The guitar solo was so lustrous, it felt like a kiss.

In a flat-out rocker, the guitarist’s tasteful licks and surgical leads re-energised the instrument so much that what he played sounded like the future.

It was the 1970s, and the guitarist responsible for a sound, both sharp and free, was Terry Thaddeus.

I was one of those fortunate to watch the man who could make the guitar cry, laugh and tease.

He died 20 years ago, and the most soothingly killing storms he had kicked up are still in the minds of a few.

It wasn’t just Thaddeus’ guitar style that was distinct in an era when faster, more aggressive guitar players and drummers were starting to emerge.

It was also his ability to spot talent and groom them. But he never took credit for those who flourished as musicians, and remained tight-lipped on what made him tick.

Though little remembered today, Thaddeus’ work was somewhat introduced to a new generation following the death of master percussionist Lewis Pragasam last week.

In some tributes to Pragasam, the influence of Thaddeus on the drummer was backed up by accounts of the first time they played together.

Among those who paid tribute was Rishya Joseph, who was a mainstay of the Glass Bubble Disco at Jaya Puri Hotel (now PJ Hilton) in the 70s.

The hotel was owned by MCIS Insurance Berhad, the brainchild of N A Kularajah its head honcho then, and Glass Bubble, where the dance floor was in a glass enclosure, bubbled with the top musicians in the country.

Joseph recalled Pragasam being trained by Thaddeus for his cameo role at Glass Bubble at the home of the guitarist’s father at the National Electricity Board quarters in Pantai, Kuala Lumpur.

“Terry, a perfectionist in his own right, was unforgiving in his expectations and wanted Lewis to perfect critical parts of Deep Purple’s Highway Star,” said Joseph, then the hotel’s public relations manager.

He said the song, with Nand Kumar on vocals, was to be the opening number for the launch of Thaddeus’ new band, Zachariah Dash, at Glass Bubble, in 1976.

“A star drummer was born that night and Terry was at his unrelenting best,” said Joseph, now the CEO of brand and analytics consultancy, Reason Asia.

Joseph reasoned that the desire of both men to break away from convention allowed them to blaze a trail almost impossible to follow.

Revolvers band leader Freddie Fernandez, who watched Zachariah Dash at the gig, said what struck him most about the group was the long-haired Pragasam whom he had never seen before.

Fernandez said Pragasam’s amazing playing gave the band a free flowing, infectious rhythm and backbeat, and that was due to Thaddeus’ ability to nurture young musicians.

Zachariah Dash, he said, also boasted experienced personnel, Singaporean June Abdullah (vocals), Din of Grim Preachers (bass) and Bob from Filipino band, Downbeats (keyboards).

Terry-fic

Collaborators and contemporaries have a limitless appreciation of Thaddeus, who had from the ’60s been ahead of almost everyone as guitarist, composer and singer.

He was described by Marshall World magazine as “Jimi Hendrix of the East” for his similar playing style to the great guitarist.

The honour followed his stints with different bands in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Japan in the ‘70s.

Even as a kid he displayed a talent for inventive guitar styles, something that would later make him the guitarist’s guitarist, always ahead of the curve.

But it had to start somewhere.

When Cliff Richard and The Shadows played at Merdeka Stadium as part of a campaign to raise funds for the construction of the National Monument (Tugu Negara) in 1961, they inspired many pop yeh-yeh bands.

Teenage boys, influenced by the pop yeh-yeh genre – driven by Western guitar combos – began bands in their schools, playing by ear.

St John’s Institution in Kuala Lumpur had the four-piece Teenage Hunters, and the lead guitarist was Thaddeus.

The boys made an impact on the local music scene, performing at concerts and radio shows, and cutting a single.

Beyond his work on guitar, Thaddeus served as a producer of Search’s groundbreaking Rampage album in 1992 and composed jingles.

When he died from cancer in 2003, aged 55, his wife Frances said: “We can’t replace him. He is simply irreplaceable.”

Towards the end of his funeral service, Come Union in Christ, a song Thaddeus composed and sang in 1990 for a special gathering of Roman Catholics in the country, was played.

This Christmas, let us remember the man who brought us so much joy.