Thinking Plague

by John BushThe group of Colorado experimentalists known as Thinking Plague explore jazz, rock, and folk with increasingly symphonic contexts, around the aegis of guitarist and composer Mike Johnson. The band was initially formed in the early 80s by Johnson and bassist/drummer Bob Drake; after releasing an album titled A Thinking Plague on their own Endemic Records, the duo added vocalist Suzanne Lewis and released Moonsongs in 1987 for the British label Dead Mans Curve. Critical praise for their avant-fusion was glowing, but Thinking Plague continually added members — reed player Mark Harris, keyboardist Shane Hotle — and recorded Another Life for ReR in 1989. Though Lewis and Drake later left the area for other projects, drummer Dave Kerman (of 5uus), vocalist Deborah Perry, and bassist/multi-instrumentalist Dave Willey (Hamster Theatre) joined for 1998s In Extremis. The Early Plague Years followed two years later.