Doug Wheat: Lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars
One of the two original Thief members still in the band, Doug is the elder statesman of the group, having honed his chops during the big band era of the 40’s as the vocalist for the ill-fated Tutor Muldoon Orchestra (the facts surrounding the mass suicide of the other members was never fully made public). During the 50’s he auditioned for Bill Haley’s Comets but was passed over because he looked ridiculous in the requisite plaid sport coat. Interestingly enough, he suffered the same wardrobe related disappointment during the 60’s when he auditioned for Paul Revere and the Raiders as the third Raider on the left.
During the 70’s disco era, Doug had some moderate success as a songwriter. He penned the sensitive heartfelt lyrics to the number one hit "Boogie Oogie Oogie" by Taste of Honey and collaborated with the multi-talented "KC" to co-write the lyrics to the Sunshine Band hit "That’s The Way I Like It." If you recall the lyric "that’s the way, uh huh, uh huh, I like it," Doug came up with brilliant idea of adding the second "uh huh," which was considered ground-breaking at the time and truly put the song in a class by itself.
Little known fact about Doug: He was at the original Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. Truth is, he thought he and his buddy were going to Monterey Park to score some weed and he woke up five hours later in Monterey. If you watch the Monterey Pop DVD you can see Doug passed out in the fourth row during the performance of Big Brother and the Holding Company.