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..." Music.com apparently has a system for measuring such things.
While never directly related to Rock in Opposition (RIO), Thinking Plague was strongly influenced by this late-1970s movement, particularly Henry Cow and Art Bears. In spite of Johnson's dislike of the term, the band has often been categorized as a "RIO" band.
Mike Johnson and Bob Drake first met in 1978 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 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 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 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 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-song writer 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 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 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.
Recording for a new album began in early 1988 in various studios, including a large rehearsal room in an old yogurt 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 African and Balinese percussion instruments, and a fiddle (courtesy Bob Drake). Ex-Henry Cow guitarist Fred Frith 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 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. 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 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 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.
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) 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.
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.
This Weird Wind
Thinking Plague Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
towards an ancient dissolving shoreline
I unfold
feather falling past a moth spins slowly on a
strand of web dried
forgotten moisture for spiders now also crumbling
in the sun
now skeletal tree underneath the skies merciless
gaze of somber brightness
questions earth from which we emerged
questions earth which attracts us
questions the crimson light lying in measureless
reaches
lingering fire of eternity
I'll tell you
a weird wind moving through violet air blending
the scents of the secret
night flowers
now there's no difference inside or out the carpet
joins a path to the unknown
I worship all the things now as one thought released
by the wind of the place
here they are disturbed and draw me through the
ages to a time where I am
The lyrics of Thinking Plague's song "This Weird Wind" explore themes of time, nature, and existentialism. The first few lines suggest a journey through different eras, towards an ancient shoreline that is dissolving. The imagery of a feather falling and a moth spinning on a strand of web add to the sense of fleeting and fragile nature of time passing. The paper and leaves are yellowed by the sun, suggesting a sense of decay and disintegration.
The lyrics then shift to focus on a skeletal tree, exposed to the brightness of the sky. The tree becomes a symbol of questioning earth and our own origins, and the crimson light that stretches into the immeasurable distance resonates with a sense of eternity. The singer then introduces the idea of a "weird wind" that blends the scents of secret nightflowers and blurs the line between inside and outside, drawing the singer towards the unknown.
The final lines suggest a sense of transcendence, with the singer worshipping all things as one thought and being "disturbed" to be drawn through the ages to a place where they existed before. The song as a whole presents a dreamlike, fragmented narrative that explores the ineffable mysteries of time and the natural world.
Line by Line Meaning
drawn through the sides of ages
Pulled through the history of time
towards an ancient dissolving shoreline
Going towards a fading, old shoreline
I unfold
I open up to the experience
feather falling past a moth spins slowly on a strand of web dried
A feather falls and spins slowly on a dried strand of spider web, like a dance
forgotten moisture for spiders now also crumbling in the sun it yellows the paper and leaves
Moisture is forgotten and drying out, turning yellow, just like the spider web it was once on
now skeletal tree underneath the skies merciless gaze of somber brightness
A lifeless tree under the unforgiving and gloomy brightness of the sky
questions earth from which we emerged
Asks about the origin of humanity
questions earth which attracts us
Questioning the pull of nature on humans
questions the crimson light lying in measureless reaches lingering fire of eternity
Questions the red light that seems infinite and eternal
I'll tell you a weird wind moving through violet air blending the scents of the secret night flowers
I'll describe a strange wind mixing with the fragrances of hidden nocturnal flowers
now there's no difference inside or out the carpet joins a path to the unknown
There's no distinction between inside and outside, a rug connects to the mysterious
I worship all the things now as one thought released by the wind of the place
Revering all things as a single thought set free by the energy of the environment
here they are disturbed and draw me through the ages to a time where I am
The surroundings agitate and bring me through the ages to a moment where I exist
Contributed by Jordan F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@tooneatdeep
thanks so much to Cuneiform for all the wonderful music they introduced me to ! - back in the late 90's, it was Thinking Plague (and its galaxy of stars), then The Claudia Quintet... and recently, through the Rascal Reporters, i discovered Jessica Martin Maresco (french singer, whom i hope i'll be able to see live - yes, i'm french too...)
@monosam
Rock Progresivo "Avant- Garde" de muy alta calidad, me gustó mucho.
@irenalandowska9217
Rock in opposition
@kuujjuaq58
yeah, exactly.
@uweboll8833
Yes!
@panzenoir4177
❤️ Thinking Plague. The band that doesn't fit into certain genre tag haha avant-prog maybe is the closest, but whatever, good music is good music!
@avantprog6902
You got it.
@cuneiformdesign
Did you ever hear the tragedy of Ea-nāṣir the merchant? I thought not. It's not a story the Jedi would tell you.
@gavinbuck8130
Their last two albums have been a bit too Shostakovichy for me, not the good Shostakovich which is a shame, if they had incorporated sections of Shostakovich's 4th symphony it would have been perfect, but those little noodling motifs of 4 short notes and two long repeat throughout, it's too much.