Richard Thompson's Wild Decade

Not to make light of the recent passing of way too many great artists and entertainers, but the reactions in the media and in the sales charts sometimes remind me of the song "Now That I Am Dead" by French, Frith, Kaiser & Thompson:

Now that I am dead, my agent finally said he wanted to have lunch with me...

Now that I'm deceased, my record sales increased, I'm making lots of royalties...

And that song takes me back to the 1980's, the decade when Richard Thompson apparently said "YES!" to every opportunity he was offered.

Make albums with Pere Ubu frontman David Thomas? SURE!  Document the dissolution of your marriage and tour with your ex?  WHY NOT!  Become part of downtown NYC supergroup The Golden Palominos? YOU BET! Form "the world's most obscure supergroup" with Henry Kaiser, Fred Frith, and John "Drumbo" French on drums?  (You know the answer.)  

During this decade of "Daring Adventures", Richard Thompson released four solo albums and played on records by Vivian Stanshall, Martin Carthy, Loudon Wainwright III, JJ Cale, T-Bone Burnette, Dagmar Krause, Syd Straw, Any Trouble and Crowded House. He did soundtrack music for two BBC programs.  He guested on Fairport Convention's 1985 album and rejoined the group for their 1986 album.  He performed with Fairport Convention at annual festivals throughout the decade, whether he was a current member or a former one.

In 1988, Jo-El Sonnier had a top ten country hit with his version of Richard's "Tear Stained Letter". In 1991, Richard scored a hit of his own, "I Feel So Good". 

I've compiled songs from 1981-1991 of Richard's adventures with David Thomas, the Golden Palominos, Syd Straw's star-studded debut, and the two extraordinary albums that Thompson made with Kaiser, Frith, and Drumbo.  Let's all live, love, larf and loaf again!