“She Blinded Me With Science” by Thomas Dolby

“She Blinded Me With Science” was a smash hit off of British musician, Thomas Dolby’s debut album The Golden Age of Wireless. It peaked at #5 on the U.S. Billboard charts on May 14, 1983. In 2006, VH1 placed it at #76 on their list of “Greatest Songs of the ’80s.” Then, in 2009, it ranked #13 on VH1’s 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s.

Although the song was a hit in the U.S. and Canada, it did not chart as high in the U.K. However, his song “Hyperactive”, from Dolby’s second album, The Flat Earth, peaked at #17 in the U.K., but did not chart in the U.S. Dolby did not have another hit song in the U.S.

However, Dolby continued recording music for several years. In October 2011, Dolby released his first album since 1992 – A Map of the Floating City. It is a unique project. The album’s concept, set in an alternate history, is accompanied by a web-based social networking game.

In a 2010 press release he was quoted as saying:

“I marvel at the new landscape of the music business – distribution via the Internet and recording technologies I barely dreamed of when I started out,” he continues. “But this album does not sound electronic at all. I have zero desire to add to the myriad of machine-based, synth-driven grooves out there. The Net has made a music career approachable for thousands of bands – but I hear too few single-minded voices among them. What I do best is write songs, tell stories.” “The new songs are organic and very personal,” says Dolby. “This album is a travelogue across three imaginary continents. In Amerikana I’m reflecting with affection on the years I spent living in the USA, and my fascination with its roots music. Urbanoia is a dark place, a little unsettling…I’m not a city person. And in Oceanea I return to my natural home on the windswept coastline.

Thomas Dolby has always been slightly ahead of his time, as is evident with his hit song, “She Blinded Me With Science”: