Warrior Soul: Murdered Bandmate Memorialized

In the 70s, band members Mark Evans, Adrian Wood, John Laws, Mark Ring and Warren Davis toured some of east London’s hottest venues as Good Thinking. The latter four – having recently found each online – have now reunited with a very special purpose.

As is often the way of things, when you are a band formed of school mates 18-20 years old, these five went their separate ways in the mid-70s. Drummer Mark Evans followed his musical dream to New York in the 80s, joined rock group Warrior Soul, and played on three of their albums in the 90s: Drugs, God & The New Republic (1991), Salutations From The Ghetto Nation (1992) and Chill Pill (1993).

His old bandmates were shocked to learn only recently that Evans eventually returned to the UK and lived in Coulson Close, Chadwell Heath, but was murdered in a brutal attack in January 2005. Evans, then 48, was strangled and transported in a wheelie bin to Electric Parade, Ilford, where his body was set aflame, to be found by a resident after finding his garden fence on fire.

Now his former band mates have recorded a single in his honour entitled Warrior Soul, penned by singer and guitarist Marc Ring. Set for release Monday, March 21st on Cargo Records and available on download on iTunes, the soft ballad also comes with an original recording of The Journey from 1975 with Mark Evans.

Noel Buckley, the “chief roadie” for Good Thinking and now a very talented rock photographer of Ilford, said an album of new and old tracks was now in the pipeline for the band.

~ Photos by Noel Buckley