Chris Thomas

Christopher P. Thomas (born 13 January 1947) is an English record producer who has worked extensively with the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Procol Harum, Roxy Music, Badfinger, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend, Pulp and the Pretenders. He has also produced breakthrough albums for the Sex Pistols, the Climax Blues Band, the Pretenders and INXS.

Early life Thomas was classically trained on the violin and piano as a child and he began playing bass in London pop bands, turning down at one point the opportunity to play with Jimi Hendrix and Mitch Mitchell before Hendrix had struck fame. After several years, Thomas decided that he had little interest in making a career as a performing musician. In a 1998 interview, he stated "I realized that being in a band you were dependent on all these other people, and I also knew that if I'd ever been successful in a band, I would've wanted to stay in the studio and just make the records; I wasn't that interested in playing live."

Thomas produced (without credit) "Birthday" and "Happiness Is a Warm Gun". He also played keyboards on four songs from The White Album: harpsichord on "Piggies", mellotron on "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill", piano on "Long, Long, Long" and electric piano on "Savoy Truffle".

Early production credits Thomas was not credited as producer or co-producer on The Beatles, although his name appears as co-producer on some of the original session sheets. By the end of 1968, he had received his first solo credit: The Climax Chicago Blues Band by the Climax Blues Band.

In his Mix interview, Thomas claimed he would finish work on the Floyd album at midnight and drive to AIR Studios to do more work on Procol Harum's Grand Hotel album until 5 am. Thomas got involved after David Gilmour, Rick Wright, Roger Waters and Nick Mason could not agree how the album should be mixed: Waters and Mason wanted a dry and clean mix, using the nonmusical elements, while Gilmour and Wright wanted a more subtle mix, with an emphasis on echo. Wright denied that there were any violent arguments.

In 1993, Gilmour described Thomas' role on as a referee for arguments between himself and Waters: "[We] argued so much that it was suggested we get a third opinion. We were going to leave Chris to mix it on his own, with Alan Parsons engineering. And, of course, on the first day I found out that Roger sneaked in there. So the second day I sneaked in there. And from then on, we both sat right at Chris's shoulder, interfering. But luckily, Chris was more sympathetic to my point of view than he was to Roger's."

Gilmour's recollections are disputed by Thomas: "There was no difference in opinion between them. I don't remember Roger once saying that he wanted less echo. In fact, there were never any hints that they were later going to fall out. It was a very creative atmosphere. A lot of fun."

"The overall sound was pretty much dictated by what was on the multitracks," observed engineer Alan Parsons. "I don't think the mix necessarily revolutionised what was there. If you were to play the multitrack tape now and put the faders up, it would sound like the Dark Side of the Moon we all know. So, no, I wasn't aware of any conflict of that kind. But the plus side of Chris being brought in was in solving any problems between the band at the time of mixing. He was like a mentor, a guiding light and intermediary."

In any event, Thomas's involvement resulted in both Waters and Gilmour being satisfied with the final release. He also synchronised the echo on "Us and Them" and was at the session for "The Great Gig in the Sky".

Recording sessions with Badfinger Thomas produced a trio of albums for power pop group Badfinger on the tail end of their career, beginning with 1973's Ass, and 1974's Badfinger and Wish You Were Here albums. He produced their second album Kurofune (aka Black Ship), which was released on 5 November 1974. During its recording, Mika and Thomas began an extramarital affair around June 1974. The affair ultimately caused the Sadistic Mika Band to break up in November 1975, when Mika decided to stay in the UK with Thomas and refused to return to Japan with the rest of the band. By 1983, Mika had left Thomas. Thomas' colleagues in the recording industry were horrified by his involvement with the Sex Pistols, particularly when he found himself producing the band at the same time as he was working with Paul McCartney. His work with the band also led to one of his most curious album credits. Co-producer Bill Price explained:

During the media furore over the single God Save the Queen, Thomas, Price and Sex Pistols' vocalist Johnny Rotten were subject to a razor attack outside a pub in Highbury, London.

In 2007, Thomas produced a brand new studio recording of "Pretty Vacant" for use in the new video game Skate. John Lydon, Steve Jones and Paul Cook all play on this new version, which was recorded in Los Angeles in July 2007. Neither of the original bass players, Glen Matlock or Sid Vicious were present (Vicious had died in 1979).

Work with other artists Thomas also programmed Moog synthesizer on David Bowie's first two albums, the song "Son of My Father" by Chicory Tip, Leonard Cohen's Songs of Love and Hate, and Elton John's eponymous album. He also programmed and played Moog synthesiser on George Harrison's All Things Must Pass and the theme from The Persuaders! by John Barry. In 1979, Thomas produced Wings' final album Back to the Egg, and a Brit Award.

Production credits

Singles produced by Thomas include:

"Street Life", "Love Is the Drug" by Roxy Music "Let's Stick Together" by Bryan Ferry "Be Good to Yourself" by Frankie Miller "Anarchy in the U.K.", "God Save the Queen", "Pretty Vacant", "Holidays in the Sun" by The Sex Pistols "Brass in Pocket", "Talk of the Town", "I Go to Sleep", "Back on the Chain Gang" by The Pretenders "Let My Love Open the Door", "Face the Face" by Pete Townshend "Blue Eyes", "I'm Still Standing", "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues", "Sacrifice", "Can You Feel the Love Tonight", "Circle of Life" by Elton John "What You Need", "Need You Tonight", "Never Tear Us Apart", "Suicide Blonde", "Disappear" by INXS "Stay" by Shakespears Sister "All for Love" by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting "Common People" by Pulp

Albums produced or mixed by Thomas include:

1968: The Climax Chicago Blues Band by Climax Blues Band, The Beatles by the Beatles 1969: Climax Blues Band Plays On by Climax Blues Band, Abbey Road by the Beatles 1970: A Lot of Bottle by Climax Blues Band, Home by Procol Harum 1971: Tightly Knit by Climax Blues Band, Mick Abrahams by Mick Abrahams 1972: Some People Will Drink Anything by Christopher Milk, At Last by Mick Abrahams Band, keyboard player on Son of My Father by Chicory Tip 1973: For Your Pleasure by Roxy Music, Stranded by Roxy Music, Grand Hotel by Procol Harum, Paris 1919 by John Cale, Ass by Badfinger, The Dark Side of the Moon (mixing) by Pink Floyd 1974: Badfinger by Badfinger, Wish You Were Here by Badfinger, Exotic Birds and Fruit by Procol Harum, Kurofune (aka Black Ship) by Sadistic Mika Band, Country Life by Roxy Music 1975: Siren by Roxy Music, Hot Menu! by Sadistic Mika Band 1976: Viva! by Roxy Music, Let's Stick Together by Bryan Ferry, Full House by Frankie Miller 1977: Never Mind the Bollocks by the Sex Pistols, Hurt by Chris Spedding 1978: Power in the Darkness by Tom Robinson Band 1979: Back to the Egg by Wings 1980: Pretenders by The Pretenders; Empty Glass by Pete Townshend 1981: Pretenders II by The Pretenders, The Fox by Elton John 1982: All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes by Pete Townshend, Jump Up! by Elton John 1983: Too Low for Zero by Elton John 1984: Hysteria by The Human League 1984: Learning to Crawl by The Pretenders; Breaking Hearts by Elton John 1985: Listen Like Thieves by INXS; White City by Pete Townshend 1987: Kick by INXS 1988: Reg Strikes Back by Elton John; Live Nude Guitars by Brian Setzer 1989: Sleeping with the Past by Elton John 1990: X by INXS 1992: The One by Elton John 1994: Last of the Independents by The Pretenders, The Lion King soundtrack, Jewel by Marcella Detroit, The Division Bell by Pink Floyd (mixing) 1995: Different Class by Pulp 1996: Filthy Lucre Live by Sex Pistols 1997: The Big Picture by Elton John 1998: This Is Hardcore by Pulp 1999: Run Devil Run by Paul McCartney 2001: Or8? by Hoggboy 2004: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb by U2 2006: On an Island by David Gilmour; Razorlight by Razorlight 2010: Serotonin by Mystery Jets 2013: Snapshot by The Strypes