Thomas Dolby : Hyperactive

[mjtf1113]

Some songs are, pure and simple, by themselves this is one of them

[aaronjarvis1]

Gr8 song.

[911jesse]

Great Song! Great Performance!!

[leopoldmozart]

This song is pure genius. How in the world did Mr. Dolby think of it?

I dearly love this song, though I have to say that the backing band had a bit of trouble with it. The bass player didn't really get the rhythm, the guitar player didn't know his fills, and the trombone was like a comedy bit where the straight man is trying to be funny. He should have played his bit straight, and let the rhythm and the vocals provide the humor and quirkiness.

[afrosensuous]

@leopoldmozart.....you know what??? i totally freakin agree. i have listened to the record over and over and over and over and after seeing all his live vids of this song, I feel he's doing way too much and doesn't have the right dudes playing. The bassline should be flawless. The acoustic guitar should be smooth and the rhythm guitar should be funky. The drummer should be damn-near robotic and in the pocket. The trombone part should be to the letterlike the original. Flute also.

[looseSpark]

@afrosensuous It's not easy to get the bass line down right on this track. I read that Thomas Dolby took the bass player's original work, sampled it, and completely rearranged it using a Fairlight CMI synth/sampler so there was never any original bass work other than Thom's keyboard work.

[afrosensuous]

@afrosensuous...I've tried playing it and learned it to the letteer, but I knew back then (still have the Flat Earth Vinyl LP) something was altered with the bassline. Sounded like that keyboard "slap bass" crap. But it was funky nonetheless and playing it ain;t no joke and a good challenge for any bassist.

[mondo270]

i love this song and i love the flying band members! fantastic performance. i've never seen anything like it.

[ThinkPinkkk82]

0:46 on the right is my mom!!!!

[Number09]

KEYTAR!

[achordian]

Sounds like he changes it a lot every time he performs it.

I like this setup better, but he doesn't look as eccentric that he did in the other one.

[spartaeus]

the instruments sound weird.I think thomas dolby sounds better on the whistle test.

[looseSpark]

@spartaeus I'm not sure there was a bass player on the Whistle Test version - you never see one and it sounds to me like it was sequenced. That would explain why it was so tight.

[thepaisleydragon]

performance art meets crazy 80's and it's still fresh!

[KonohaSeppu]

dudes this there are people playing in the air 0:14 - 0:16 Baaar!!!

[Klaustropen]

hes great! and it seems as if he performs live very well, too.

[MartyO1]

All my favourite bands are coming to Ireland this year, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne and The Police. Just need to get Thomas Dolby over here.Anyone got his phone number ?

[miriamcanales]

If you get it, give it to me too, please. :)

[MartyO1]

LOL I forgot that I posted here. Thomas Dolby did come over to Ireland. He played at Whelan's in Dublin, Thursday October 11th 2007 . He was outstanding that night.

[warriorsfan19]

this is great for posting this.

[looseSpark]

Great! Looks like they were having good fun!