Tony Thompson died on November 12, 2003. His drumming connected Chic’s “Le Freak” and “Good Times” with The Power Station’s “Some Like It Hot,” moving from a disco rhythm section to a band that put heavy drums and rock guitar at the front of the record.
In Chic, Thompson played alongside guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards. The discipline of that partnership mattered as much as his strength behind the kit. Speaking to Paul Colbert for One Two Testing in May 1985, he recalled being pushed to concentrate on time and strip away flashy fills. With the basic beat held steady, he found room for expression in the hi-hat, developing rhythmic sixteenth notes that kept the part moving. “You don’t dance to paradiddles,” he told Colbert.
That attention to the song also shaped his work with David Bowie on Let’s Dance. Thompson told Colbert that Bowie sang a guide vocal while the musicians recorded, giving the drummer eye contact with the singer. Watching Bowie changed where he placed his fills. Bowie then recreated the vocal around those decisions. The exchange gave Thompson a way to fit his playing around the voice while the recording took shape.
The Power Station grew from a collaboration with Duran Duran bassist John Taylor and guitarist Andy Taylor. Thompson recalled in a 1985 interview with Bob Andelman that they had already recorded tracks in New York and London before John contacted Robert Palmer. A tape including “Some Like It Hot” helped bring the singer into the project. Thompson remembered Palmer arriving at the New York studio and starting to sing before he had even removed his coat. The group’s lineup came together around music already in progress.
Edwards produced the resulting 1985 debut, The Power Station, extending a working relationship Thompson had developed in Chic. Alongside “Some Like It Hot,” the album included the group’s version of “Get It On (Bang a Gong).” The record reached No. 6 on the Billboard 200; “Some Like It Hot” also reached No. 6 on the Hot 100. What had begun as a studio collaboration had become a band with a hit album and singles.
The connection with Palmer continued on “Addicted to Love.” In a 2002 interview with Modern Drummer, Thompson described recording at Compass Point in the Bahamas, with Edwards and Andy Taylor among the musicians. For that session, a tunnel extended from his bass drum through a doorway, into a hall and up some stairs. Thompson remembered an unusually elaborate effort to capture his drum sound. His actual part stayed straightforward, leaving him to lock into the players around him. The finished recording paired that oversized drum sound with a deliberately simple groove.
Thompson returned to The Power Station for Living in Fear, released in 1996. He told Modern Drummer that much of the recording took place on Capri, with additional sessions in Los Angeles and New York. John Taylor had withdrawn, and Edwards played bass. The album put Thompson and Edwards back together as a rhythm section within the band Edwards had originally produced.
