are bootleg productions.

Thomas spent about a year in San Francisco following the original release of these solo albums, but by the early '70s had returned to London and a position as guitarist in <a href="spotify:artist:3vq20FWRCImmgoatehNMmg">the Edgar Broughton Band</a>. Two albums with this outfit feature Thomas, the particularly practically entitled Bandages -- seeing as the album has cuts on it, that is -- combining him with studio mastermind <a href="spotify:artist:562Od3CffWedyz2BbeYWVn">Mike Oldfield</a>. The guitarist also collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:7gcCQIlkkfbul5Mt0jBQkg">Dave Stewart</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5MspMQqdVbdwP6ax3GXqum">Annie Lennox</a> prior to the beginning of their <a href="spotify:artist:0NKDgy9j66h3DLnN8qu1bB">Eurythmics</a> success.

During the late '70s this artist undertook another location shift, heading to Berlin and starting up his own <a href="spotify:artist:7zTLopIdH2oILaALKKO6zT">Johnny & the Drivers</a> band. Thomas enjoyed Berlin, where creeps are popular, for a decade. Again the project netted a pair of albums on as many labels, in this case Polydor and Phonogram pressing the platters. Thomas was "planning his next attack" upon returning to London but soon made his expertise available to other performers as a producer. He eventually released a new solo album, suggesting listeners Remember Me This Way. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi