Thomas DOLBY


Retrospectacle

(compilation)

(1995)



1. Europa And The Pirate Twins 3'20
(Thomas Dolby)
From The Golden Age Of Wireless 1982
2. Urges 3'40
(Thomas Dolby)
From Single, 1981
3. Leipzig 3'54
(Thomas Dolby)
From Single, 1981
4. Windpower 4'19
(Thomas Dolby)
From The Golden Age Of Wireless 1982
5. Airwaves
(7" version) 3'36
(Thomas Dolby)
From The Golden Age Of Wireless 1982
6. She Blinded Me With Science 3'41
(Thomas Dolby)
From The Golden Age Of Wireless 1982
7. One Of Our Submarines 5'08
(Thomas Dolby)
From The Golden Age Of Wireless 1982
8. Screen Kiss 5'29
(Thomas Dolby)
From The Flat Earth 1984
9. Hyperactive ! 4'12
(Thomas Dolby)
From The Flat Earth 1984
10. I Scare Myself 5'41
(Dan Hicks)
From The Flat Earth 1984
11. The Flat Earth 5'35
(Thomas Dolby)
From The Flat Earth 1984
12. Pulp Culture 5'37
(Thomas Dolby)
From Aliens Ate My Buick 1988
13. Budapest By Blimp 8'39
(Thomas Dolby)
From Aliens Ate My Buick 1988
14. Cruel 3'10
(Thomas Dolby)
From Astronauts & Heretics 1992
15. Close But No Cigar 4'27
(LOST TOY PEOPLE)
From Astronauts & Heretics 1992
16. I Love You Goodbye 5'57
(Thomas Dolby)
From Astronauts & Heretics 1992

Total Time: 77:25


"This particular collection is lifted out of the morass of post-Yuletide mediocrity by a welter of rockingly diverse selections which scupper prevalent notions that Thomas Dolby is a tiresome two-hit wonder techno-boffin. Kicking in with an enjoyable trio of angst-ridden New European pop gems ("Europa And The Pirate Twins", "Urges" and "Leipzig") Dolby thankfully soon relinquishes the tired David Bowie vocal inflections. Big hits "Hyperactive" (Number 17) and "She Blinded Me With Science" (Number 49) sound tame, flat and gimmicky stacked up to the rest of the best of the Dolby catalogue. "Screen Kiss" is lucid, dreamy and moving, "I Scare Myself" richly atmospheric, "The Flat Earth" cool and chillingly beautiful, "Pulp Culture" stroppy cartoon funk and "Close But No Cigar" is delirious brain-dead pop metal. Retrospectively, Dolby is most definitely the gifted pop technocrat with more than cultivated quaintness to offer".
- Paul Davies


  • Thomas Dolby - Sound Effects, Wave Computer, Drum Programming, Synthesizers, Keyboards, Producer, Vocals, Piano, Organ (13 - 16), Mixing
  • Cliff Brigden - Synthesizer, Percussion, Composer, Drum Programming (8 - 11)
  • Mike Kapitan - Synthesizer, Keyboards (12, 13), Programming (13 - 16), Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part (13 - 16)
  • Lene Lovich - Vocals, Vocals (bckgr) (1 - 7)
  • Akiko Yano - Vocals (bckgr) (1 - 7)
  • Kevin Armstrong - Guitar, Trumpet, Vocals (1 - 7)
  • Jerry Garcia - Guitar (13 - 16)
  • Bob Weir - Guitar (Rhythm) (13 - 16)
  • John E. Love - Guitar (13 - 16)
  • Jon Klein - Guitar (13 - 16)
  • Larry Treadwell - Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Slide Guitar (13 - 16)
  • Eddie Van Halen - Guitar (13 - 16)
  • Tommy Gutman Sanchez - Guitar (13 - 16)
  • David Birch - Guitar (1 - 7)
  • Matthew Seligman - Bass, Fretless Bass (13 - 16)
  • Al Tharp - Banjo, Vocals (bckgr) (13 - 16)
  • Mark Heyward-Chaplin - Bass, Guitar (Bass) (1 - 7)
  • Terry Jackson - Bass (13 - 16)
  • Leland Sklar - Bass (13 - 16)
  • Peter Thoms - Trombone (8 - 11)
  • Andy Partridge - Harmonica (1 - 7)
  • Jimmy Z. - Saxophone (13 - 16)
  • Michael Doucet - Fiddle, Vocals (bckgr), Cajun Fiddle (14 - 16)
  • Les Chappell - Vocals, Vocals (bckgr) (1 - 7)
  • Judy Evans - Vocals (bckgr) (1 - 7)
  • Loz Netto - Vocals (bckgr) (13 - 16)
  • Lesley Fairbairn - Vocals (bckgr) (1 - 7)
  • Wayne Toups - Vocals (bckgr), Cajun Accordian (13 - 16)
  • Ofra Haza - Vocals (13 - 16)
  • Justin Hildreth - Drums, Multi Instruments, Drum Samples (8 - 11)
  • Budgie - Drums (13 - 16)
  • David Owens - Drums (13 - 16)
  • Matthew Salt - Percussion (8 - 11)
  • Rafael Padilla - Percussion (13 - 16)
  • Simon House - Violin (1 - 7)
  • Robert John "Mutt" Lange - Vocals (bckgr) (1 - 7)
  • Simon Lloyd - Flute, Multi Instruments, Brass (1 - 7)
  • Daniel Miller - Synthesizer, Mixing (1 - 7)
  • Matthew Seligman - Moog Synthesizer, Moog Bass, Bass (8 - 11), Guitar (Electric)(8 - 11)
  • Jimmy Breaux - Accordion, Cajun Accordian (13 - 16)
  • Miriam Stockley - Vocals (bckgr) (1 - 7)
  • Bruce Woolley - Vocals, Vocals (bckgr) (1 - 7)
  • Robyn Hitchcock - Vocals (1 - 7)
  • Dr. M. Pyke - Voices, Voiceover (1 - 7)
  • James Allen - Vocals (bckgr) (1 - 7)
  • Akiko Yono - Vocals (bckgr) (1 - 7)
  • Bruce Wooley - Vocals (bckgr) (1 - 7)
  • Adele Bertei - Vocals (bckgr) (8 - 11)
  • Eddi Reader - Vocals, Performer (13 - 16)
  • Jill Colucci - Vocals (bckgr) (13 - 16)
  • Laura Creamer - Vocals (bckgr) (13 - 16)
  • Cynthia Moliere - Vocals (bckgr) (13 - 16)
  • Mark Wallis - Vocals (bckgr) (13 - 16)
  • Teresita Alsander - Vocals (bckgr) (13 - 16)
  • Suzanne Malline - Vocals (bckgr) (13 - 16)
  • Mr. Pits - Vocals (bckgr) (13 - 16)

    Tim Friese-Greene - Producer (1 - 7)
    Tim Hunt - Engineer (1 - 7)
    Chris Stone - Engineer (1 - 7)
    Dan Lacksman - Engineer (8 - 11)
    Michael Hedges - Engineer (1 - 7)
    Mike Shipley - Mixing (8 - 11)
    Alan Douglas - Mixing (8 - 11)
    Andrew Douglas - Design (1 - 7)
    Richard Haughton - Photography (8 - 11)
    Brian Jackson - Design (13 - 16)
    Elaine Anderson - Engineer, Assistant Engineer (13 - 16)
    Jay Baumgardner - Engineer, Assistant Engineer, Mixing (13 - 16)
    Mary Coller - Producer, Executive Producer (13 - 16)
    John Cutler - Engineer, Assistant Engineer (13 - 16)
    Chuck Fedko - Engineer, Assistant Engineer (13 - 16)
    Paul Gommersall - Engineer (13 - 16)
    Steve Himelfarb - Engineer, Assistant Engineer (13 - 16)
    Greg Marchant - Engineer, Assistant Engineer (13 - 16)
    Doug Michael - Engineer, Assistant Engineer (13 - 16)
    Joyce Tenneson - Photography (13 - 16)
    Paul Gomarsall - Engineer (13 - 16)
    Larry Vigon - Art Direction, Design (13 - 16)
    Charles Paakkari - Engineer (13 - 16)
    Robert Read - Engineer, Assistant Engineer (13 - 16)
    Phil Reynolds - Engineer, Assistant Engineer (13 - 16)
    Squeak Stone - Engineer, Assistant Engineer (13 - 16)



    1. Europa And The Pirate Twins

      I was fourteen
      she was twelce
      father travelled - hers as well - Europa...
      down the beaches
      hand in hand
      twelfth of never on the sand
      then war took her away
      we swore a vow that day:
      we'll be the Pirate Twins again, Europa
      oh my country
      I'll stand beside you in the rain, Europa
      ta republique...
      nine years after who'd I see
      on the cover of a magazine? Europa...
      buy her singles and see all her films
      paste her pictures on my windowsill
      but that's noy quite the same - it isn't, is it?
      Europa my old friend...
      blew in from the hoveport
      she was back in London
      I pushed past the papermen
      calling her name
      she smiled for the cameras
      as a bodyguard grabbed me
      then her eyes were gone for ever
      as they drove her away.

    2. Urges

      not available yet

    3. Leipzig

      Thirty-nine and you need some leeway
      Soon you're eying the overseas page
      The trains are running late
      As you close the garden gate
      Stepping through your steel front door frame
      Dinner's in the microwave, sweetie

      Leipzig is calling you, Henry (on the cardboard thoroughfare)
      Leipzig is calling you, James
      Leipzig is calling you, Leonard (the clouds run parallel)
      Leipzig is calling you names

      Cars were burning
      On yellow lines
      Wheels turning
      Traffic light...change

      Another misty bus queue morning
      Faces smile down from a hoarding
      Stoop to the bin
      Drop something in
      Well you'll soon feel yourself again
      And every place is just the same, isn't it?

      Leipzig is calling you, Benny (from the mouth of the megaphone)
      Leipzig is calling you, James
      Leipzig is calling you, Leonard (and other cartoon characters)
      Leipzig is calling you names

      Like the sound of taxi brakes
      The sound of a dentist's drill
      The colour of skates on ice under clingfilm

      It's calling
      Leipzig is calling you names
      Hear it calling.
      Every place is just the same isn't it?

      Leipzig is calling you, Benny (from the mouth of the megaphone)
      Leipzig is calling you, James
      Leipzig is calling you, Leonard (and other cartoon characters)
      Leipzig is calling you names

    4. Windpower

      Switch off the mind and let the heart decide
      who you were meant to be
      flick to remote and let the body glide
      there is no enemy !
      etch out a future on your own design
      well tailored to your needs
      then fan the flame and keep the dream alive
      of a continent
      a continent a continent a continent a-

      there is no enemy !
      switch off the mind and let the heart decide
      we're a continent
      a continent a continent a continent a-
      shatter the lens and grind it into sand
      one measured exposure
      scatted the seed and furrow in our land
      the future is roses ! roses !
      switch off the mind and let the heart decide
      there is no enemy!
      lift up the heart of this your only tribe
      we're a continent
      a continent a continent a continent a

    5. Airwaves ( 7" version )

      Strange how the scale forms
      in tiny patterns
      on my antenna
      and the Five O'Clock Show, hello hello...
      Brooklyn is crawling with famous people
      I turn my vehicle beneath the river, West from South

      Through the airwaves -
      people never read the airwaves
      do we only feed the airwaves
      or stamp them out of street level?
      Airwaves - the dampness of the wind
      the airwaves - the tension of the skin
      the airwaves I really should have seen through.

      Electric fences line our new freeway
      here in the half-light, the motorhomes leave
      knee-deep in water under a pylon
      how slow my heartbeat, how thin the air I'm breathing in

      Control has enabled the abandoned wires again
      but the copper cables all rust in the acid rain
      that flood the subway
      with elements of our corrosian
      cabled in to me...
      Be in my broadcast when this is over
      give me your shoulder, I need a place
      to wait for morning.
      No it was nothing - some car backfiring -
      pleased don't ask questions

      I itch all over
      let me sleep.

    6. She Blinded Me With Science

      It's poetry in motion
      she turned her tender eyes to me
      as deep as any ocean
      as sweet as any harmony
      mm - but she blinded me with science
      "she blinded me with science!"
      and failed me in biology

      When I'm dancing close to her
      "blinding me with science - science!"
      I can smell the chemicals
      "blinding me with science - science!"
      "Science!"
      "Science!"

      mm - but it's poetry in motion
      and when she turned her eyes to me
      as deep as any ocean
      as sweet as any harmony
      mm - but she blinded me with science
      and failed me in geometry

      When she's dancing next to me
      "blinding me with science - science!"
      "Science!"
      I can hear machinery
      "blinding me with science - science!"
      "Science!"

      It's poetry in motion
      and now she's making love to me
      the spheres're in commotion
      the elements in harmony
      she blinded me with science
      "she blinded me with science!"
      and hit me with technology

      "good heavens Miss Sakamoto - you're beautiful!"
      I -
      I don't believe it!
      there sh-re goes again!
      she's tidied up, and I can't find anything!
      all my tubes and wires
      and careful notes
      and antiquated notions

      but! - it's poetry in motion
      and when she turned her eyes to me
      as deep as any ocean
      as sweet as any harmony
      mm - but she blinded me with science
      "she blinded me with - with science!"
      she blinded me with -

    7. One Of Our Submarines

      A hungry heart
      to regulate their breathing
      one more night
      the Winter Boys are freezing in their spam tin
      the Baltic moon
      along the Northern seaboard
      and down below
      the Winter Boys are waiting for the storm

      bye-bye Empire, Empire bye-bye
      shallow water - channel and tide

      and I can trace my history
      down the generations to my home
      in one of our submarines

      the red light flicker, sonar weak
      air valves hissing open
      half her pressure blown away
      flounder in the ocean
      see the Winter Boys -
      drinking heavy water from a stone

      bye-bye Empire, Empire bye-bye
      shallow water - channel and tide
      bye-bye Empire, Empire bye-bye
      tired illusions drown in the night

      and I can trace my history
      down one generations to my home
      in one of our submarines

      one of our submarines is missing tonight
      seems she ran aground on manoeuvres
      one of our submarines

    8. Screen Kiss

      Miller time at the bar where all the English meet
      She used to drink in the hills
      only now she drinks in the valleys
      where every road has a name like Beachwood Avenue, or so it seems
      a Croydon girl could really hope to find a home
      but with a thousand miles of real estate to choose from
      you begin to see the value of your freedom...
      The moon is bright in the haze above old Hollywood
      deer look down from the hills
      it's three o'clock in the morning
      pill in hand you can hear his golden surfer boys
      crying out mummy won't come out of the bathroom
      and you'd hoped he'd say he's sorry if he hit you
      but he's buried in the screenplay of his feature

      Screen kiss, one screen kiss
      straight from a film I forget who was in
      screen kiss, one screen kiss
      blue filter lens in a pool of vaseline
      but all the rushes look the same
      only there's a movie I wouldn't pay to see again
      if it's the one with him in

      You and I could be a mile above the earth tremors
      hold to me and we'll climb
      you could sneak out while he's sleeping
      suicide in the hills above old Hollywood
      is never going to change the world
      never change it overnight
      any more than the invention of the six-gun
      any more than the discovery of Radium
      or California tipping in the ocean

    9. Hyperactive !

      At the tender age of three
      I was hooked to a machine
      just to keep my mouth from spouting junk
      they must have took me for a fool
      when they put me in a school
      'cause the teacher knew I had the funk
      but tonight I'm on the edge --
      better shut me in the fridge
      'cause I'm burning up
      with the vision in my brain
      and the music in my veins
      and the dirty rhythm in my blood
      they are messing with my heart
      and they're messing with my heart
      they are messing with my heart
      and they're messing with my --
      ripping me apart!
      hyperactive when I was small
      hyperactive now I'm grown
      hyperactive and the night is young
      semaphore out on the floor
      messages from outer space
      deep heat for the feet
      the rhythm of your heartbeat
      'cause the music of the street,
      it isn't any rapattack
      I can reach into your homes
      like an itch in your headphones
      you can't turn it up
      I'm the shape in your back room
      I'm the breather on the phone
      and I'm burning up
      but there's one thing I must say
      before they lock me up again ---
      you'd be safer at the back
      when I'm having an attack !
      hyperactive when I was small
      hyperactive now I'm tall
      hyperactive as the day is long
      hyperactive in my bones
      hyperactive in your phones
      hyperactive and the night is young
      hyperactive when I was small
      hyperactive now I'm grown
      hyperactive till I'm dead and gone
      stand up hyperactivate !
      get up hyperactivate !
      wise up hyperactivate !
      stand up hyperactivate !
      Europe hyperactivate !
      South Bronx hyperactivate !
      London hyperactivate !

    10. I Scare Myself

      I scare myself just thinking about you
      I scare myself when I'm without you
      I scare myself the moment that you're going
      I scare myself when I let my thoughts run
      and when they're running
      I keep thinking of you
      and when they're running
      what can I do?

      I scare myself, and I don't mean lightly
      I scare myself, it can get frightening
      I scare myself, to think what I could do
      I scare myself -- it's some kind of voodoo...
      and with that voodoo
      I keep thinking of you
      and with that voodoo
      what can I do?

      but it's so so very different when we're together
      and I'm so so much calmer; I feel better
      'cause the stars already crossed our paths forever
      and the sooner that you realise it the better
      and then I'll be with you and I won't scare myself
      and I'll know what to do and I won't scare myself
      and my thoughts will run and I won't scare myself
      and I'll think of you and I won't scare myself

    11. The Flat Earth

      Friends have often asked me why
      I'm sensitive about my height
      I just turn around and say
      well, I used to be immune
      all my life I have waited
      to be given any word
      and it was screaming to be head
      please remember...
      the Earth can be any shape you want it
      any shape at all
      dark and cold or bright and warm
      long or thing or small
      but it's home and all I ever had
      and maybe why for me the Earth is flat

      Then when they spill the demon seed
      turn and face into the wind
      all along you still believed
      you believed you were immune
      and if love is all you're missing
      look into your heart
      is anybody home?
      please remember...
      the Earth can be any shape you want it
      any in the world
      but don't you point that raygun at me
      I might just explode
      there are stones buried in your soul
      and only a fool would blame the death of rock and roll
      and in time you'll come to understand
      this flat old Earth is in your gentle hands.

    12. Pulp Culture

      I drove all over Hollywood looking at the stars
      First I ate my Milky Way and then I ate my Mars
      But sucking on a Galaxy I noticed something pretty bizarre
      There's not a lot of people there, just an awful lot of cars.

      Stale pulp culture take it away
      New pulp culture serve to redefine it
      Old pulp culture day upon day
      Young pulp culture help to undermine it
      Sham pulp culture buried in time
      True pulp culture there to be plundered
      Same pulp culture year upon year
      Hey ! pulp culture live to be a hundred...

      Shake off that thing now you gotten used to it
      And here is one you won't wanna parlay
      In a small round cruel scum brown brat shack dumb world
      Another dozen unchained!

      Stale pulp culture take it away
      New pulp culture serve to redefine it
      Old pulp culture day upon day
      Young pulp culture help to undermine it
      Sham pulp culture buried in time
      True pulp culture there to be plundered
      Same pulp culture year upon year
      Hey ! pulp culture live to be a hundred...

      If a child ever rose on the wings of a dove
      Or the claws of a vulture
      Then a man ain't a man when he don't understand
      Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah
      Pulp culture
      Pulp culture
      Pulp culture
      Pulp culture

      Do you really love me girl?
      I think I know but I wanna be sure
      You tell it to me all night long
      Still I wanna hear it some more
      You tell me in the bathroom babe
      And you tell me back out in the hall
      You tell me on the kitchen table
      And up against the wall, what it is.
      So check beneath your fingernails
      In between your toes
      Right between your earlobes darling
      That's where culture grows.
      It's breeding in your short and curlies, ready to expand

    13. Budapest By Blimp

      On the corners of boulevards I call your name
      Now and again they play our tune
      In the grip of a tiny hand over a flame
      Pale as the phases of the moon ...
      In the cafes and shopping malls I see your face
      turn into mist on evening dew
      but a book and a photograph just aren't the same
      there is a train that's leaving soon

      .. Budapest by Blimp

      Over pillars and palaces I'll hold your hand
      Until the fog is lifted
      May be better you hold me close than understand
      How far away I've drifted
      In the face of a tragedy too bleak to know
      The death of some grand illusion
      All the treasure we pilloried, splendour we stole ...
      They never told you that in school

      KONNYEBB VOLNA TAN FELEDNI
      MINT TAVOZASOM ERTENI
      MULTBOL EGY KISZAK ITTOTT LAP
      EKODBOL INDUL EGY VONAT

      .. Budapest by Blimp

      .. Que je voudrais vous presenter, messieurs et dames
      Regardez bien, je vous en prie
      Here's a map and a diagram, a shrivelled page
      Ripped from the book of history
      See the priceless antiquity frozen in time
      Built on the ashes of the Jews
      And for your curiosity, beauty sublime
      Signed in the blood of Zulus

      Not really a goosestep, more of a limp

      .. Budapest by Blimp

    14. Cruel

      Cruel - what a thing to do
      I've been cruel to you such a long time
      and how can I hide my shame
      'Cause there I go again
      At the wrong time
      and I know that it was just the fear of flying
      and I know it's hard to keep myself from crying
      but when my tears are washed away
      You'll still be blind
      Skin-diving
      for jewels
      You were a shining pearl in a broken shell
      Under moonlight
      And I was cruel

      And I know that it was just the fear of flying
      And I know it's hard to keep myself from crying
      But when my tears are washed away
      You'll still be blind
      Skin-diving
      For jewels
      Cruel - I've been such a fool
      And I'll be missing you
      Such a long time
      I was cruel

    15. Close But No Cigar

      You came close
      Close but no cigar
      You didn't miss by far
      You know you came this close
      Close but no cigar

      Some people sing love songs
      Everybody's got one
      This isn't my love song
      It's more like my love gone wrong song...

      She came to breakfast
      And stayed a week
      But the lie detectors
      Broke down each time she tried to speak
      Broke down when she said :

      "You came close
      Close but no cigar
      You didn't miss by far
      You know you came this close
      Close but no cigar
      No matter where you are
      You know you came this close
      Close but no cigar"

      I remember - I remember - I remember
      The promise in your eyes
      As black as the night I drove you to the airport
      And I remember - I remember - I remember
      The wide Brazillian sky that swallowed you

      Then I hit thirty
      Guess I can't complain
      But I must have been lonely
      The night I bumped into Lorraine
      She came for coffee
      And stayed all night
      But the lie detectors
      Broke down every time I tried to smile
      Broke down like the story of my life
      And each dream I missed by half a mile
      Broke down when I told her:

      "You came close
      close but no cigar
      You didn't miss by far
      You know you came this close
      close but no cigar
      No matter where you are
      You know you came so close
      Close but no cigar
      You didn't miss by far
      You know you came this close
      Close but no cigar
      We're better off by far
      But you know we came this close
      Close but no cigar

    16. I Love You Goodbye

      I would never normally go bowling
      On a friday morning in New Orleans
      But I like to come here to remember
      The kind of places you took me
      Like the time we stole a Datsun
      And drove all night to the everglades
      Until we crashed it in a big electric storm
      And stood there listening to the bayou rain

      The county sheriff had a hair-lip
      Louisiana's pride and joy
      He said politely as he cuffed me
      "I never busted an English boy ...
      But I will accept a contribution
      To the Opelousas' Charity Ball
      But you better drive this dirty Datsun
      Into the Gulf of Mexico"

      Under a Cajun moon I lay me open
      There is a spirit here that won't be broken

      Some words are sad to sing
      Some leave me tongue-tied
      ( But the hardest thing to tell you )
      But the hardest words I know
      Are I love you goodbye
      I love you goodbye

      Typhoon Pierre delayed my plane till morning
      ( Jusqu'au matin )
      Let the bontemps rouler from your accordion
      ( L'accordien )
      Under a cajun moon I lay me open
      ( Y a un esprit partout )
      There is a spirit here that won't be broken
      (Simple words are sad to sing
      Some words are sad to sing
      ( They leave me tongue-tied )
      Some leave you tongue-tied
      ( But the hardest thing to tell you my friend )
      But the hardest words I know
      ( Is I love you goodbye )
      Are I love you goodbye
      ( Je t'aime, au revoir )
      I love you goodbye
      ( Je t'aime, toujours )
      I love you, goodbye