Thomas is a successful Canadian
rock and roll musician whose professional career began with the folk group Tranquillity Base before joining the
CBC as a producer. He launched a solo career that peaked in the 1970s with most notably the 1973 hit "
Painted Ladies". While he achieved acclaim in Canada, maintaining a long-term presence in the U.S. remained a challenge; "Painted Ladies" remains his only U.S. Top 40 hit. Thomas has also composed scores for around a dozen films and television shows. In 1974, Thomas won the
Juno Award for "Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year" and toured
Eastern Canada with
April Wine. He later signed with
Chrysalis Records in 1976. In 1981, Thomas made a cameo appearance on
SCTV with alongside his older brother,
Dave Thomas, during a "
The Great White North" sketch. Appearing as himself, he performed the songs "Pilot" and "
Hold On". He also wrote and recorded the
theme song for his brother's 1983 comedy film,
Strange Brew. Additionally, Thomas appeared as a musical guest on the 1979
CTV children's show
Whatever Turns You On, a short-lived spinoff of ''
You Can't Do That on Television.'' Many of his songs have been
covered by popular artists, including "Hold On" (
Santana, 1982), "Chains" (
Chicago, 1982), "The Runner" (
Manfred Mann's Earth Band, 1984), and "
Right Before Your Eyes" (
America, 1983). In 1988,
Daryl Braithwaite had hits in Australia with two Thomas compositions: "
As the Days Go By" (which peaked at No. 10), and "
All I Do" (a No. 12 chart hit).
Bette Midler also covered his song "To Comfort You" on her
Bette of Roses album. He is also known for the portrayal of the character
"Dougie Franklin" on the Canadian comedy series
The Red Green Show. From 1991 through 2002, Thomas released four albums with
The Boomers. 2004-Journey to Joke A Lot 2005-Big Wish In 2009, Thomas provided the music for the animated series
Bob & Doug, based on the SCTV characters of the same name. He has written two books,
Bequest (2006), A Canadian bestseller, and
The Lost Chord (2008), both through
Manor House Publishing. In 2010, Wounded Bird Records re-issued "Still Here" on CD. On 16 June 2014, Thomas was awarded the National Achievement Award by
SOCAN at the 2014 SOCAN Awards in Toronto. In 2015, he performed with
Darcy Hepner and the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, and recorded with them for a CD. During the summer of 2016, Thomas was touring Ontario, Canada, with singers
Murray McLauchlan,
Cindy Church, and
Marc Jordan, in the group
Lunch At Allen's. The tour was continuing in late 2018 with a series of dates in Ontario. Thomas is a member of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism. ==Personal life==