Thomas Dolby
Thomas Morgan Robertson, known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, record producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher.
Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me with Science" and "Hyperactive!". He has also worked as a producer and as a session musician.
In the 1990s, Dolby founded Beatnik, a Silicon Valley software company whose technology was used to play internet audio and later ringtones, most notably on Nokia phones. He was also the music director for TED Conferences. On the faculty at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University since 2014, Dolby leads Peabody's Music for New Media program, which enrolled its first students in the fall of 2018.
Early life
Dolby was born Thomas Morgan Robertson in London, England, to Cecil, née Spring Rice and Martin Robertson, professor of classical Greek Art and Archaeology at the University of London, Oxford University, and Trinity College, Cambridge. His older brother is the academic Stephen Robertson. In at least one interview in the 1980s, Dolby claimed, "I was born in Cairo, because my father is an archaeologist" — many subsequent articles have republished or reprinted this spurious claim.At school in London, Dolby was good friends with Shane MacGowan of The Pogues and used to sit with him in the back row of the English Literature class. Dolby described him as "extremely smart". Dolby later attended Abingdon School in Oxfordshire, England, from 1975 to 1976, where he completed his A Levels. One of his first jobs was a part-time position at a fruit and vegetable shop. In his youth, Dolby lived or worked in France, Italy, and Greece.
Dolby spoke of his early musical experiences in a 2012 interview:
Stage name
The stage name Thomas Dolby originated from a nickname "Dolby" that he picked up in the early 1970s, when he was "always messing around with keyboards and tapes". The name derives from that of the audio noise-reduction process of Dolby Laboratories, used to improve the quality of audio recording and playback. He adopted the stage name "Thomas Dolby" to avoid confusion with British singer Tom Robinson, who was popular when he began his career. Early publicity implied that "Dolby" was a middle name, and that Dolby's full name was Thomas Morgan Dolby Robertson. Although that is legally incorrect, he does sometimes informally go by the initials TMDR.After Dolby released "She Blinded Me with Science" in 1982, Dolby Laboratories expressed concern regarding the stage name. Dolby's record label refused to make him change his name, and Dolby Labs did not raise the issue again until later. After a lengthy legal battle, the court decided that Dolby Labs had no right to restrict the musician from using the name. It was agreed that he would not release any electronic equipment using the name.
Dolby is unrelated to Thomas "Tom" Dolby, who is a novelist, filmmaker, and son of the Dolby Laboratories founder Ray Dolby.
Music career
In the late 1970s Dolby formed the Camera Club with Bruce Woolley. After leaving the Camera Club he joined Lene Lovich's band as keyboardist and wrote her hit song "New Toy". He also wrote songs for other artists and worked as a record producer before launching his solo career in 1981.Solo music career
Dolby is associated with the new wave movement of the early 1980s, a form of pop music incorporating electronic instruments, but Dolby's work covers a wide range of musical styles and moods distinct from the high-energy pop sound of his few, better-known commercial successes.''The Golden Age of Wireless''
Originally released in the UK and US and including the songs "Europa and the Pirate Twins," "Airwaves," and "Radio Silence," the first releases of Dolby's first solo album, The Golden Age of Wireless did not include the signature hit, "She Blinded Me with Science." After the five-song EP Blinded by Science introduced the catchy single, The Golden Age of Wireless was re-released with the single that, combined with its accompanying video, became Dolby's most commercially successful single, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.The Golden Age of Wireless reached No. 13 on the Billboard album chart. It juxtaposed themes of radio technology, aircraft, and naval submarines with those of relationships and nostalgia. While much of the album's instrumentation is synthesisers and samplers, the album credits a long list of guest musicians as well, with instruments ranging from harmonica and violin to guitar and percussion.
Dolby's Cube
Beginning in 1983, Dolby collaborated with a number of artists in an occasional studio-bound project called Dolby's Cube. The project had no set line-up, and was essentially a forum for Dolby to release material that was more dance-oriented. Dolby's Cube released a single in 1983, another in 1985, and performed soundtrack work for the film Howard the Duck in 1986. Collaborators in Dolby's Cube at various junctures included Lene Lovich, George Clinton of Parliament-Funkadelic, Francois Kevorkian, and Lea Thompson.''The Flat Earth''
In 1984, Dolby released his second LP, The Flat Earth, which peaked at No. 14 on the UK Albums Chart and at No. 35 on the Billboard album chart in the US. With a wide range of influences including nostalgic jazz, funk-tinged Motown R&B, and world music along with a strong electronic element, and featuring a slew of guest musicians including longtime Dolby collaborator Matthew Seligman on bass, Kevin Armstrong on guitar, Clif Brigden on percussion, and guest vocals from Robyn Hitchcock, Bruce Woolley, and others, The Flat Earth further established Dolby's wide range of talents as musician, songwriter, and producer. The album included a cover of the Dan Hicks song "I Scare Myself.""Hyperactive!" was the first and most successful single from the album, peaking at No. 17 on the UK Singles Chart, making it Dolby's highest-charting single in his home country.
''Aliens Ate My Buick''
In contrast to the overall introverted nature of The Flat Earth, Dolby described his next release, Aliens Ate My Buick :Aliens Ate My Buick was strongly funk and dance influenced. The first single was "Airhead", a satirical song about a stereotypical young-and-rich California woman, which peaked at No. 53. The second single, "Hot Sauce", a George Clinton song, peaked at No. 80. Another single, "My Brain Is Like a Sieve," peaked at No. 89 on the UK Singles Chart. The album was co-produced by Bill Bottrell, and featured Terry Jackson on bass guitar.
''Astronauts & Heretics''
For Astronauts & Heretics, Dolby expanded even further stylistically, starting the songwriting process at the piano, then again collaborating with a variety of guest musicians. Both Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia played guitar on "The Beauty of a Dream". Eddie Van Halen plays on "Eastern Bloc" and "Close but No Cigar." Other collaborators included Jimmy Z on sax, Budgie on drums and Leland Sklar on bass guitar. Terry Jackson also contributed bass guitar on four songs before his 1991 death in a plane accident with seven other members of Reba McEntire's support band for her "For My Broken Heart" tour.The highest-charting song off this album was "Close but No Cigar," which reached No. 22 on the UK charts. Two other songs on the album, "I Love You Goodbye" and "Silk Pyjamas", employed Zydeco influences, courtesy of Crowley, Louisiana, and guest musicians Michael Doucet of BeauSoleil on violin, Wayne Toups on accordion, and Al Tharp on banjo. Even though some recording for the album was done in remote locations, the bulk of Astronauts & Heretics was recorded at NRG Recording Studios with input from trusted Dolby co-producer Bill Bottrell, and mixed down at Smoke Tree Studios in Chatsworth, California.
''The Sole Inhabitant''
Following his involvement in Beatnik, Dolby returned to his musical career in 2006. He performed his first public solo show in 15 years at the Red Devil Lounge in San Francisco, California, on 21 January 2006, surprising the crowd who were there to see local band Notorious. He then launched an American tour, the Sole Inhabitant Tour, on 12 April 2006, comprising a string of small dates in California, a science education benefit in Boulder, Colorado, and gigs across America before receptive crowds.The United States leg of the "Sole Inhabitant Tour 2006" was captured on a "live" CD and DVD. The CD represents a recording of two gigs played by Dolby at Martyrs in Chicago, while the DVD was filmed at the Berklee Performance Center at Berklee College of Music. The DVD also includes a 30-minute interview and a lecture by Dolby at the college. Both the CD and DVD were released in November 2006. Dolby autographed and numbered the first 1,000 copies of the CD and DVD.
A show at the 800-capacity Scala club in London was booked for 3 July 2006 as a warm-up for Dolby's Hyde Park set opening for Depeche Mode. The show sold out in a matter of days and prompted Dolby to reprioritise the UK, resulting in him moving with his family from California back to England and in a nine-date Sole Inhabitant tour of the UK in October 2007, coinciding with the release of a lavish box set of the Sole Inhabitant CD and DVD by UK independent label Invisible Hands Music.
Thomas toured throughout the months of November and December 2006 with electronic musician BT. This tour included a version of "Airwaves" that BT added his own technique to, which was the opening song on the UK leg of the Sole Inhabitant tour.
Thomas Dolby's 15 March 2007 performance at the South by Southwest festival was released as the live EP Thomas Dolby & The Jazz Mafia Horns, Live at SxSW.
The 2007 UK Sole Inhabitant tour included three new songs previously played on the US tour, one called "Your Karma Hit My Dogma", another called "Jealous Thing", and a cover version of the Special AKA's "What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend." "Your Karma Hit My Dogma" was inspired by Kevin Federline's unauthorised use of a sample from Mobb Deep's "Got It Twisted," which in turn had used an authorised sample of "She Blinded Me with Science." The tag line from that story became the title of the song. The wording was lifted by Thomas from a bumper sticker on a car that he saw whilst living in the San Francisco Bay area. In a move close to performance art, Dolby tried to post a 'cease and desist' legal letter on Kevin Federline's MySpace page when other attempts to contact him proved fruitless. The song is on the Live at SxSW EP.
The second new song, "Jealous Thing", was performed at least at The Graduate in Cambridge and London's Islington Academy on the UK tour in Summer 2007 and features a Bossa-Nova type rhythm.