Talk:Ray Thomas

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This article doesn't describe "Ray Thomas" it describes George Jones.....

Not anymore. Carlo 17:13, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

Hamburg?

El Riot and the Rebels did open for the Beatles but that was at Tunbridge Wells. There seems to be no evidence they ever played in Hamburg. The Krew Cats did but they were formed as late as 1963 when the Beatles had already finished their Hamburg residency. Ray, of course, was back in Hamburg getting standing ovations when he was with the Moody Blues, e. g. in 1991. -- Best, SpVggLieth (talk) 16:10, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

The town´s real name was and is, of course, Tenbury Wells. SpVggLieth (talk) 09:22, 25 July 2009 (UTC)

Some of the text perhaps superfluous?

Given that much of the main text is focused on delineating Thomas's writing contribution to the Moody Blues, and an apparently exhaustive table of his songs with the group is given at the end, surely most of the lede is redundant? Harfarhs (talk) 21:05, 24 January 2016 (UTC)

The lede is meant to summarize the whole article. It's now very brief indeed, so here may be an argument to add some of his best-known songs. Martinevans123 (talk) 10:39, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

Ray Thomas' cause of death

I'll just throw this out there without making any edits. Hopefully, you strive for accuracy as much as your readers want accurate information. Ray Thomas' wife Lee issued the following statement today on Ray's cause of death.

"I know a lot of you have been reading that Ray died from prostate cancer and I'd like to set the record straight. He did NOT die from the prostate cancer, he died from a massive heart attack. The prostate cancer was being treated and had been held in check for 6 years."

https://www.facebook.com/FleecityFirkin

Hooter13 (talk) 02:20, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

Thanks, Hooter. That looks to be a perfectly genuine Facebook message from Ray's wife Lee and I see no reason to doubt it. The problem is that we don't usually use Facebook as a reliable source, as it's self-published and not subject to any editorial control in terms of factual accuracy. As you probably know, there was no cause of death given in the formal announcement:

"It is with profound sorrow and sadness that Cherry Red Records and Esoteric Recordings regret to announce that Ray Thomas, founder member, flautist and vocalist of the Moody Blues, passed away suddenly at his home in Surrey on Thursday."

They added: "We are deeply shocked by his passing and will miss his warmth, humour and kindness. It was a privilege to have known and worked with him and our thoughts are with his family and his wife Lee at this sad time."[1]

Most media have reported it, like Metro has, e.g. "Moody Blues star Ray Thomas passed away after a four year battle with prostate cancer".[2] The two existing sources in the article do not give any cause of death. So most folks will assume that his long-term illness the cause. I think the best we can do at this stage is to remove the cause and wait for official confirmation through a reliable source. Martinevans123 (talk) 10:33, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

Yes I am well aware of what was said in the official announcement of Ray's death. I also think that a lot of false assumptions were made by various media in reporting his death because it was known that he had battled prostrate cancer. I also understand the reluctance to use Facebook as a reliable source, though you did say "usually". If there was ever a time that an exception could be made, I would think it is when the artist's wife confirms the cause of death on her own Facebook page. Hooter13 (talk) 12:50, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

I guess we could ask at Wikipedia talk:Identifying reliable sources? Martinevans123 (talk) 12:51, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

Feel free to ask if you wish, but if Ray's wife is not a good enough source, I am not sure what is. So feel free to continue to provide misleading information. Hooter13 (talk) 20:31, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

Could you point out what is currently "misleading" in the article? Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 20:42, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

He died of a heart attack; that was the cause of death. Hooter13 (talk) 21:13, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

Do you have access to a death certificate or a coroner's court report or, failing that, a generally recognised reliable source? Personally I'm not disputing your claim, I'm just saying we can't add it here without a better source than FB. Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 21:23, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

So I have asked the question here. You may wish to comment there. Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 21:32, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

An answer has now been suggested there by User:Emir of Wikipedia. Martinevans123 (talk) 23:12, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

biasbosh here . I’m with Hooter13 on this. The way you treat sources has been shown to be at fault. First you allow an anonymous source to insert a date of death of 2nd January, then you decide that Metro and team rock know the cause of death. Now you’re pointing out that the Cherry Red press release did NOT give a cause of death. It never did and yet it appears that it was better to make and publish an assumption than leave an empty space. I tried to correct it and you rejected my correction - that I can understand - what was extraordinary was that, instead of putting in cause of death unknown you insisted on reverting to prostate cancer - I’m glad to see that cause of death has been taken out of the initial summary display. Hopefully lessons have been learned - but please bear in mind that though you can easily revise and update information you can’t go back and alter the effect that you’ve had on the lives and the feelings of those it most affects. Clumsily put, I’m afraid and I do appreciate the good work that is done.xxx Biasbosh (talk) 23:13, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

I'm very sorry that you feel upset. Wikipedia is not infallible. All editors are volunteers. People make mistakes. Media reports make mistakes. If you feel you can improve the article please go ahead. The cause of his death is still "officially" unknown. User:Hooter13 seems to think that we "continue to provide misleading information." But I think that's no longer the case. Martinevans123 (talk) 23:20, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

It's a bit odd that we now have multiple new users and an anonymous IP all appearing within seconds of each other to make edits here and in the article. Martinevans123 (talk) 23:26, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

Martin

Thank you for saying you’re sorry that I feel upset - I believe you and appreciate you saying that. I hope I am not an anoymous isp - I am away from home at the moment and am online at the house of an old friend whose internet particulars I am as unfamiliar with as he was.

Before writing any comments I did look back through the Ray Thomas page history and I was and am very impressed by how fastidiously you deal with all the information that comes in and edit and organise it with great sensitivity and talent.

If you look again at my previous post I hope that you’ll notice that I tried to understand the position that you were in and that I noticed that you had made significant changes to the way certaIn things are dealt with.

The problem with information is that it is now seen as a right to know everything - even that which is not yet known but could be supposed.

I support Wikipedia financially, and have done so for a number of years - I would rather all the upsetting mistakes were made than for Wikipedia not to exist - but the good guys must always play better -

Must say farewell before I over-pontificate.

Xxx Biasbosh (talk) 00:41, 14 January 2018 (UTC)

Many thanks for your kind words and your understanding. Martinevans123 (talk) 12:01, 14 January 2018 (UTC)

This will be my final comment on this issue. Lee Thomas has clearly stated on her own Facebook page that Ray, her husband, died of a massive heart attack. How much more "official" do you need? What happens if the media never reports this? Asking me if I have a copy of the death certificate or a coroner's report is, to put it bluntly, ridiculous. I accept what his wife has reported. So should Wikipedia. If this stands as is, then yes, it is misleading. Hooter13 (talk) 05:09, 14 January 2018 (UTC)

I'm sorry you feel that way about the article. I will reply at your Talk page. Martinevans123 (talk) 12:03, 14 January 2018 (UTC)

I have now added the following hidden note: "-- Deliberately left blank — cause of death is not significant to Thomas's notability --" Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 16:49, 5 February 2018 (UTC)

I am the walrus

I heard on the BBC Radio 4 programme Last Word that Raymond Thomas did backing vocals for "I am the Walrus" by the Beatles. If anybody can supply reliable sources for this, it could go in the article. Vorbee (talk) 20:50, 14 January 2018 (UTC)

Thanks, Vorbee! I never knew that. I see that I Am the Walrus says this:

"In 2015, founding Moody Blues member Ray Thomas said in an interview that he and fellow band member Mike Pinder contributed backing vocals to the song, as well as harmonicas to "The Fool on the Hill".[3].

So I think this should be added. Martinevans123 (talk) 22:08, 14 January 2018 (UTC)

Person infobox

why does this article have a person infobox instead of a musical artist, he doesn't have much notability outside music and neither does it utilise features of the infobox. 80s Sam (talk) 12:33, 20 February 2023 (UTC)