Thank God someone with a modicum of credibility is singing the praises of this genius. Been a fan of TD since "The Golden Age..." when it was released the FIRST TIME without "that song."
Weirdly enough, I'm glad he doesn't release stuff all that often. It makes whatever and whenever he puts out that much more special.
Rob
· 1 year ago
Hi - I may be a stranger in these parts, but I couldn't agree more.
TD is a bit of an idol of mine, musically speaking.
I can't believe that no-one has mentioned The Neon Sisters ... a sad epitaph to the mighty drums of Budgie, and TheWhite City...
Glad that I Love You Goodbye and Howard have been mentioned.
I MUST check out Synth Jam...
Thanks.
ob
Stevec
· 1 year ago
Curiosity is getting the best of me here...exactly which song did you lipsync to? Hmm??? You don't get to number 2 by singing "Europa and the Pirate Twins", do you?
Golden Age of Wireless is gold! Loved it!
JohnHughes
· 1 year ago
You hit the nail right on the head - I did "Europa" to the puzzled stares of the audience, but luckily the judges were hip and awarded me points for "originality." HOLLAH!
Stevec
· 1 year ago
Ha!
I can only imagine how the audience took that one!
Love love love LOVE that song.
360Sound
· 1 year ago
You get so many bonus points for your choice in the contest..Funny.. I heard "Europa And The Pirate Twins" this weekend while shopping in IKEA. Somehow, it was the perfect soundtrack as I looked for a throw rug.. You touched on so many great tracks here - "Airwaves" was the track that got me way back when (the long version on the EP), and the rest of 'Wireless' - is flawless. Nice to see props for "Dissidents", too! And, don't forget the work that he did with Joni Mitchell, writing and producing a chunk of her album 'Dog Eat Dog'...
DwDunphy
· 1 year ago
Both Dolby and Howard Jones were synth techs for Steve Wonder waaaay back in what the Germans refer to as Der Day.
Elaine
· 1 year ago
...which led to what has become affectionately known by 80's computery geeky pop music fans the world over as the 1985 Grammy telecast SYNTH JAM!
Thomas Dolby, Herbie Hancock, Howard Jones and Stevie Wonder get their geek on.
MatthewBolin
· 1 year ago
Atronauts & Heretics, IMHO, is one of the overlooked classics of the 1990s. Luckily, I was going to Berkeley at the time it came out, and KFOG acutally played the hell out of multiple tracks on it. This album has a LOT going for it:
-A great shoulda-been hit single incorporating British pop and zydeco music (Silk Pyjamas) -A wonderful post-Berlin Wall sequel to "Europa & the Pirate Twins", featuring guitar by Eddie Van Halen -Some of the last recorded work by both Jerry Garcia and Ofra Haza (the former playing a tight little solo coda on the highlight of the album, the closing "Beauty of a Dream", one of the sweetest, most honest love songs of the last 20 years--plus it also includes a sample of Phil Collins' famed "In the Air Tonight" drum riff as a key ingredient) -The album kicks off with two very beautiful songs, "I love You Goodbye", featuring Bayou sound effects and French call and response lyrics, and "Cruel", a duet with Edie Reader. -The whole album blends the analog and the electronic very well, incorporating real instrumentation with computerized saounds and samples. The entire proceedings have a cohesive, almost organic sound, which is shocking, considering that the album was recorded onto and mixed on his Macintosh computer (perhaps the first "major" album to do this).
Thanks for the Dolby props. This I'll listen to A & H again when I get home.
Bastard_Number_1
· 1 year ago
Dolby was incredibly underrated. It's a shame that radio didn't give a crap after "Science". He deserved much more than he got. Thought it's really nice to see an artist continue to make album after album of great music no matter how the music sells.
Elaine
· 1 year ago
Yay! Thomas props! Yay! YAY!
For those who didn't know, he's currently restoring a huge old boat (see http://blog.thomasdolby.com/?m=200801) that he plans to turn into a studio, and preparing to make music again. He said his plans include creating an off-the-grid album.. meaning, he plans to record it using only wind and solar energy.
He has a GREAT blog.
DavidMedsker
· 1 year ago
I love Astronauts and Heretics. Great, great album. Did you see him when he toured a couple of years ago? Great show. He even played "Budapest by Blimp."
ldp
· 1 year ago
Absolutely right about Golden Age and Dolby! Shame that he continues to be seen as though through a peep hole. He was much more interesting than that one song. His music and scope, expansive. "One of Our Submarines is Missing" "I Scare Myself" ... all good stuff.
FWIW ... Dolby could always be seen at MacWorld Expo. (I stopped attending, but I doubt he did.) He was very involved with Beatnik
Anyone else think we need lipsynching video to judge for ourselves??!? :D
wendy
· 1 year ago
I'm partial to his cover of "I Scare Myself" which is really beautiful.
Jim
· 1 year ago
Awesome. I got Wireless out of the library on a whim back in high school (this would be 1996), and it blew me away. Then I bought Retrospectacle and was even more floored.
Haven't bought any of his other work, though. I keep hoping for an expanded reissue of Wireless and Flat Earth. Still, it's hard to keep passing up A & H for $5...
DwDunphy
· 1 year ago
So glad you put up "Airwaves", possibly the worst case of an overlooked track. Pretty, pretty.
I will say that you neglected Dolby's contributions to the Howard The Duck soundtrack... I'm JUST saying...
Rebecca
· 1 year ago
I second the love for Dolby's blog-itude. If he and Nik Kershaw had been playing the same week I saw Howard Jones and Tim Finn, I would've been in songwriter heaven on earth.
revme
· 1 year ago
Thomas Dolby is AMAZING. I actually am kinda shocked you didn't mention "I Love You Goodbye", one of the best songs ANYONE's ever written. But, hey, "Puppet Theater" is one of the few Dolby songs I didn't have, so I can't complain! Thanks for giving the man credit where it's long overdue.
JohnHughes
· 1 year ago
I made a special effort to include at least one rarity - glad it's appreciated!
Beau
· 1 year ago
"Hyperactive" rules.
And I'm amazed at the entrepreneurial career Dolby has carved out for himself. Rare to find a guy who walks so convincingly in the geek world and the funk world at the same time.
kmbone
· 1 year ago
Maybe Aliens Ate My Buick isn't the strongest Dolby album, but it's the source of my favorite Dolby song, "The Ability to Swing." ("I Love You Goodbye" is second.)
WHarrisBullzEye
· 1 year ago
Nice piece. I've seen Dolby twice in recent years - once at the Rams Head, once at the NorVa (opening for BT!) - and he put on a great show both times. Mind you, it was probably because they were almost identical, but, still, good times both times.
I talked to him last year when Prefab Sprout's "Steve McQueen" got the Legacy reissue, if anyone wants to check it out:
Thanks for this post John, and for the b-side I didn't know about. I just recently began to appreciate the "Wireless" album as a whole (I know the singles), and this post is gonna make me pay more attention to the rest of his catalog.
xolondon
· 1 year ago
I LOVE his song I Love You Goodbye from his Astronauts CD and am glad to see others picked up on that one.
destiny clontz
· 1 year ago
I think that The Flat Earth is one of the best produced albums of the eighties. Most records that were produced mainly with the Fairlight sound so dated and and generic today. But listen to Screen Kiss and and Flat Earth, the sound is so incredibly multi layered and transparent. I often play the title track in my car and everybody who hears it for the first time asks immediately what it is.
During the last years he was actually composing ringtones professionally.
kar
· 1 year ago
I agree with you all. "I Love You Goodbye" is amazing. So lush a sound. I still play it regularly. I also adored the title track of "Flat Earth." That simple, simple refrain, "Hold me, baby" won't go away.
One of my all-time favorites would be from his first album, "All of Our Submarines." I remember calling up the radio station for it years ago when the Kursk sunk. Added a poignancy that you wouldn't expect to the lyrics.
Buster
· 1 year ago
Wow, Someone who thinks like I do. Mr. Dolby was and is a Musical Genius, to say the least. That is maybe why for me the earth is flat.
Philomath
· 1 year ago
Dolby was truly ahead of his time. I remember in 1984 right after "Science" became a huge hit, he was on the TV show Solid Gold. I think everyone was expecting to hear "Science" but instead he unveiled "I Scare Myself." The look on Dionne Warwick's face was priceless, and the rest of the crowd apparently agreed. That was the beginning of his decline in the U.S., but I still bought his albums and remained a loyal fan.
DolbysCube
· 1 year ago
Excellent article! Great to see all of this Dolby positivity. I have been a fan since 'that song' was released. A good friend of mine loaned me a copy of The Flat Earth in high school. Dolby became my musical hero for many years. His music has always resonated in a special way. It is sad that so few people are aware of his stuff. Extremely underrated. I love that he also delved into funk with George Clinton and the Lost Toy People. I met TMDR at the Cleveland Undercurrents Music Conference in 1992. For some reason, that Spanky's gig sounds vaguely familiar. May the Cube be with You!!!
tdolbyfan
· 9 months ago
I love everything released by Thomas Dolby. I can think of a million reasons to love his stuff. Anyways, his career involved at least 3 bands. Bruce Woolley + The Camera Club, The Fall Out Club., and Low Noise. All great songs.
All Comments
Weirdly enough, I'm glad he doesn't release stuff all that often. It makes whatever and whenever he puts out that much more special.
TD is a bit of an idol of mine, musically speaking.
I can't believe that no-one has mentioned The Neon Sisters ... a sad epitaph to the mighty drums of Budgie, and TheWhite City...
Glad that I Love You Goodbye and Howard have been mentioned.
I MUST check out Synth Jam...
Thanks.
ob
Golden Age of Wireless is gold! Loved it!
I can only imagine how the audience took that one!
Love love love LOVE that song.
http://matrixsynth.blogspot.com/2006/02/synthes...
Thomas Dolby, Herbie Hancock, Howard Jones and Stevie Wonder get their geek on.
-A great shoulda-been hit single incorporating British pop and zydeco music (Silk Pyjamas)
-A wonderful post-Berlin Wall sequel to "Europa & the Pirate Twins", featuring guitar by Eddie Van Halen
-Some of the last recorded work by both Jerry Garcia and Ofra Haza (the former playing a tight little solo coda on the highlight of the album, the closing "Beauty of a Dream", one of the sweetest, most honest love songs of the last 20 years--plus it also includes a sample of Phil Collins' famed "In the Air Tonight" drum riff as a key ingredient)
-The album kicks off with two very beautiful songs, "I love You Goodbye", featuring Bayou sound effects and French call and response lyrics, and "Cruel", a duet with Edie Reader.
-The whole album blends the analog and the electronic very well, incorporating real instrumentation with computerized saounds and samples. The entire proceedings have a cohesive, almost organic sound, which is shocking, considering that the album was recorded onto and mixed on his Macintosh computer (perhaps the first "major" album to do this).
Thanks for the Dolby props. This I'll listen to A & H again when I get home.
For those who didn't know, he's currently restoring a huge old boat (see http://blog.thomasdolby.com/?m=200801) that he plans to turn into a studio, and preparing to make music again. He said his plans include creating an off-the-grid album.. meaning, he plans to record it using only wind and solar energy.
He has a GREAT blog.
FWIW ... Dolby could always be seen at MacWorld Expo. (I stopped attending, but I doubt he did.) He was very involved with Beatnik
http://www.beatnik.com/company/board.html#thomas
Anyone else think we need lipsynching video to judge for ourselves??!? :D
Haven't bought any of his other work, though. I keep hoping for an expanded reissue of Wireless and Flat Earth. Still, it's hard to keep passing up A & H for $5...
I will say that you neglected Dolby's contributions to the Howard The Duck soundtrack... I'm JUST saying...
And I'm amazed at the entrepreneurial career Dolby has carved out for himself. Rare to find a guy who walks so convincingly in the geek world and the funk world at the same time.
I talked to him last year when Prefab Sprout's "Steve McQueen" got the Legacy reissue, if anyone wants to check it out:
http://www.bullz-eye.com/music/interviews/2007/...
I often play the title track in my car and everybody who hears it for the first time asks immediately what it is.
During the last years he was actually composing ringtones professionally.
One of my all-time favorites would be from his first album, "All of Our Submarines." I remember calling up the radio station for it years ago when the Kursk sunk. Added a poignancy that you wouldn't expect to the lyrics.