Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), 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 international hit singles including "She Blinded Me with Science" (1982) and "Hyperactive!" (1984). 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 Theodosia Cecil (née Spring Rice, 1921–1984) and Martin Robertson (1911–2004), 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.
Dolby spoke of his early musical experiences in a 2012 interview:
Stage name
right|thumbnail|Dolby performing in 2018
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.
Dolby is unrelated to Thomas "Tom" Dolby, who is a novelist, filmmaker, and son of the Dolby Laboratories founder Ray Dolby.
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 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. 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!" The album was co-produced by Bill Bottrell, and featured Terry Jackson on bass guitar.
Astronauts & Heretics
For Astronauts & Heretics (Virgin UK), 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 (of Siouxsie and the Banshees) 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 Funk/Guaracha rhythm guitar on "That's Why People Fall in Love" was delivered by Acid Latin creator Thomas Guzman-Sanchez of Rhythm Tribe (VRL MUZIC) -->
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. was released as the live EP Thomas Dolby & The Jazz Mafia Horns, Live at SxSW (with musicians from San Francisco's Jazz Mafia collective).
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.
2009 reissues
right|thumbnail|upright|Dolby at [[TED (conference)|TED in 2009]]
A CD plus DVD set entitled The Singular Thomas Dolby was released by EMI on 18 May 2009. As the name suggests it is a digitally remastered compilation of previously released singles. The DVD contains all the video singles that were available on the original VHS/BETA/LASERDISC release of The Golden Age of Video, as well as the videos for the songs "Silk Pyjamas", "I Love You Goodbye", and "Close but No Cigar". These three missing videos are for the singles taken from the 1992 album Astronauts & Heretics, which received critical acclaim but garnered unimpressive sales.
The Golden Age of Wireless and The Flat Earth were remastered and reissued later that year with numerous previously unreleased bonus tracks. The Golden Age of Wireless reissue was a two disc set including a DVD of the complete "Live Wireless" video.
A Map of the Floating City
In 2010 Dolby began work on a new studio album entitled A Map of the Floating City. The album is divided into three parts, with the first two parts initially made available to members of The Flat Earth Community Forum, Dolby's online community. Each of the three digital EPs takes its name from one of the three sections of the full-length album that later followed. The first EP, Amerikana, was released digitally on 16 June 2010. The second EP is entitled Oceanea, and was released on 29 November 2010. Due to favourable reviews and radio airplay, Oceanea was released commercially on 28 March 2011. The third section of the album, entitled Urbanoia, was not released as a download or physical CD, but the songs were premiered online as part of the Floating City game (see below).
Contributors to the album include Kevin Armstrong, Matthew Seligman (both had played together with him on The Flat Earth and as part of David Bowie's Live Aid appearance), Bruce Woolley, drummer Liam Genockey, guitarist Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, Regina Spektor, Natalie MacMaster, Eddi Reader and Imogen Heap.
In a 2010 press release he was quoted as saying: