Ian Thomas

As I was perusing a couple of books on Top 40 music from the ‘70s, I became intrigued with a Canadian artist named Ian Thomas. The former frontman for the folk group Tranquility Base, Thomas is the younger brother of actor and SCTV comedian Dave Thomas. Ian was a member of an early ‘90s group called the Boomers.

As an artist, Thomas is a one-hit wonder (which we love) with his hit Painted Ladies, which peaked at #34 on the 1974 Billboard Pop Singles Chart. Debuting on WCFL on November 3, 1973, Painted Ladies peaked at #4 on The Voice of Labor on December 29 of that year and spent 13 weeks on their charts. If you remember Dave’s movie, Strange Brew, Ian wrote and recorded the theme song.

With a sound reminiscent of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, other artists, including Manfred Mann’s Earth Band (The Runner), Santana (Hold On), and Chicago (Chains), have covered a number of Thomas’ songs. Daryl Braithwaite had two Australian hits with Thomas tunes, As The Days Go By and All I Do.

Recently, I acquired two of Thomas’ 45s. Enjoy!

Painted Ladies

Chains (Perplexio from The Review Revue was interested in this song)