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Thomas Dolby - funny video interview from the 80's!

Thomas Dolby was born in 1958 in Hammersmith, UK, and earned his nickname “Dolby” through his passion for electronic music and synthesizers — a name he eventually adopted as his stage name.

Contrary to popular belief, he has no relation to the Dolby family behind the famous noise reduction technology. In fact, his father was an archaeologist. At the age of 18, Thomas built his first synthesizer and, by the late 1970s, was working as a sound engineer for various bands, including Camera Club (featuring Trevor Horn). Inspired by Kraftwerk and Brian Eno, he was always at the forefront of innovative music technology. In 1983, Dolby broke into the U.S. Top 5 with his quirky hit "She Blinded Me with Science", featuring voice samples by the eccentric British scientist Magnus Pyke. By the late '80s, Thomas Dolby shifted his focus: he composed film scores, worked as a producer, and started developing music-related hardware and software. In 1993, he founded the software company Headspace, based in San Mateo, California. Its first product was the Virtual String Quartet. In 1996, Headspace was renamed Beatnik Inc., focusing on developing audio formats and composition tools for mobile phone ringtones. A fun detail in the video below: the host is dressed in full Kraftwerk gear, just like on the cover of “The Man-Machine” album!