Tony Thomas (also known as Tony "Strat" Thomas), (born June 2, 1959 – February 6, 2022) was an American

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

from Highland Park,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

U.S., and was best known for his work with George Clinton,

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, and the

P-Funk All-Stars Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive ...

. Thomas also recorded extensively with

Muruga Booker Steven Bookvich known as Muruga Booker (born December 27, 1942) is an American drummer, composer, inventor, artist, recording artist, and an autonomous Eastern Orthodox priest. Biography Booker was born in Detroit, Michigan, on December 27, ...

, and was a guitarist in ''Muruga Cosmic Boogie'' and ''Muruga Blues All-Stars''. As a teenager, Thomas fell in love with the sound of the Fender

Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, and his mother eventually bought him one, earning him the nickname "Strat" ever since. He quickly learned how to play and he soon joined a

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, Michigan reggae band called Onyx. In 1979, Thomas and

Donnie Sterling Donnie Sterling is a musician brought in by Parlet's Mallia Franklin in 1978 as Parlet's band leader and bass player. After writing three songs on Parlet's second album, ''Invasion of the Booty Snatchers'', Sterling and Franklin both left Parlet ...

formed a P-Funk offspring group called ''Sterling Silver Starship'', and an album was recorded, but was never released. Thomas and Sterling left ''Sterling Silver Starship'' in 1981 and formed a group,

Kiddo Kiddo was a P-Funk offspring group at A&M Records, formed by Parliament-Funkadelic guitarist Michael Hampton and writer Donnie Sterling, in the early 1980s. History In 1978, one of Kiddo's founding members, Donnie Sterling, was a member of Pa ...

, and they recorded a self-titled album that was released by

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

. In 1982 Thomas played guitar on George Clinton's first solo recording project

Computer Games A personal computer game, also known as a PC game or computer game, is a type of video game played on a personal computer (PC) rather than a video game console or arcade machine. Its defining characteristics include: more diverse and user-deter ...

, which included the hit songs

Atomic Dog "Atomic Dog" is a song by George Clinton from his 1982 album '' Computer Games''. The track was released as a single in December 1982 and became the P-Funk collective's last to reach #1 on the U.S. R&B Chart. The single failed to chart on the ...

and

Loopzilla "Loopzilla" is the debut solo single by George Clinton from his 1982 debut album ''Computer Games''. The song reached No. 19 on U.S. R&B chart. It uses lyrics from many older soul songs, including Four Tops' "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey ...

. Thomas went on to record through the 1980s with P-Funk, and was featured on many of their biggest-selling records. In 2014 Thomas joined fellow P-Funk All-Star Muruga Booker to form ''Muruga & The Cosmic Hoedown Band'' (later changed to ''Muruga Cosmic Boogie''), and they recorded several projects including a couple with George Clinton and several other members of the P-Funk All Stars. In 2015 Thomas and ''Muruga & The Cosmic Hoedown Band'' performed at the eighth annual Concert of Colors in Detroit, Michigan, performing with the

Don Was Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was, is an American musician, record producer and record executive. Primarily a bass player, Was co-founded the funk-rock band Was (Not Was). In later years he produced s ...

Detroit All-Star Revue, and was a featured soloist playing

Maggot Brain ''Maggot Brain'' is the third studio album by the American funk rock band Funkadelic, released by Westbound Records in July 1971. It was produced by band leader George Clinton and recorded at United Sound Systems in Detroit during late 1970 an ...

. In 2017 Thomas and Booker also formed a blues band called ''Booker Blues All-Stars'' and recorded an album in honor of

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...

's 100th anniversary birthday celebration, called ''Booker Plays Hooker'', which also features

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music an ...

inductee J.C. "Billy" Davis, Peter Madcat Ruth, Misty Love, John Sauter, and Shakti Booker. Thomas' guitar work with George Clinton and

Parliament-Funkadelic Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive fu ...

related projects has been sampled by many artists, including

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...

Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...

Digital Underground Digital Underground was an American alternative hip hop group from Oakland, California. Their personnel changed and rotated with each album and tour. Digital Underground's leader and mainstay was Gregory "Shock G" Jacobs (also known as Humpty Hu ...

Too Short Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by the stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper and record producer. He became famous in the West Coast hip hop scene in the late 1980s, with lyrics often based on ...

Tweedy Bird Loc Bloods & Crips was an American gangsta rap group from Los Angeles County mostly known for their record selling song "Piru Love". History The success of N.W.A. had frustrated many in the gang community who saw the group capitalizing on the ga ...

and Ruthless Rap Assassins. Due to his guitar tone and playing style, Thomas has been compared to

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

and

Eddie Hazel Edward Earl Hazel (April 10, 1950 – December 23, 1992) was an American guitarist and singer in early funk music who played lead guitar with Parliament-Funkadelic. Hazel was a posthumous inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in ...

. Thomas died on February 6, 2022. Two hours after George Clinton announced the death of Tony Thomas on his Facebook page, Eric Brenner confirmed the story with Steve Muruga Booker. Booker told Brenner that Tony "Strat" Thomas died on a couch at band practice.

Discography

*1980 – Parliament –

Trombipulation ''Trombipulation'' is the ninth album by the funk band Parliament (see 1980 in music). It was released by Casablanca Records. It was the last album of original material produced by the group for 38 years until '' Medicaid Fraud Dogg'' in 2018. Un ...

*1981 – Funkadelic –

The Electric Spanking of War Babies ''The Electric Spanking of War Babies'' is the twelfth studio album by the American funk rock band Funkadelic, released in April 1981 on Warner Bros. Records. The title is an allusion to the Vietnam War and baby boomers. Sly Stone contributed to ...

*1982 – George Clinton –

*1983 – Kiddo –

*1983 – P-Funk All Stars –

Urban Dancefloor Guerillas ''Urban Dancefloor Guerillas'' is the debut album of funk band the P-Funk All-Stars, released in 1983 on Uncle Jam Records. The album features an amalgamation of various alumni from the bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both of which were disband ...

*1983 – P-Funk All Stars – Hydraulic Funk *1985 – Jimmy G. & The Tackheads – Federation Of Tackheads *1993 – Parliament – Tear the Roof Off 1974–1980 *1993 – George Clinton / George Clinton & the P-Funk All-Stars – Family Series, Vol. 1: Go Fer Yer Funk *1993 – George Clinton / George Clinton & the P-Funk All-Stars – Family Series, Vol. 2: Plush Funk *1993 – George Clinton / George Clinton & the P-Funk All-Stars – Family Series, Vol. 3: P Is the Funk *1994 – George Clinton And The P-Funk All Stars – P-Funk Unreleased Remix *1994 – George Clinton / George Clinton & the P-Funk All-Stars – Family Series, Vol. 4 –

Testing Positive 4 The Funk ''Testing Positive 4 the Funk'' is the fourth installment of the George Clinton (funk musician), George Clinton Family Series collection. The album was released in 1993 by P-Vine Records in Japan, and then was released later in the same year by A ...

*1995 – George Clinton / George Clinton & the P-Funk All-Stars – Family Series, Vol. 5 – A Fifth of Funk *1995 – Parliament – The Best of Parliament: Give Up the Funk *1996 – George Clinton – Greatest Funkin' Hits *1998 – George Clinton and The P-Funk Allstars – Funk Permission Card *2000 – Parliament – The Best Of Parliament *2000 – Parliament – 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Parliament *2005 – Parliament –

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

*2014 – The New Newz – Deer Dreamers *2015 – Muruga & The Cosmic Hoedown Band meet George Clinton & P-Funk All-Stars – The Fathership – Mothership World Connection *2016 – Wormhole Cafe (feat. P-Funk All-Stars & more) – ''At The Wormhole Cafe'' *2016 – Muruga & The Cosmic Hoedown Band – Harmonious World *2017 – Booker Blues All Stars – ''Booker Plays Hooker''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Tony Living people P-Funk members American funk guitarists American funk musicians American blues guitarists African-American male guitarists Lead guitarists Rhythm guitarists American rock musicians American bandleaders People from Highland Park, Michigan Guitarists from Detroit 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers 21st-century African-American male singers African-American rock musicians People from Wayne County, Michigan Singers from Detroit 1959 births