Dolby promoted himself as a kind of mad scientist, an egghead that had successfully harnessed the power of synthesizers and samplers, using them to make catchy pop and electro-funk. Before he launched his solo career, Dolby had already worked as a studio musician, technician, and songwriter. After starting out as a teenaged live sound man, mixing The Fall, The Members and others using a PA he built himself, he formed the arty post-punk band Camera Club (also known as Bruce Woolley & the Camera Club) with Bruce Woolley, Geoff Downes, Trevor Horn and Matthew Seligman. Within a year, he had left the group and joined Lene Lovich’s backing band and gave her his song "New Toy", which became a British hit in 1981. That same year, he released his first solo single, "Urges", on the English independent label Armageddon. By the autumn, he had signed with Parlophone and released "Europa and the Pirate Twins", which nearly cracked the UK Top 40.
Dolby started playing synthesizer on sessions for other artists in 1982. That year, he played keyboards on Def Leppard’s Pyromania and Joan Armatrading’s Walk Under Ladders. His most distinctive session credit is that keyboard line after the chorus on Foreigner’s "Waiting for a Girl Like You". In that eventful summer, Dolby also collaborating with New York rappers Whodini to create "Magic’s Wand" – a pivotal early hip hop track (the first rap single to shift 1 million copies), and it also single-handedly started the new jack swing movement.
Even with all of these achievements, 1982 was most noteworthy for the release of Dolby’s first solo album, The Golden Age of Wireless, in the summer of 1982, the landmark album reaching number 13. "Windpower", the first single from the record, became his first Top 40 UK hit in the late summer. Other cuts from the album include "The Airwaves", and "One of Our Submarines", a meditation on the futility of empire.
In January of 1983, Dolby released an EP, Blinded by Science, which includes what would become his most well-known track, "She Blinded Me with Science" featuring a cameo vocal appearance by the notorious British eccentric Magnus Pike, who also appeared in the song’s video. "She Blinded Me with Science" was a minor hit in England, but the EP and the single became a major American hit in 1983, thanks to MTV’s heavy airplay of the video. Eventually, the song reached number five on the US charts and it was included on a resequenced and reissued version of The Golden Age of Wireless, which peaked at number 13 in America.
The Flat Earth, Dolby's second album, appeared in early 1984, and harkens back to a time when songs mattered more than the video, even as MTV was discovering its strength. Opening with "Dissidents", conjuring up images of blacklisted authors and ugly snow, gray from oppression, with Matthew Seligman’s bass at the fore, lavish, growling, popping through octaves, funk-a-fied and twinkling with harmonics throughout the album. The title track is an R&B daydream of piano and Motown stabs of rhythm guitar. "Screen Kiss" has a similarly ethereal quality, and the lyrics are lush with imagery. The cover of Dan Hicks’ 1967 "I Scare Myself" is a balmy jazz club cocktail – faithfully nostalgic, right down to a bittersweet trombone solo from Peter Thomas. "Hyperactive" is one part bizarre to two parts infectious; guest vocalist Adele Bertei fuels the fire to what was already destined to be a memorable diversion beyond the reach of Top 40. The single became Thomas’ biggest UK hit, peaking at number 17.
During 1985, Dolby collaborated with artists including Stevie Wonder, Dusty Springfield and Herbie Hancock; and notched up some more high-concept production credits. George Clinton's Some of My Best Jokes Are Friends, Prefab Sprout’s Steve McQueen, and Joni Mitchell’s Dog Eat Dog were all midwifed by Dolby, who also was musical director for David Bowie at Live Aid. Also in 1985, he began composing film scores, starting with Fever Pitch. In 1986, he composed the scores for Gothic and Howard the Duck, for which he credited himself as Dolby's Cube. (That credit led to a lawsuit from the Dolby Labs, who eventually prohibited the musician from using the name "Dolby" in conjunction with any other name than "Thomas.")
Aliens Ate My Buick, Dolby's long-delayed third album, appeared in 1988 to a mixed reaction, although "Airhead" became a minor British hit. That same year, Dolby married actress Kathleen Beller. For the rest of the late 80s and early 90s, Dolby continued to score films, producing and building his own computer equipment.
1992’s Astronauts and Heretics, features guest stars such as Eddie Van Halen, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir and Ofra Haza. The album opens with "I Love You Goodbye", one of Thomas’ most evocative songs, and ends with "Beauty of a Dream" which is also a contender for that honour. Highlights found inbetween include "Cruel" (a duet with Fairground Attraction’s Eddie Reader), "I Live in a Suitcase" and "Close But No Cigar".
The following year, Dolby founded the computer software company Headspace in Silicon Valley, releasing The Virtual String Quartet as its first program, and also pioneered technology for music on mobile phones. For the rest of the 90s, Headspace occupied most of Dolby's time and energy. In 1994, he released The Gate to the Mind’s Eye, a soundtrack to the animated short film Mind’s Eye. Also that year, Capitol released the greatest-hits collection, Retrospectacle.
Thirteen years after Astronauts and Heretics, Dolby returned to live performance in 2006 with his solo Sole Inhabitant tour, which covered North America and the UK, with Thomas recreating the highlights of his earlier work from scratch, with a camera mounted like a miner’s lamp on his head, and a big screen showing the view from the artist, turning what would be a fairly dull one-man-and-a-rack-of-synths into a fascinating audio visual experience and an unintended masterclass for music technology students.
UK indie label Invisible Hands Music released a CD and DVD box set recorded on the Sole Inhabitant tour. These fresh and modern reinterpretations of Thomas’ work to date precedes a new studio album due in 2008, which is as-yet untitled, but does include a song about Britney’s ex Kevin Federline (“K-Fed”) who used an uncleared sample from "She Blinded Me with Science" and did not respond to legal approaches until a ‘cease-and-desist’ was posted in the comments field of his MySpace page. That song is called "My Karma Hit Your Dogma", and bodes well for a mighty return to form, combining Thomas’ humour and intelligence with a unique musical vision.
2011 saw Dolby get busy by returning with a new studio album A Map of the Floating City on 29 October. The album is broken down into three genres of Urbanoia's tales of city experiences; Amerikana as Dolby's take on his years living in America and it's roots music; and Oceanea: songs of life by the sea in his home country of England. The music was debuted first as download EPs to Dolby's online community and then previewed by a transmedia interactive game also called the FloatingCity.com.
Thomas Dolby is taking the music back on tour as a solo artist and with varying line-ups of bands, doing two tours of the UK in 2011, and has his first trip to Australia in February 2012 followed by dates in Japan. In March Dolby kicks off the Time-Capsule.tv tour at the SxSW Festival in Austin playing dates in USA and Canada through April. He will have a trailer parked at venues on his tour where you can produce a 30 second video offering words of wisdom to whoever will be walking the earth in the future. Dolby wants to give people a chance to “explain to an alien visitor what went wrong with our civilization. Our species may not be around on this planet much longer, so you might as well leave a welcome message for the next guys.”
Cloudburst at Shingle Street
Thomas Dolby Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
and hang from trees
wrap the rocks and the beach
state of shock at flick of switch
(mindless) into the cloudburst overhead
I wanna get my face wet
been buried in the sand for years
(headlong) into the cloudburst naked
there's gonna be a cloudburst here.
Come out of your shell
and look at the sea
it may be just as well
you stayed here with me
private hell at turn of a key
(blindly) into the cloudburst overhead
I wanna get my face wet
been buried in these hands for years
(mindless) into the cloudburst naked
there's really no escaping it
there's gonna be a cloudburst here
and it's dawning on me
I've been a cork in the ocean, been bobbing in the North Sea
then take this vest of plaster, these boots of concrete
and make them down as surplus, return to Mulberry...
Cloudburst at Shingle Street
Cloudburst at Shingle Street
Cloudburst at Shingle Street
When I was small I was in love in love with everything
now there's only you
The lyrics to Thomas Dolby's song Cloudburst at Shingle Street describe a scene where the singer and someone else are climbing cliffs, hanging from trees, and sitting on the beach. They are suddenly caught in a cloudburst, where rain is pouring down on them. The singer wants to get wet and immerse themselves in the experience, but notes that there is no escaping it. The song also alludes to the idea of being trapped, as the singer mentions being buried in sand or their own hands, and being a "cork in the ocean" before finally breaking free. The lyrics end on a note of love and connection, with the singer declaring that they were once in love with everything, but now only have the person they are with.
The lyrics in Cloudburst at Shingle Street are rich in imagery and metaphor, with the cloudburst serving as a tangible manifestation of the characters' emotional states. The sudden, overwhelming deluge symbolizes feelings of being trapped, of wanting to escape but being unable to. The singer's desire to get wet and their references to being buried suggest a desire to break free from these feelings and overcome their sense of inertia. Meanwhile, the lyric about being a cork in the ocean represents the idea of feeling lost and adrift, afloat but directionless. The final declaration of love drives home the idea that in spite of these challenges, there can still be moments of connection and meaning.
Line by Line Meaning
We climb the cliffs
We are scaling steep inclines, likely cliffs, and making our way higher.
And hang from trees
We're also braving the treetops and hanging from their branches.
Wrap the rocks and the beach
We're embracing the rocky terrain and the sand on the beach.
State of shock at flick of switch
We're taken aback by sudden changes and situations that are out of our control.
(Mindless) into the cloudburst overhead
Without fully engaging our minds, we're jumping or delving into a rainstorm above us.
I wanna get my face wet
We're seeking the sensation of the rain on our faces.
Been buried in the sand for years
We've been stagnant, overwhelmed or stuck in some way for years.
(Headlong) into the cloudburst naked
We're now fully embracing and welcoming the rain, shedding our inhibitions and vulnerability.
There's really no escaping it
We are powerless to avoid this experience or reality.
There's gonna be a cloudburst here.
It's inevitable that there will be a downpour of rain in this location.
Come out of your shell
We're urging someone to break out of their protective or limiting shell and engage with the world.
And look at the sea
We're encouraging someone to look out and survey the vast and changing ocean.
It may be just as well
It's possible that not venturing out further may be the wisest choice.
You stayed here with me
Staying with me shows the value of companionship and stability.
Private hell at turn of a key
There's a sense of urgency as we're being forced into a difficult and unsafe situation.
(Blindly) into the cloudburst overhead
Without being fully aware of our actions, we're now entering the rainstorm above us.
I wanna get my face wet
We still seek the sensation of the rain on our faces.
Been buried in these hands for years
We've been using our hands for shelter or protection for years.
(Mindless) into the cloudburst naked
Once again, we're fully immersing ourselves in the downpour, now without any previous inhibitions.
There's really no escaping it
Again, we're emphasizing the unavoidable reality of our situation.
There's gonna be a cloudburst here
The persistent warning that rain is coming remains.
And it's dawning on me
We're starting to realize and come to terms with something.
I've been a cork in the ocean, been bobbing in the North Sea
We've been aimlessly drifting without control like a buoy in the sea for a while.
Then take this vest of plaster, these boots of concrete
Now, we plan to shed the weights and immobilizers we've been burdened with and move on.
And make them down as surplus, return to Mulberry...
We're leaving behind the items that have held us down and setting our sights on new, fresh places and opportunities.
Cloudburst at Shingle Street
Repeating this emphasizes the location of the rainstorm and its potential repercussions.
Cloudburst at Shingle Street
Again, repeating this drives home the significance and warning of the storm.
Cloudburst at Shingle Street
One final warning of the rainstorm that is coming.
When I was small I was in love in love with everything
In the past, we had an innocent, childlike love for everything in life.
Now there's only you
Nowadays, only one person holds our love and attention.
Contributed by Benjamin M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.