Thomas Dolby -

Thomas Dolby is an English keyboardist, songwriter, producer, and arranger who first appeared on the 1979 album English Garden by Bruce Woolley and The Camera Club. After working for two years as a session musician (Foreigner, Jane Kennaway, Joan Armatrading, Thompson Twins), Lene Lovich charted with his song “New Toy.”

Dolby launched his solo career with the 1981 electro-pop single “Urges,” followed by the hits “Europa and the Pirate Twins,” “Radio Silence,” “Airwaves,” and the 1982 album The Golden Age of Wireless. Aided by rotation on a then-fledgling MTV, he charted stateside with “She Blinded Me With Science,” an evergreen of the Second British Invasion.

His 1984 album, The Flat Earth, spawned the hits “Hyperactive!” and “I Scare Myself.” He performed at the 1985 Grammy Awards in a medley with fellow keyboard stars Howard Jones, Stevie Wonder, and Herbie Hancock. After recording a pair of soundtracks (Howard the Duck, Gothic), he branched into salsa and swing music on his 1988 third album Aliens Ate My Buick.

Background

Dolby was born Thomas Morgan Robertson on October 14, 1958, in London to Greek art professor and archaeologist Martin Robertson (1911–2004) and Theodosia Cecil (née Spring Rice, 1921–1984). His older brother, Stephen Robertson (b. 1946), became an award-winning computer scientist.

As a tween, Thomas sang in a choir and learned to sightread. He first played guitar, then piano, inspired by jazz players like Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, and Dave Brubeck. When affordable synthesizers hit the market during the mid-seventies, he turned his attention to electronic music. As he experimented with keyboards and tapes, his friends nicknamed him Dolby after the namesake noise-reduction process of Dolby Laboratories.

Early Activity

By the time new wave took hold in Britain, Dolby identified as an “arty jazz-rocker” and gravitated to bands like Talking Heads.^[1] In late 1978, he almost replaced keyboardist Barry Andrews in XTC. Soon after, Buggles co-founder Bruce Woolley recruited Dolby for the Camera Club. In 1979, they released the album English Garden on Epic (UK) and Columbia (US). It spawned multiple singles, including “Video Killed the Radio Star,” issued concurrently with the Buggles’ international hit version.

In 1981, Dolby augmented the post-punk/dub band Local Heroes SW9 on their second album, New Opium, released on Oval Music. Their prior album involved Thompson Twins frontman Tom Bailey and Dolby’s ex-Camera Club bandmate Matthew Seligman. Dolby re-linked with Seligman in the Fallout Club for their 1981 singles “Dream Soldiers” (b/w “Pedestrian Walkways”) and “Wonderlust” (b/w “Desert Song”).

In April, he did session work on 4, the fourth album by platinum rockers Foreigner; monies from which financed Dolby’s subsequent singles. His ethereal synthesizers framed “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” a US No. 2 hit. (Foreigner’s 1979 third album, Head Games, contains a song titled “Blinded By Science”).

Dolby and Seligman formed the one-off Low Noise with SW9 guitarist Kevin Armstrong and late-period Skids drummer J.J. Johnson. Their Joni Mitchell cover “The Jungle Line” (b/w “Urban Tribal”) appeared in August 1981 on Happy Birthday, the Fallout’s indie label that also housed Girls At Our Best! Seligman joined the Thompson Twins for their 1982 second album, Set, which features Dolby’s synthesizers on three cuts (“The Rowe,” “Runaway,” and “Fool’s Gold”).

Dolby scored a hit by proxy with “New Toy,” a song about his early unit Fairlight CMI synthesizer. He wrote the song for Lene Lovich, who made it the title track of her 1981 EP, which also features “Never Never Land,” written by Fingerprintz frontman Jimme O’Neill. Thomas also starred as Johnny in the 1981 video for “It’s My Party,” a synthpop cover of the 1963 Leslie Gore classic by Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin, partners from Canterbury legends Hatfield & The North and National Health.

“Urges” / “Leipzig”

On February 18, 1981, Thomas Dolby released his debut solo single: “Urges” backed with “Leipzig,” both minimal-synth originals co-produced with XTC frontman Andy Partridge, who plays percussion on the single, accompanied by string arranger Tim Kerr.

A. “Urges” (3:42)
B. “Leipzig” (3:56)

“Urges” was co-engineered by Barry Kingston, a veteran soundman with credits on psychedelic titles by Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera and Icarus. The single appeared on Armageddon Records, a transatlantic indie whose roster included the Soft Boys, Aussie punks The Last Words, and Athens, Georgia new wavers Pylon and the Method Actors.

After the Fallout/Low Noise activity, Dolby linked with Parlophone for his second solo single, “Europa and the Pirate Twins,” an advance taster from his album-in-progress, backed with the exclusive “Therapy / Growth,” a self-produced original. The 12″ contains an extended “Europa” (4:02) and a live October 1979 version of “Leipzig.”

B. “Therapy / Growth” (4:04)

In the video to “Europa and the Pirate Twins,” Dolby (clad in trademark 1930s attire) operates a vintage power-control board and a futuristic telecomputer amid projections of monochrome seaside footage and green screens of old Ziegfeld Follies films. He takes a scanner to a nearby field as wind blows, smoke billows, and a white-veiled woman advances.

Dolby established Venice In Peril, a personal imprint distributed by EMI.

The Golden Age of Wireless

Thomas Dolby released his debut album, The Golden Age of Wireless, on May 13, 1982, on Venice In Peril (UK/Europe) and EMI/Harvest (elsewhere). It features nine songs, including the pre-released singles “Europa and the Pirate Twins,” “Airwaves,” “Radio Silence,” and the b-side “The Wreck of the Fairchild,” plus both sides of his fifth single, “Windpower” and “Flying North.”

Dolby plays synthesizer, piano, wave computer, and programmed drums on Wireless, backed on six tracks by SW9/Low Noise guitarist Kevin Armstrong and Lene Lovich sidemen Mark Heyward-Chaplin (bass) and Justin Hildreth (drums, ex-Roogalator). Dolby composed everything apart from “Commercial Breakup,” a co-write with violinist Tim Kerr.

Lena and partner Les Chappell sing backing vocals on “Weightless” and “Cloudburst at Shingle Street” along with Girls At Our Best frontwoman Judy Evans. “Weightless” also features “monk” voices by Camera Club’s Dave Birch and Bruce Woolley (also heard on “Wreck” and “Airwaves”).

A1. “Flying North” (3:50) features Birch on guitar.
A2. “Commercial Breakup” (4:15)
A3. “Weightless” (3:45)
A4. “Europa and the Pirate Twins” (3:18) features Andy Partridge on harmonica and percussion.
A5. “Windpower” (4:20) features Members reedist Simon Lloyd (flute) and a shipping forecast by the BBC’s John Marsh.

B1. “The Wreck of the Fairchild” (3:30) features Dolby on kalimba and Chilean translations by one Guido Orlando.
B2. “Airwaves” (5:12)
B3. “Radio Silence” (3:46) features synths by Normal mastermind Daniel Miller and backing vocals by Akiko Yano.
B4. “Cloudburst at Shingle Street” (5:45) saxophone solo by one Billy Solee.

Sessions spanned September 1981 through January 1982 at four London studios (Aosis, Advision, Marcus, Tapestry), where Dolby self-produced under his extended full name, Thomas Morgan “Dolby” Robertson (TMDR).

On January 30, Dolby dropped “Airwaves” as the second advance single (b/w “The Wreck of the Fairchild”).

The “Airwaves” video depicts an Orwellian state where Dolby dials for radio signals in the cold and then flees from a nearby raid. He retrieves a note and tiptoes by detection but the blue rays engulf him. Evading capture, he gathers bills and a passport, then stowaways in the snow to a checkpoint, where he’s green-lit to the free side when aliens appear.

On March 25, “Radio Silence” appeared as the third advance single, backed with a longer version (4:32).

In the “Radio Silence” video, Dolby plays a 1930s photographer and amateur radio user who telegraphs messages to his latest model as she drives to his studio. Once there, she stands on a podium and morphs into a statue. This and the prior “Europa” clip received generous rotation on MTV during the US cable channel’s first broadcast year.

On July 26, “Windpower” became the fourth single (b/w “Flying North”). The 12″ contains longer versions of each side, subtitled ‘High Power Extended Play’ (5:54) and ‘High Altitude Extended Play’ (6:22).

In North America, The Golden Age of Wireless first appeared on Harvest with a revised tracklist that drops “The Wreck of the Fairchild” and adds both sides of Dolby’s 1981 “Urges” / “Leipszig” single. This version substitutes the sci-fi poster cover with the photo from the “Europa and the Pirate Twins” sleeve.

“She Blinded Me with Science”

On October 23, 1982, Thomas Dolby released his sixth solo single: “She Blinded Me with Science,” a slice of comedic modernism backed with “One of Our Submarines,” a wartime epic. Dolby co-wrote “Science” with Jo Kerr (Tim’s brother). Venice in Peril issued the single in standard 7″ and extended 12″ formats.

Dolby’s arsenal for this single consists of the Roland Jupiter-4, Moog Source, and PPG Wave synthesizers, plus the Eventide Harmonizer, doubled on the last two by Talk Talk producer Tim Friese-Greene. Returning sidemen Kevin Armstrong and Matthew Seligman plays guitar and Moog Source bass, respectively. “Science” also features violinist Simon House (ex-High Tide, Third Ear Band, Hawkwind).

A. “She Blinded Me with Science” (3:42 / 5:09) English nutritional scientist Dr. Magnus Pyke (1908–1992) exclaims “science” through the song and does the voiceover “Good heavens, Miss Sakamoto, you’re beautiful!” (a reference to Akiko Yano, then wife of Ryuichi Sakamoto).
B. “One of Our Submarines” (5:11 / 7:18)

In the video to “She Blinded Me with Science,” Dolby rides a motorbike (with sidecar) to the “Home for Deranged Scientists” (filmed at The Holme, a 19th-century mansion in Regent’s Park, Westminster). He reclines on the sofa in the office of Dr. Pyke but the secretary rivets his attention and conjures slowdance imagery. Deemed “a suitable case for treatment” (silent film text-card style), Dolby undergoes reflex tests and fumbles a slot game while older patients outside play derelict cricket and toy with telescopes.

As Dolby has his brainwaves scanned (“A terrible dream”), the geriatrics dance to the violin solo while Thomas (in his slowdance fantasy) “plays” the instrument with a bow across the (drawn) string lines on the secretary’s back, as revealed through the violin-shaped back cut of her black dress. Ultimately, “Mr. Dolby rejects Science and things Scientific… and the doctor… gets his comeuppance.” Dolby rides off as a hospital orderly roles a wheel-chair patient into the moat.

Though issued as a UK standalone single, both sides appeared on a revised second US version of The Golden Age of Wireless, which drops the 1981 “Urges” single. “She Blinded Me with Science” reached No. 1 in Canada and No. 7 in New Zealand. The video received high MTV rotation in the US, where the single reached No. 4 on the Cashbox Top 100 and No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The extended versions of “She Blinded Me with Science” and “One of Our Submarines” appeared on Blinded By Science, a 1983 EP that collects the extended plays of “Windpower,” “Airwaves,” and “Flying North.”

Between albums, Dolby produced singles for the UK synth-pop combo The Group (“Technology”) and ex-Contortions keyboardist Adele Bertei (“Build Me a Bridge”). With Seligman, Dolby co-wrote and produce “It’s All In Mr. Magic’s Wand” / “Magic’s Wand” for the debut album by American electro-funksters Whodini.

In 1983, Thomas launched Dolby’s Cube, a revolving-door project for sporadic dance singles. The first, “Get Out of My Mix” (b/w “Get On Out of My Mix”), appeared that year on Parlophone.

The Flat Earth

Thomas Dolby released his second album, The Flat Earth, on February 6, 1984, on EMI. It contains five self-composed originals, including “White City,” “Screen Kiss,” “Mulu the Rain Forest,” and the album’s lead single, “Hyperactive!”

The Flat Earth features Dolby keyboards, piano, samplers, and programmed percussion, backed as before by bassist Matthew Seligman and guitarist Kevin Armstrong, who both helped him co-write “Dissidents.” Drummer Clif Brigden of Armstrong’s Bush Telegraph plays percussion and computer drums on six tracks.

Landscape trombonist Peter Thoms plays on the Dan Hicks cover “I Scare Myself” and the closing “Hyperactive,” which also features Wireless drummer Justin Hildreth and tin/sheet percussionist Matthew Salt of Bristol post-punks Electric Guitars. Backing vocalists include Bruce Woolley (“Mulu”) and Bertei, who sings on the first two tracks and “Hyperactive!”

1. “Dissidents” (4:56)
2. “The Flat Earth” (6:41)
3. “Screen Kiss” (5:33)

4. “White City” (5:19) features Robyn Hitchcock as “Keith.”
5. “Mulu the Rain Forest” (5:00)
6. “I Scare Myself” (5:40) is a song by American bluegrass musician Dan Hicks that first appeared on Original Recordings, the 1969 debut album by Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks.
7. “Hyperactive!” (4:13)

Dolby preceded the album with the January single “Hyperactive!” and its b-side “White City.”

British videomaker Daniel Kleinman directed the “Hyperactive!” clip, a sight-gag between Dolby and his therapist. Dolby undergoes hypnosis, which turns his head into a magnified cube of man/child expressions. One hand becomes a trumpeting puppet; the other disembodies on the flute. The two men communicate cube-to-cube with cue cards that signify assorted thoughts (hunger, libido, rage).

An explosion card triggers an actual explosion. Dolby resorts to ventriloquism with a self-puppet that pops its head off, then pulls off his own face, revealing backing singers that trade faces over the same white suit. Kleinman hailed from the mid-Seventies pub band Bazooka Joe (with Adam Ant) and also directed 1984/85 videos for Howard Jones, Lindsey Buckingham, Pat Benatar, The Pretenders, Wang Chung, and X.

“Hyperactive!” reached No. 16 in Canada and No. 17 on the UK Singles Chart. In the US, the video received medium MTV rotation.

In March 1984, Dolby lifted “I Scare Myself” as a second single, backed with an edited version of “Cloudburst at Shingle Street.” The 12″ contains the non-album “Puppet Theatre,” a Dolby/Seligman co-write.

B1. “Puppet Theatre” (4:09)

The video to “I Scare Myself” takes place in a jazz club where Dolby (slanted beret) plays a white Steinway Grand on a two-level stage with his backing band. Meanwhile, a waiter and waitress trade looks and pass the rubber threshold to a white space, where they ballet dance in black against the soft white backdrop.

Dolby produced The Flat Earth in 1983 with Lio/Telex soundman Dan Lacksman, who engineered concurrent titles by Sparks and Miharu Koshi. UK design firm Assorted iMAGes (Buzzcocks, Magazine, Duran Duran, Simple Minds) designed the cover and inner-sleeve, which feature partitioned water-side and hill-side photography by Richard Haughton, whose images also grace contemporary sleeves for The Associates, Chaz Jankel, Fiat Lux, Kajagoogoo, Microdisney, Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark, Zaine Griff, and Fallout Club singer Trevor Herion.

In June 1984, “Dissidents” became the third single, backed with the earlier a-side “Urges.” The 12″ contains extended versions of “Dissidents” subtitled “The Search for Truth” Part I (7:17) and II (5:53).

In the “Dissident’s video, Dolby heads a contraband publication in Occupied Europe and holds a secret meeting with fellow dissidents to smuggle papers with truth-telling articles to the free world.

The Flat Earth reached No. 14 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 18 in the Netherlands.

Aliens Ate My Buick

Thomas Dolby released his third proper studio album, Aliens Ate My Buick, on April 13, 1988, on EMI. He’s backed by the Lost Toy People, composed of bassist Terry Jackson, drummer David Owens, onetime Repairs guitarist Larry Treadwell, recent Dial M synthesist Mike Kapitan, and veteran Detroit session vocalist Laura Creamer.

The LP features six originals, bookended by the Swing-styled “The Key to Her Ferrari” and the epic “Budapest by Blimp.” Dolby’s Cube participant George Clinton wrote “Hot Sauce,” one of three tracks (along with “Pulp Culture” and “My Brain Is Like a Sieve”) with backing vocals by Rose Banks (ex-Family Stone) and Jean Johnson (ex-Andraé Crouch Choir).

On the mock-Fifties B-movie-poster album cover, Dolby braces his new wife, American actress Kathleen Beller (b. February 1956; Westchester), whose Bronx Zoo co-star, TV legend Ed Asner, does the voiceover on “My Brain Is Like a Sieve.” Additional guests include Crackin’ percussionist Arno Lucas and veteran jazz trombonist Bill Watrous.

Dolby co-wrote “The Ability to Swing” with Matthew Seligman and wrote the lead single, “Airhead,” with one Grant Morris. CD and cassette copies added an eighth track: the 1985 Dolby’s Cube recording “May the Cube Be With You” with harmonica by Stevie Wonder and backing vocals by Clinton and Lovich.

1. “The Key to Her Ferrari” (4:39) has a voiceover by Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous host Robin Leach.
2. “Airhead” (5:07)
3. “Hot Sauce” (5:03)
4. “Pulp Culture” (5:35)
5. “My Brain Is Like a Sieve” (4:52)
6. “The Ability to Swing” (4:30)
7. “Budapest by Blimp” (8:40)
8. “May the Cube Be With You” (6:49)

“Airhead” preceded Aliens as a March single (b/w “Budapest by Blimp”).

Dolby co-produced the album in Los Angeles at Soundcastle and Smoketree studios with veteran soul-pop engineer Bill Bottrell, who played “spaghetti western” guitar on “Hot Sauce.”

Photographer Leslie Burke tool the photos on the front cover and inner sleeve, which shows a second shot of the couple’s hysterics. The back cover shows the enflamed remains of the devoured Buick by Dennis Keeley, a recent cover photographer for Cock Robin, Crowded House, Missing Persons, and the Yellowjackets. Illustrator Steve Vance created the Buick typography in a similar retro style to his work on the TeeVee Toons comps.

Dolby lifted “Hot Sauce” as the second single, backed with the Spanish version “Salsa Picante.” In 1989, he released “My Brain Is Like a Sieve” as a third Buick single, backed with an instrumental version.