Major Thinkers

• Pierce Turner - keyboards, vocals
• Larry Kirwan AKA Lawrence Lucifer - guitar, vocals
• Christian Osborne - bass
• Peter Collins - bass
• Paul J.Ossala - bass
• Thomas Thompson - drums
• Thomas Hamlin - drums
  
  
  LR: Thomas Hamlin(?), Larry Kirwan, Pierce Turner

Bio:

Pierce Turner and Larry Kirwan's long-standing collaboration continued in the early 1980s as the Major Thinkers, incorporating some New Wave influences. The rest of the band was Peter Collins (bass) and Thomas Hamlin (drums). Though based in NYC, they were signed to Phaeton Records in Ireland. They self-released the US edition of their debut single on their own Nose label.

By 1981 Paul J. Ossola (ex Scratch Band) was the bass player and he appears on the debut LP. This was recorded at Jhana Studios in Sandy Hook, Connecticut but again only released in Ireland on Phaeton. Copies were presumably exported to the USA. This is becoming increasingly difficult to find in good condition.

In 1983 they were picked up by Epic Records who released a couple of 12 inch singles on the Portrait imprint. These up the dance mix/electronica quotient. "The Major Thinkers EP is an exemplary fusion of dance and rock with lyrical and musical content supporting a highly produced sound"--Brian Chin, Dance Trax. Meanwhile one track from their 1981 LP 'Tears And Synthesizers' appeared on the soundtrack of the 1983 Troma Studios teen comedy 'The First Turn-On!'. As far as I know this soundtrack (which also featured Terry & The Tornadoes, The Shakes and Shrapnel) was not released commercially.

Major Thinkers split circa 1985. Pierce Turner pursued a solo career and maintains a strong following in Ireland and the USA. Larry Kirwan formed Black 47.

Notes:
The lineup credits on the US edition are Pierce Turner (keyboards), Lawrence Lucifer (AKA Kirwan) (guitar), Peter Collins (bass) & Thomas Hamlin (drums). They appear in the photo on the front cover LR: Pierce Turner, Peter Collins, Thomas Hamlin and Larry Kirwan. However, the recordings are by an earlier lineup with Christian Osborne (bass, backing vocals) and Thomas Thompson (drums). One ebay cretin tried to sell this as "midwest US punk/KBD", omitting the giveaway surnames in his ebay advert. He was later put to sleep.

Notes:
Four tracks were recorded at Keystone Studios in Dublin in March 1981 as demos for the forthcoming album. Song titles may have been altered but its also possible one or more of these tracks is unreleased. The four tracks recorded were: Tears of Synthesizers, Motor In My Brain, Looking For Another Era (Eire?), Bebop Take 2.

 

 

side one:
Tears And Synthesizers
Wicklow Hills
Avenue B
The Land of De Valera
My Hero

side two:
Shuttle Shuffle
Be Bop For President
Back in the 80s
Boyfriend
The Room

Notes:
Larry Kirwan is still billed as Laurence Lucifer and all tracks are credited to Turner/Lucifer except "Avenue B" by Hamlin/Turner/Lucifer. Recorded at Jhana Studios, Sandy Hook, Connecticut. Produced by Ron Bacchiocchi and Turner/Lucifer. The sleeve notes read:
''The Major Thinkers are Pierce Turner, Laurence Lucifer of Wexford and Thomas Hamlin and Paul J.Ossala of New York. 'MAJOR THINKERS' their first album is a genetically engineered hybrid of danceable rock, intriguing melodies and striking concepts... in the words of one critic 'a highly improbable union of James Joyce and the Uptown A train'. The cover paintings by Liam Halpin of Navan, County Meath are entitled 'Sound Waves' and 'Light Waves'.''

tracks:
Avenue B

We need your help to correct and/or complete this entry. If you can provide more information about this band, have scans, photos or any other memorabilia we can use, or spare copies of any releases, then please get in touch.