Old Enough to Forget

I was ten years old when I first heard Ian Thomas' "Painted Ladies" on my AM radio. I still really like the song, and throughout the 70s, he was the consummate singer-songwriter. Even his 1979 song "Pilot," which was equal parts irritating and cool with its quirky recorder (yes, a recorder) runs, was a song I kind of liked, but it wasn't a song I was too fond of. However, when Ian performed it on SCTV with Bob and Doug (his brother Dave), it took on a second life. I knew of Ian Thomas from many of his own songs, but also from the various covers of his songs by other artists, from Santana to Chicago. But it was Manfred Mann's Earth Band's retooling of "The Runner" that really floated my boat (oddly, I never did pick up a copy, and it is still on my list of things to look for one day). Fast forward to the summer of 1983, and I'm lining up to see the Strange Brew movie, and in the opening credits, Ian Thomas delivers the title ...