iPod song of the week – Thomas Dolby
I always love to point out lesser known songs by so-called “one hit wonders” especially because 99% of these songs are better than the big hit. As Matthew Sweet used to say, your stupidest song will become your biggest hit. Indeed so it went for our iSotW spotlight artist this week. Could any song represent the 80’s, early MTV, and wacky novelty numbers more than “She Blinded Me With Science?” Think of the song for more than one second and you will imagine dotty old Thom dancing with a Japanese woman decorated to look like a musical instrument.
But if you listened to the album from which that song hailed, The Golden Age of Wireless, you’d know that Thomas Dolby wasn’t really so much about the wacky and more about the pathos. The other songs, even the more upbeat ones, are sad-edged and maudlin. This one has always been my favorite, and is an evocative lament for both a vessel lost at sea and the end of the British Empire. The lack of hope and sense of looking back at something gone shine right through the electronics.
Interesting choice.
Didn’t he marry one of the lesser known chicks from Dynasty?
Joan Collins?
Ha!
I think it was one of those also rans who played like someone’s long lost love child or something and may turn up on VH-1’s I Love the 80s Part Get-It-Over With-Already at some point.
Gosh, this song really tore into my soul even as a 12 or 13-year-old back when it came out. I remember just understanding something so nostalgic and sad about it. Thanks for posting, I’m going to download it now.