Born on October 14th: Thomas Dolby, call me teacher!
Born Thomas Morgan Robertson in London (Hammersmith) in 1958, there is a very good reason why this genius handyman took the pseudonym of Dolby
A jack-of-all-trades, Thomas Dolby began his career during the recording of "4", Foreigner's 1981 album. It's certainly the best album of the band run by the other Mick Jones (not the Clash one) but it's doubtful that he still brags about it today!
He is above all one of the precursors of English intellectual synthpop with titles such as "She Blinded Me with Science" (1982) or "Hyperactive" (1984). He recorded only six studio albums during his career, the best known of which are "The Golden Age of Wireless" (1982) and "The Flat Earth" (1984), but they all have titles such as "Astronauts and Heretics" (1999) or "Aliens Ate My Buick" (1988). If you're a fan of Ken Russell's 1986 film "Gothic," you also know his music but not necessarily his name. He has also produced or worked with artists as varied as the Thompson Twins, Def Leopard! (true!), David Bowie and, among others, Prefab Sprout.
On July 21, 1990, Roger Waters offered him the role of the schoolteacher for the memorable "The Wall in Berlin" concert on Potsdamer Platz. He couldn't have dreamed of a better character for the man who created Beatnik, a polyphonic ringtone software used by more than 500 million people. In 2014, he was appointed Homeword Professor of the Arts at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. As good news never comes on its own, he has also been managing a degree called "Music for New Media" for the Peabody Institute at the same university since 2017. See why you should call him "teacher"?
(AK/ML - Photo Etienne Tordoir)
Photo: Thomas Dolby at the Windsor Hotel in Brussels (Belgium) on March 2, 1983 to promote his album "The Golden Age Of Wireless" (© Etienne Tordoir)