Artist: Thomas Dolby
Genre(s):
Soundtrack
Discography:
Gate to the Mind's Eye
Year: 1994
Tracks: 10
Though he never had many hits, Thomas Dolby became one of the most recognisable figures of the synth-pop movement of early-'80s new wave. Largely, this was due to his skillful marketing. Dolby promoted himself as a tolerant of mad scientist, an egghead that had successfully harnassed the mogul of synthesizers and samplers, exploitation them to make catchy pop and light electro-funk. Before he launched a solo life history, Dolby had worked as a studio musician, technician, and songwriter; his most noteworthy work as a songwriter was "Fresh Toy," which he wrote for Lene Lovich, and Whodini's "Magic's Wand." In 1981, he launched a solo life history, which resulted in a number of minor hits and 2 big hits -- "She Blinded Me with Science" (1982) and "Overactive" (1984). Following "Overactive," his life history attenuate away, as he began producing more than frequently, as well as exploring new synthesist and calculator engineering. Dolby continued to track record into the '90s, but by that prison term, he was stringently a cult do.
Dolby's interest in music arose through and through his pursuit in computers, electronics and synthesizers. The son of a British archaeologist, Thomas Dolby (b. Thomas Morgan Robertson, October 14, 1958) in the beginning tended to college to study weather forecasting, merely he was soon side-tracked by electronics, specifically musical equipment. He began building his possess synthesizers when he was 18 days previous. Around the same time, he began to find out how to play guitar and forte-piano, as well as how to plan computers. Eventually, his schoolmates gave him the nickname of "Ray M. Dolby," which was the name for a noise-reduction applied science for audiotapes; he would eventually take the nickname as a phase appoint.
In his tardy teens, Dolby was chartered as a touring wakeless engineer for a variety of post-punk bands, including the Fall, the Passions and the Members; on these dates, he would use a PA system he had reinforced himself. In 1979, he formed the arty post-punk band Camera Club with Bruce Woolley, Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Matthew Seligman. Within a year, he had left wing the group and coupled Lene Lovich's funding band. Dolby gave Lovich his song dynasty "Unexampled Toy," which became a British rack up in 1981. That same year, he released his first gear solo single, "Urges," on the English sovereign mark Armageddon. By the fall, he had sign-language with Parlophone and released "Europa and the Pirate Twins," which closely cracked the UK Top 40.
Ray M. Dolby started playing synthesizer on sessions for other artists in 1982. That year, he appeared on Foreigner's 4, Def Leppard's Pyromania and Joan Armatrading's Walk Under Ladders. Also in 1982, he wrote and produced "Magic's Wand" for Whodini; the single became one of the first gear million-selling whang singles. Even with all of these achievements, 1982 was most noteworthy for the release of Dolby's low solo album, The Golden Age of Wireless, in the summer of 1982; the track record reached number 13 in England, patch it was nearly disregarded in America. "Windpower," the low single from the record, became his low gear Top 40 UK rack up in the late summer.
In January of 1983, Dolby released an EP, Blinded by Science, which included a tricky issue called "She Blinded Me with Science" that featured a cameo vocal show by the notorious British eccentric person Magnus Pike, world Health Organization too appeared in the song's promotional telecasting. Blinded by Science was a nonaged hit in England, simply the EP and the individual became major American strike in 1983, thanks to MTV's heavy airplay of the "She Blinded Me with Science" video. Eventually, the song reached telephone number five on the US charts and it was included on a resequenced and reissued version of The Golden Age of Wireless, which sickly at telephone number 13 in America.
The Flat Earth, Dolby's second record album, appeared in early 1984 and was supported by the single "Overactive." The individual became his biggest UK strike, peaking at telephone number 17. Though The Flat Earth reached number 35 on the US charts, Dolby's momentum was already beginning to slow -- none of the singles released from the album nutty the American Top 40. Nevertheless, Dolby was in demand as a collaborator and he worked with Herbie Hancock, Howard Jones, Stevie Wonder, George Clinton, and Dusty Springfield. During 1985, he produced Clinton's Some of My Best Jokes Are Friends, Prefab Sprout's Steve McQueen (Two Wheels Good in the US), and Joni Mitchell's Dog Eat Dog, as well as supporting David Bowie at Live Aid. Also in 1985, he began composition plastic film stacks, starting with Fever Pitch. In 1986, he composed the dozens for Gothic and Leslie Howard the Duck, to which he credited himself as Dolby's Cube. That recognition lED to a suit from the Dolby Labs, world Health Organization eventually banned the musician from using the name "Dolby" in conjunction with whatever other refer than "Thomas."
Aliens Ate My Buick, Dolby's long-delayed third record album, appeared in 1988 to poor reviews and weak sales, fifty-fifty though the single "Airhead" became a small British strike. That same twelvemonth, Dolby married actress Kathleen Beller. For the pillow of the later '80s and early '90s, Dolby continued to score films, producing and he began construction his have information processing system equipment. His fourth record album, Astronauts & Heretics, was released in 1992 on his new label, Giant. Despite the presence of invitee stars wish Eddie Van Halen, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir and Ofra Haza, the album was a flop. The following twelvemonth, Dolby founded the electronic computer software program company Headspace, which released The Virtual String Quartet as its first programme. For the pillow of the '90s, Headspace occupied to the highest degree of Dolby's time and energy. In 1994, he released The Gate to the Mind's Eye, a soundtrack to the videotape Mind's Eye. Also that twelvemonth, Capitol released the greatest-hits collection, Retrospectacle.
