Thomas Dolby Appreciation Thread

[dchan]

You might recognize that name - Thomas Dolby - as that 'one-hit wonder' who created that great (or if you hated it, insufferable) tune in the early 80's, "She Blinded Me with Science":She Blinded Me with ScienceMe? Personally I love it - it's quirky and a ton of fun. That said, I love Thomas Dolby Morgan Robertson's (TMDR) other work a whole lot better.Where to start? How about the original album that featured "Science" - The Golden Age of Wireless? As the wiki article states, this album underwent 4 different versions - the last two featured "Science" on them. In reality, "Science" was actually a single that won some heavy airplay on the radio. It was added to the last two versions of "The Golden Age of Wireless" to help bolster the sales of that album in the US, and it worked in that regard. I recently acquired a rare copy of the original UK release of "The Golden Age of Wireless" - that would be the first release - in order to acquire the rare tracks that are unavailable on any other album. And let me say this: this albums version is one of the greatest albums of the 80's, IMO - the track order was perfect, the songs were phenomenal, it was simply perfect. I'm looking at the track orders of the later versions, and none hold a candle to this version. Here are the rare tracks that I mentioned above - as I mentioned, only available in the UK release of the album:

Here's the first track. Dolby mentioned in his podcast when he was a kid, he was fascinated by the white streaks that followed jets in the blue sky. He wondered whether these jets would suddenly break free of Earth's gravity and fly into outer space. This track was inspired by that:Flying NorthHere's a live version of the second track:

Here's the fourth track - perhaps his second or third biggest hit, behind or before "Hyperactive". It's about two childhood best friends, a boy and a girl (whose name is Europa), who get separated by a war. He only sees her again when she's a famous movie star, but she has already forgotten about him.:Europa and the Pirate TwinsHere's the rare "Live Wireless" version of "Europa". "Live Wireless" was a pseudo-concert concept that featured the songs from "The Golden Age of Wireless", and it came out on LaserDisc. It's very hard to find nowadays:Europa and the Pirate Twins (Live Wireless version)Here's the third and fifth track. I'm grouping them together because the synthesized sounds in both, especially the bass sounds, remind me of the space scenes in the film 2010: The Year We Make Contact. Remember that film? The sequel released 16 years after 2001: A Space Odyssey. Some people didn't like it, but I loved it:WeightlessWindpower(Live Version)

[sredd]

[agent 47]

Didn't he do "Hyperactive!" as well? I love that song!

[Gina_Calabrese]

Having only heard 30 second previews of She Blinded Me With Science, I think its pretty safe to say I consider it insufferable. Just like Dead or Alive (You Spin Me Round Like A Record).

[sredd]

Eh, whatever, no accounting for taste.

[dchan]

Didn't he do "Hyperactive!" as well? I love that song!

Indeed' date=' he did, on the album "The Flat Earth". I don't like the music video to the song, but I love this live version:Hyperactive (live)

Having only heard 30 second previews of She Blinded Me With Science' date=' I think its pretty safe to say I consider it insufferable. Just like Dead or Alive (You Spin Me Round Like A Record).[/quote']

Eh' date=' whatever, no accounting for taste.[/quote']Some people love it, some hate it. There's a good reason why most people know him as a 'one-hit wonder' - people who loved this song and expected more of the same from him were probably disappointed by his other songs; people who hated the song probably never listened to his other songs. So I understand your sentiment Gina. Here's the the second side of "The Golden Age of Wireless" (it's an LP, not a CD).I already posted the fifth and sixth tracks of the album, Wreck of the Fairchild and Airwaves. Wreck is unavailable on any other album, while Airwaves is available in the other versions of "Golden Age"; the version here is a longer version of the song, however. But what makes these two tracks so special is that Wreck segues into Airwaves without a break. Here's the sixth track of the album:

Here's the early version of this track. EDIT - there's a 'guitar version' of this song in both US releases; this might be the one:Radio Silence (early version)Here's the last track of the album. It's a good track, but it's also probably the weakest track on the album IMO. It's not so much a knock on the song itself, but a testament about how strong the rest of the album is. It ends every version of the album, so I think it's not a bad ending track:Cloudburst at Shingle Street

[Lar]

Very interesting! I'm a sucker for albums (or movies/etc.) with alternate versions, so this is especially neat to know.

[dchan]

Very interesting! I'm a sucker for albums (or movies/etc.) with alternate versions' date=' so this is especially neat to know.[/quote']^ The multiple versions of "The Golden Age of Wireless" came about because the album was first released in the UK. They had to come up with a version to sell to the US as well. The original UK version (the one I have) did pretty well in the charts AFAIK, but the first US version didn't do quite as well. So when "She Blinded Me With Science" became a huge hit, the record executives decided to make another version of the album with "Science". I like "Science" and all, but it was a real shame that they messed with the original UK version of the album - it was perfect IMO. And I say this despite the fact that a track that I absolutely love, One of Our Submarines, was featured in the second UK and US versions and not the original UK version.

[Viceman Cometh]

And who could forget "Airhead" and "I Love You Goodbye."

[dchan]

And who could forget "Airhead" and "I Love You Goodbye."

I haven't listened to I Love You Goodbye - it's on Dolby's "Astronauts and Heretics" album that was released in 1992. I will post the video of Airhead later on, because I'm doing these posts chronologically.

[dchan]

For those of you who love GTA Vice City, Thomas Dolby had a hand in a few songs on the radio stations.The most obvious song, of course, is his own Hyperactive, which is on Wave 103. I posted a video of the live version a few posts above - personally, I think that's the best one on youtube. He also released two different official music videos, neither of which I like as much as the live video I posted above, musically or visually:

Here's another live version from "The Joan Rivers Show" in 1987 - he's backed by the Mark Hudson Band. It's a lot of fun watching the trombonist and the bassist floating in the air, but the music is pretty subpar here overall - the bassist is way behind for much of it:

Dolby also had his hand in at least a couple of other songs (I only know of two at this moment).He played the synthesizers and produced the background sounds for Foreigner's Waiting For a Girl Like You, which is on Emotion 98.3. There seems to be only one youtube video that has the original studio version of the song:Waiting for a Girl Like YouDolby also produced that wicked synth hook for Whodini's "Magic's Wand", which is on Wildstyle Pirate Radio:

Dolby also used a faster version of this synth hook for his own Puppet Theatre, which is another rare track of his that is tough to find:

[Stinger390X]

I love it when you younger folks chime in and show your discoveries of fine music.kudos!I can actually remember when TD came on the scene. His music was very popular in the clubs as I was just a young guy then doing the club scene of course. That was when big screen projection tV's were being installed in the clubs and the very first videos were being shown for the first time (way before MTV or Much Music)I love TD and have lots of his music on ...dare I say it...Cassette tapes. Ok I admit that is dating myself, but I have one of the TD tapes in "Chromium" (supposed to have better sound but you needed a special deck to play the tapes to get the quality fo the sound)Anyway his music was great and innovative for sure, and I still enjoy hearing it. Glad to see a new genreation discovering it as well.

[dchan]

I love it when you younger folks chime in and show your discoveries of fine music.kudos!I can actually remember when TD came on the scene. His music was very popular in the clubs as I was just a young guy then doing the club scene of course. That was when big screen projection tV's were being installed in the clubs and the very first videos were being shown for the first time (way before MTV or Much Music)I love TD and have lots of his music on ...dare I say it...Cassette tapes. Ok I admit that is dating myself' date=' but I have one of the TD tapes in "Chromium" (supposed to have better sound but you needed a special deck to play the tapes to get the quality fo the sound)Anyway his music was great and innovative for sure, and I still enjoy hearing it. Glad to see a new genreation discovering it as well.[/quote']Thanks! The younger generation is definitely getting into the older stuff, and much of it is thanks to youtube and other music-on-demand media. And the music industry would be smart not to get in the way of youtube by taking down music that violates the so-called copyrights of the record companies. I got into Thomas Dolby's music when I heard She Blinded Me With Science on an 80's internet radio station. Internet radio is great way for older as well as newer music to get some recognition, and it was almost destroyed by - you guessed it - the music industry hellbent on getting royalties wherever possible. I believe that the American internet radio stations closed shop after the royalty law passed, while the international stations still thrive. I was really fascinated by Science, so I checked it out via Google and youtube. I must have watched the video dozens of times last year. I eventually started to listen to his other music, but there wasn't much available on youtube until later in 2008. That's when some youtube users started putting up some of Dolby's more obscure music, which I have really started to dig. I'll be posting some of these later on.So basically, I really got into Dolby's stuff because of youtube. That's the reason why I bought the original UK release of "The Golden Age of Wireless" on eBay: there were a couple of rare tracks that I really wanted to get. In the end, I bought one of the best albums that I've heard, ever. So what some record companies are doing nowadays - taking down music videos and videos featuring music, or taking down audio for some videos - is completely counterproductive. Yes, they may not be getting royalties from youtube. But taking away videos or audio on video works only if:a) your current record industry is thriving and is not in jeopardy of dying offb) the listeners love your company and can understand and relate with your motivesAnd, of course, it's neither nor. Which is why the companies should relent with their 'copyright-infringement' tactics and just allow youtube users to post as much music as possible. In a world that has been slowly becoming more remote and internet based, why not get music listeners to come together in communities to share and listen? It's certainly a better idea in encouraging the music community than whatever the record companies have pulled out of their asses all these years. I certainly know that as fascinating as it was to read Dolby's wikipedia page, his homepage, and his unofficial fanpages for information, it certainly couldn't compare to actually listening to his music. Going on youtube made me hungry for more, and it ultimately led to my buying an actual album (I'm an album nut - can't stand the concept of iTunes and singles for the most part).

[Stinger390X]

Your so right dchan...................The record companies have raped the public for half a century and now they can not get thier heads rapped around this new technology called the "interweb" or as Bush calls it the "InternetS" (hahahahahaahaha)I agree that it is counterproductive to remove what may be deemed copyright infringment videos. More than once I have popped in on this board and someone has posted a link to some real cool thing of some sorts and after two or three days the link doesn't work anymore. I find the TV moguls do this as well like NBC and CBS.You tube is a great medium but of course commerce must be made?Many of the newer artists of the younger generation (and mine as well) are embracing it and offering songs for free or donations accepted if you download.Could be the way of the future?.........................

[dchan]

Dolby and EMI have just released a remastered and expanded version of "The Golden Age of Wireless". It looks amazing!http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Age-Wireless-Remastered-Expanded/dp/B00288AXL8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1248847839&sr=8-2The first nine tracks of the CD are the original "Golden Age" tracks, in their exact order. As I have said before, this is the track order that I feel was and is absolutely perfect for the album.Tracks 10 to 19 include tracks that were on the re-released versions of "Golden Age", as well as some rare tracks from singles that are tough to find nowadays, as well as some tracks that were cut from the original album. Remember I mentioned and posted the guitar version of Radio Silence? It's on this album now!Another great track is one of my favorites - Therapy/Growth. It's incredibly and hauntingly beautiful, and it's something that people who only know TMDR (that stands for Thomas Morgan Dolby Robertson, what he goes by nowadays) for She Blinded Me with Science. Here's the track on youtube:

I haven't even heard of three tracks that are on the album. I ran into Urban Trial on youtube a few days ago, on EMI's page. Check it out - the link goes to a search page, so look for the uploads by emimusic. There's also some other rare stuff uploaded by deepspacer that I haven't seen before either. dolby emi youtube searchAs for the videos emi has posted - see the Disc 2 in the Amazon.com page? That's not another CD - that's the DVD of TMDR's "Live Wireless" music video concept. Before this re-release and expansion of the new "Golden Age", "Live Wireless" was virtually impossible to find. Or if you found it on eBay, you found it in Laserdisc format - lucky you, if you happen have a spare Laserdisc player around. :pI posted the Europa and the Pirate Twins video before. I watched some of the other videos of "Live Wireless" a few days ago on EMI's youtube page - some good, some hit-and-miss stuff. For example, Flying North was pretty disappointing compared with the album version - this song needs a richer rhythm than the "fast 4/4 marching beat" in the video.But other songs on "Live Wireless" are....amazing! I mentioned before that I loved One of Our Submarines. I'm somewhat ambivalent about the normal album version:One of Our Submarines -"Golden Age" album versionOkay...that's not quite fair. It's still really good, but IMO, it totally pales in comparison with the version on "Live Wireless":

See...this song was written by TMDR in honor of his late uncle, who died as a young man in a submarine during WWII before Dolby was even born. To me, it's a song of anger towards the navy and the government for basically sending young men to their deaths at the bottom of the sea, and forgetting about them afterwards. In the "Live Wireless" version, TMDR really lets loose and gives the necessary bite to the lyrics - "Down below.....the winter boys are waiting for the storm...." ; "....down one generation to my home" ; "drinking heavy water from a stone....". He lets loose some spit into his microphone at some point. And look at his face as he singing this - it's a face of highly-charged emotion and anger. The "down one generation to my home" refers to his uncle, of course, and you can tell he really feels the loss whenever he says that phrase. By the end, the last time he says the phrase, he trails away with his voice in resignation - the loss of his uncle and all the other young soldiers was permanent.

[Stinger390X]

The eighties were great to party with. Dolby made great danceable music as well as other such as Go West, Thompson Twins and Level 42 and many others.All very well put together and produced...almost "over produced" in some cases. The techno pop era was a good one.Dolby had a point to his music I think? He was always onto the Orwellian 1984 and Communist vibe in most of his videos which I liked as it made it almost a story that had many tales?????

[dchan]

The eighties were great to party with. Dolby made great danceable music as well as other such as Go West' date=' Thompson Twins and Level 42 and many others.All very well put together and produced...almost "over produced" in some cases. The techno pop era was a good one.Dolby had a point to his music I think? He was always onto the Orwellian 1984 and Communist vibe in most of his videos which I liked as it made it almost a story that had many tales?????[/quote']He definitely had an anti-Orwellian totalitarian government and Communist government outlook in some of his videos. Dissidents and Airwaves and their videos are great examples of this. But those are only the most overt examples - in general, I think he advocated and longed for freedom and liberty, but more subtly in his other songs than the two above.