Today is the birthday of Mr. Thomas Dolby, perhaps one of this generation’s early pioneers of Steampunk (and Dieslepunk). Back in the day, when MTV played videos (instead of gameshows and reality shows), Mr. Dolby had a smash hit with his song “She blinded me with science“. I wasn’t compeltly enthuiastic about the son, but the imagery presented was like non-other at the time. Though this video does lean a bit more on the Dieselpunk side, it was probably my first introduction of what would later (about twenty years later) become a genre that I would follow on a regular basis.She Blinded me with Science, by Mr. Thomas Dolby“She blinded me with science”, perhaps his most Steampunk of his works, took place in a sanatorium for apparenly disturbed scientists. During the progression of the song, one sees what one assumes is scientists, engaged in odd activities (e.g. the fellow the butterfly net with four nets, the jet pack), and Steampunk-esque imagry (e.g. the device strapped on Mr. Dolby’s head). Though it wasn’t quite apparent at the time, “Blinded…” and his following works on his album “The Golden Age of Wireless” had Steampunk/Dieselpunk themes running throughout it (e.g. “Airwaves”, “Radio Silence”, “Europa and the Pirate Twins”).As a professional wonts to do, he continued with other albums and did an impressive amount of “behind the scenes” work (I had no idea he did work with Depeche Mode or performed with Def Leopard on keyboards). However, his talents have been in demand, and as one can see from his latest album, “Amerikana“, he still steeped in the Steampunk and Dieselpunk genres. For more information on Mr. Dolby (or to wish him a happy birthday), do consider visiting his official website (“The Flat Earth Society“), at http://www.thomasdolby.com/index.php, or take a moment to view some selections from the Golden Age of Wireless, (alas, embedding was disabled by the kind characters from EMI)..WindpowerEuropa and the Pirate TwinsRadio Silence One of our submarines are missingDo enjoy!
Related Posts
