Saturday, 14 October 2023

Of boffins and toadlickers

It's Mr Thomas Dolby's 65th birthday today (gulp!).

Most famous for his "clever" pop ditties in the electronic 1980s, he went on to write music for ringtones (including the famous Nokia one) and video games and became a renowned expert in the digital world, pioneering the development of VR (virtual reality).

Remarkably, this, his most famous choon was a flop over here in the UK - but its success across the pond thanks to MTV had the unexpected effect of making telly's eccentric boffin Dr Magnus Pyke into a global "superstar"!

In the midst of all his high-minded scientific stuff, however, out of the blue back in 2011, Mr Dolby came back with a real oddity. As I said at the time: "I don't usually like anything that resembles Country'n'Western (except Dolly Parton, in very small doses) but how can you resist a song called Here Come The Toadlickers with a video featuring drug-addict puppets having sex? I can't..."

Many happy returns, Thomas Dolby (born Thomas Morgan Robertson, 14th October 1958)

11 comments:

  1. I don't know much about him, I just remember he was very supportive of his trans son, which I had a lot of time for

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  2. I had no idea “She Blinded Me With Science” was a flop at home. I also had no idea about Dolby's scientific bent. I like Country/Western on rare occasions. This one does nothing for me.

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    1. I always though it was a hit in the UK, too. Got as far as #49 in the charts, apparently. Jx

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  3. You have a child you commit to loving them no matter what, if my son said he wants to be a girl or my daughter says she wants to be a boy, they are still my kids, I don't know why anyone would say anything different

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  4. Gosh that was a blast from the past
    I am with you when it comes to Country'n'Western but I found the second video rather jolly.
    Happy Birthday Mr. Dolby.

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    1. It's 41 years old, so very much from "the past"!

      The second one made me smile the first time I saw it, and I was smiling when I watched it again. Jx

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  5. Oh, dear, who released all the King Charles clones? I hope there was a sheepdog puppet who can round them all up?

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    1. Dog? Far to early for a Camilla puppet... Jx

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  6. I clicked on this post and thought you were going to say something interesting about John Boy Walton. Thankfully, you didn't.
    Sx

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    Replies
    1. There are similarities, I do admit! Mr Dolby doesn't have a beauty mark, however... Jx

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