Johnny And The Drivers

Johnny and The Drivers were formed in Berlin around 1981 by John Thomas after he had left The Edgar Broughton Band and had moved to Germany. The band consisted of experienced musicians: Steve Broughton (had recorded albums with EBB, Mike Oldfield, Roy Harper, Dave Gilmore), Joe Dicarlo (from New York, had previously played with Todd Rundgren), [a398866] (from Detroit, worked with Joe Walsh & co-wrote Walsh's Turn to Stone), Thomas Powalla and [a678042]. John Thomas wrote most of the Drivers’ material. The band performed live and toured extensively throughout Europe, being one of the first bands to play behind the Iron Curtain touring Poland and East Germany. During this time they acquired the services of a manager, Jim Rakete. Because of their good live following and support, they were offered a recording contract. Rakete was able to organise numerous TV work in Germany, mostly what Thomas calls Playback - miming their records. The group recorded two albums and released one single. Thomas hasn’t retired the Drivers, they just went on the back burner, although the line-ups change.