Thomas Dolby on Bowie, Prince and…Joni Mitchell?
Like most people, my knowledge of Thomas Dolby was limited to his 80’s MTV hit “She Blinded Me With Science” and rumors that he had invented the ringtone (not exactly,…
By Rachel Reynolds • • 1 min readThomas Dolby was limited to his 80’s MTV hit “She Blinded Me With Science” and rumors that he had invented the ringtone (not exactly, he invented the synthesizer that makes ringtones possible).
When DJ Eric J Lawrence suggested him for the Guest DJ Project, I dug a little deeper and learned he’s also the musical director for the TED conference and was really considered a pioneer in his early work with synthesizers. As he explains it, he was only a trailblazer because he was one of the few people stupid enough to take it on (they were heavy, expensive and frequently out of tune).
When we were finally able to get the UK musician/tech innovator into the studio to tape a Guest DJ set, I was really surprised by the music that inspired him. Joni Mitchell? Who would have guessed that? Also, his musings on Iggy Pop’s city anthem “The Passenger” made me see it in a totally different way.
Thomas just played at SXSW and is in the midst of a Spring tour behind his latest CD “A Map of the Floating City“. This set is really worth a listen!
RR
p.s.: it happened to be Thomas’ birthday on the day he was in the studio…so we sang to him.
Thomas Dolby Guest DJ Project Set List
1. Beside You – Van Morrison
2. Edith And The Kingpin – Joni Mitchell
3. Heroes – David Bowie
4. Sign O The Times – Prince
5. The Passenger – Iggy Pop