Thomas Dolby Hyperactive

[AriesAlterEgos]

I saw him live in the 80's .. He wore a robot suit on stage.. Amazing!! <3

[prsjoe]

I'd love to see Prince cover this !

[M1ZXG]

I've got this on 12" :))

[Francisthefootball]

That chick is so secxy at 3:11



[Francisthefootball]

One of the few pop songs where the horn section actually makes the song and not some idiot producer trying to make the album sound orchestral

[kenp3L]

Too bad that they don't show the base player; he hauls a lot of freight on this number.

[58goshawk]

@kenp3L It's not actually played on a bass it's keyboards

[kenp3L]

@58goshawk wrote: "It's not actually played on a bass it's keyboards"

Not true. There is at least one shot where the keyboardist is idle while the base line is active. Further, the base player is skilled and is producing a lot of sounds that cannot be duplicated on a keyboard.

[spystyle]

This may be the best version :)

[SCULLYISAFOX]

I want one of those things at 3:31!!

[subhumanx7]

The eighties were not all hair bands and bland. TD had the techno-funk and he was innovative on the synthesizer. Golden Age of Wireless and Flat Earth are still a treat to the ears. This live piece has great musicianship and a trombone to boot.

[VeryHugeAss]

Most people do not realize how talented all of those people in that band are. It sounds like a silly song but the timing and the overall structure is complex.

[VikingSkills7]

Cmon Camera Man! Show the Fucken Bass player!

[colonopenbracketband]

@VikingSkills7

There isn't one

[VikingSkills7]

@colonopenbracketband The Synth Player is Playing it or what? Cuz I hear Bass, Man.

[colonopenbracketband]

@VikingSkills7

It's sequeced, that's definitely not a human playing that, some of the percussion is sequenced too. It's all part of why it sounds cool! :)

[VikingSkills7]

@colonopenbracketband Oh, Cool. Good To Know! Since I'm a Metal Head as well, I'm a little disappointed there's no Bass Player. But Great Song Nonetheless!

[WillCrazie]

i'm GLAD Mj didn't decide to record this....I can't even envisage anyone but Dolby singing this,Jackson would have just ruiend it ...glad his Llammas went hungry :)

[moonsault2506123]

is matt seligmans bass played or sampled?.

[SkootMom]

I LOVE this song, and I think Thomas Dolby is GREAT,....but I STILL say he & Alton Brown were seperated at birth!

[DeutscheRossiya]

@SkootMom XD I think they both look a like

[TheHumanThatMoos]

@SkootMom the cool thing is that Alton LOVES listening to Thomas.  and he even agree's they look alike!

[finchtrump]

The trombone player is now the session officer for the Musician's Union in UK..Pete Thoms...haha

[Crumaa]

Who is the girl providing the backing vocals?

[RHINOWINOLUNATIC]

@Crumaa

Girl is called Adele Bertei i think?

[bumzigan]

I have always love this song and the way that it was rhythmically phrased, but could not have imagined that it could be pulled of live. I was very wrong.

This band is right on the money. Dolby rocks!

[turntapzap]

Genial. They really put something great together here. That spicy little number doing support vocals is hot shit.

[EBSJones4]

@turntapzap I've done a bit of research and it seems her name is Adele Bertei.

[turntapzap]

@EBSJones4 Great! She is awesome.

[athousandstories]

the first time i saw this i thought it was sooo cheesy... but now the more i watch it the more i love. they're all just so cute and energetic...& can't deny that this is a seriously tight performance. adele bertei is awesome!

[JonnyBoyMach2]

@athousandstories I think it was before she has her teeth fixed . . . :-)

[marcusguernsey]

11 dislikes deserv a sledgehammer on their head since their is no brain inside anyway

[klite61]

Im just burnin' up! Just burnin' up!......ooooooo hot shit! lets do it! fast, faster...yea G!

[francotron2000]

He reminds me of the "jew hunter" aka christoph waltz

[52vegeta52]

im going to be singing this song for school, even though im a girl i think i will do fairly well...i hope...

[CockMyRasbah]

Originally written for Michael Jackson, dontcha know?

[scottlandsman]

1:58 - i lean away from the mic to breathe

[TurkBack2]

Sick bass line. Sick performance.

[jlmarc01]

very nice live

[reichmarshall]

At first I thought they were lip-syncing but it's a live performance! Man, that is a tight ensemble.

[rzbrzotrzBGD]

Great bass line. Pity it's programed :(

[cyberwreck]

Incredible.

[aaronjarvis1]

Gr8 song.

[penjackson]

WOW!!!!!!!!

[dariushenry88]

One-Hit Wonder doesn't necessary mean their only good song. It just means it's their only hit song. "Hyperactive" just proves that just because it's not a hit (in the US), doesn't mean it's not good. "Hyperactive" just proves it is just as good as "She Blinded Me With Science".

[SuperThissucks]

@dariushenry88 don't forget wind power, one of our submarines, and my personal fave Europa and the pirate twins

[MrSKINFLICK]

@dariushenry88:Can´t hear this about"One-Hit-Wonders"anymore.­There are ca 140 countries on earth+lots of other bands/artists who never really/very rarely charted in any Top 20,but still it´s the sales worldwide which count-not just in USA, UK, France or Germany.

What makes me sad&mad are the over-priced tickets-i payed 20 Euro(ca 25dollars)for Prince 1989 in Frankfurt-football stadium+today even Pearl Jam or whothefuck demand 100 Euros,life has become fuckin expensive"thanks"to Bush+Wall Street!

[domzanella]

I still think he's a genius...

[chuckyko]

I need more cowbell, baby!!!

[poiuyt172]

3:30 The guy with the breath controller looks like Alan Wilder...

[PatsyS3]

I've got the 'Flat earth tour ' live recordings on Cd-R copy, from the BBC Radio sound board........... brilliant Sound with Thomas & full band....... selling on E-bay if intrested.

24-07-10

[willrobinsonensoniq]

I love the Flute 2:04 - 2:16. One of my favorite songs.

[malcolmbryant]

Wow!

[bigbuttbrowsah]

Smokin bloke and awesome backup vocals! Still think he is hot to this day!

[Emofineffablewisdom]

@bigbuttbrowsah He's really hot :O

[ApollonianKing]

omg

[FireeGee]

Finally I've Found This Damn Song....I've Been Trying To Thank Of Name Of the Band....Finally

[3dcandy]

Backing vocalist is Adele Bertei - and that's her normal voice!

[budgethemusicsponge]

Brilliant stuff. Great performance, he's even higher in my estimation now. What a band and backing vocalist too! Thanks for posting. ; )

[thechazdarby]

this is such a great liver version....LOVE IT!!!! thanks for posting it!

[robshrock]

Fucking brilliant.

[Geeljasjes]

Fully sick bass line.

That Fairlight kicks arse.

[rformidable]

every member of this band is genius..

[kd1s]

As I said, Thomas Dolby. Good stuff!

[SuperRocketPenguin]

i want that mic and voice changing thing, its cool :D

[3dcandy]

@SuperRocketPenguin it's called a vocoder, get a Korg MicroKorg and voila!

[SuperRocketPenguin]

@3dcandy koool :D

[acippico]

What a talented band. I have fond memories of this song. It's a billion times better than anything that passes for today's mass-produced pap.

[drfleshworx]

That was dynamite!

[fredespanish]

GTA Vice city

[Lemon77UG]

Great song, and Dolby gives a great performance. But they had a bit of a mixup when playing this live, the "London Hyperactivate!" etc. part that sounds so cool in the album version comes out completely garbled and unintelligible. It's supposed to be, a little, but not just noise like here.

@fredespanish: Yeah, that was the first time I heard this song, then later I was really getting into New Wave and bought The Flat Earth on a recommendation, wow, this song was on it, among other great songs!

[drfleshworx]

The "London, hyperactivate!" part wasn't accidentally garbled out, it was removed intentionally as it was many times before, like on the 12" version when they cover it up with the "in a minute I'll blow!" sample.

[mee1lk]

I was at the Union Chapel too last sunday... great to see them all.. and Trevor Horn made an appearance too!

[natakatu]

Just saw this played live with the original line up :)

[cirellaw]

Now that was tight. Thomas also worked with George Clinton-May The Cube Be With You. But Thomas was and is Always funky. I wish he'd hook up with some more funksters. Peace.

[MrBajiggity]

its like a rapist party everyones got that pedo-coat

great song though

[stewardo]

trench coats were HUGE then lol... didn't exactly have the status it's labeled with today

[amonster8mymother]

OMG that's a PPG in the middle!!!

[mfitz1969]

@amonster8mymother The PPG Wave 2.2 replaced his original PPG 340/380 (the rackmount model) used on Wireless which according to Dolby he chucked down an elevator shaft. Below that here is his Fairlight Series IIx and above of course is the Roland Jupiter 8. The synth used for the vocoder part looks like a Multimoog or Micromoog.

[amonster8mymother]

fist time I saw hair gel was in this video.

[iberia77]

Actually it's not his wife, it's Adele Bertei

[nurvrax]

Correct. The German born songstress. Thomas produced her album. Check out 'build me a bridge'

[SteinbrennerShotJFK]

The "chick" singing with him is his wife.

[LeafRapids82]

This song is so awesome, that horn player adds so much and the freedom they all have . Its like there just jammin...awesome!

Those times arent coming back.

[Crimsonphilosophy]

whose the lil chick singing with him, shes cute

[1970brenz]

I enjoy TD's music, so fresh and interesting... even 20-some years later. Who is the girl singing? She is great, very close to the album version, with a few variances. Very sharp...

[elcara10]

one word: MIDI

[Trania8]

I really dig this band! Great trombone player!

[chanty619]

"hyperactive when i'm small! hyperactive now i'm grown! hyperactive as the day is long, hyperactive in my bones! hyperactive in your phones! hyperactive and the night is young" vice city = best game in existence, and it's what got me obsessed with the 80's :]

[russscience]

yeah good choice vice city is the best game ive played - just pure escapism

[quaxk]

For a pop song this sound a lot like jazz fusion.

[tehWard0g]

HYPERACTIVE

[luvsmovies79]

I love the cool way he goes up to the mike. The girl singer is adorable.

[dangolfer14]

GTA VICE CITY!!!

[copperpotbaby]

This is the first single I ever bought-1984?

[onamemmet]

one of the few pretty white girls i've ever seen.

[curiousnomad]

This whole album is F*#king AMAZING!!!

[lydiadarling]

Way ahead of his time..... Tune!

[leifjellow]

thanks for that, great!

[DingleZilla]

She has a great voice!

[MONKIPANTS]

I'd forgotten completely about this song until now,thanks for sharing. It's fantastic and brilliantly played,so many sounds.

[sbushboogie]

Isn't he the guy who came of with tech. that allows ring tones in phones?

i think i saw it on 60 min. or some show

this song is awesong

[VitaNegern77]

GTA VC !

[butheadVSbevus]

Your retarded fucking gaming play the reality man!

[VitaNegern77]

Get a life and stop resorting to incest , accept the fact that you can't get no one whatsoever instead of raping your sister just to get some , jeez.

[butheadVSbevus]

still more productive than playing a video game

[VitaNegern77]

Whoa i just played a video game , is it the end of the world ? Pretty much half of the population in the world has already played a GTA game so get over it dickhead.

[Pusfan]

What a cute little person! This is an excellent version, much more respect for ol Thom after this

[v8ba11v]

GTA!

[tall32guy]

He looks pretty different w/o his glasses!

[Tenniru]

There's something strange about Thomas here... something about the trenchcoat, the red hair, and the eyebrows... yeah, he looks uncomfortably like Rick Astley.

[Abraxashumunculus]

Amazing! Love it!

[iberia77]

The backing vocals kick fucking ass in this track.... :-)

[MYBLUES74]

yeah, totally agree, as strong as the main vocal

[giNgkoC]

also note Dirty Mind era Prince trenchcoat deployment for mere stylistic purposes

Cx

[markthewhalekiller]

Trombone skills. This performance looks like so much fun. It seems like they all just sort of were having a party, with instruments, and sweet music was sort of just a pleasant, unintended side effect.

[waveterm]

Amazing !

[AliceWithFriends]

I think this song sounds better live than on CD.

[art101tv]

Great video, but the audio sucks. Where did you steal this?

[tigerandtom]

Thomas' backup singer has this song down perfect. Her voice is what hits it hard. Fan f-ing tastic!

[IsAlukrd]

alquien sabe como se llama la chava que sale cantando????

[cahuseo]

Adele Bertei

[IsAlukrd]

Graciasssss!!!

Saludos!!

[CarlosWelu]

Respect!

[jimmystewart123]

Wear big suits and vote for Ronald Reagan!!

[miriamcanales]

I love him!! :D.........

[cptskellern]

he looks like val kilmer outta top secret! lol! top tune!

[Anthony11598]

Fucking awesome.....

[AstralAstray]

i STILL REMEMBER SEEING dOLBY AT MAGIC MOUNTIAN, CA. ..ONE OF THE GRETAEST SHOWS IVE SEEN.

[kipastra]

where is he now???

[tojgit]

i did some work on his house last year. really nice bloke and as well as paying me he also made a cracking cup of tea with bickies.10/10

[themachman19691]

haha.what a great story,lol.what bickies you get?bet he eats riche tea or bourbons..

[Tubo430]

what work did u do?

Did u both talk about music, or does he sort of get tired of people going on about his music all the time?

Just curious - thomas is a hero of mine!

[cailingaelach1970]

And did you meet his wife? She played Kirby in Dynasty!

[tojgit]

yes your right,she was cool.really nice couple to talk to and so not up themselves like alot of celebs are now.Got to put a woodburner in their house soon ,so ill bring up the kirby line. lol

[luvsmovies79]

Kathleen Beller is her name. beautiful actress.

[doubletrouble467]

@tojgit really , was thomas nice

[brucecap]

@tojgit Yeah-I met him back in college at Salem State, Salem, MA. He was a nice guy. He was doing a seminar on electronic music. Around 1989.

[n8tureboy]

@tojgit

Okay, what are bickies? He lives in California doesn't he, or does he live in his native England?

That's cool, did you get to see his recording studio. Didn't he convert a boat into a recording studio?

[Cosmickey86]

@tojgit nawwwwwww ^_^

[SpaceWars2025]

In 1993, Dolby successfully established the Headspace company. Headspace developed a new downloadable file format designed specifically for Internet usage called Rich Music Format with the RMF file extension. It had the advantage of small file size like MIDI but allowed recorded sampled sounds to be included at a higher bitrate for better overall reproduction.

[sounddood]

What I find amazing is just how good TD can sing. A live performance and his voice sounds the same as on the album, a truly talented individual, not just a guy who knows how to play a keyboard and run a sequencer, but an actual musician. Also has a TON of credits playing on other very well known artists albums and films.

Oh, and yes, he did invent the Cell Phone Musical Ringtone. Made a whopping amount of money at it and is now in the studio recording another album...can't wait!

[sbushboogie]

i think i read somewher he's the guy who came up with tech. for the way our cell phones can get ring tones.

genius

[sbushboogie]

anyone know who the backup singer is?

[lawdog1301]

Her name is Adele Bertei. She was born in Germany.

[PoppaHop6969]

Definitely my favorite Dolby song from the 80's - great performance from an underappreciated artist.

[yoyichero]

genius that s it!

[domzanella]

A genius indeed! He was ahead of his time.

[cpuuk]

Man, this live version is better than the original ^___^

[jyciusvid]

Oh, man... Dolbyrolling=Rickrolling x10!

[lawdog1301]

Damn, Thomas has a pretty good voice. It is hard to hear him on 'Blinded' but he does a damned good job here. Adele is one hell of a backup singer also.

[landart67]

not an easy tune to pull off live!

[OFR]

He had a GREAT band in this period...

[Rockerboy2007]

cooool!!

[lizbetitamas]

Wow, very good, i love it Thomas Dolby!

[severrian]

Great song, killer bass line mixed with great parts from the trombone and sampled flute. Nice to hear this live version with that backup singer-she is a real spark plug.

[clarkchargers97]

This is Thomas Dolby?? Wow, his appearance at least is as contemp as his music. I thought he had a shaved head w/ a mowhawk

[limahl81]

amazing performance

[mediocreworld]

damn this guy is the greatest of this genre ! when all the 80 's freaks were into simon lebon and that fag band

this guy was creating things in the studio (pre pro tools)

that were amazing buy the cd flat earth

or... aliens ate my bruick

do not go by blinded me with science

hes a genius

[MajorReeves]

wave 103.

[kandams0415]

hellz yeah

[djdavetrouble]

More Cowbell!

[aasupirate12]

rotflmao!

[McAloon2]

what an impressive live performance !!!

[noobpl0zx]

i wonder how many children can fit into his trenchcoat

[xeractus]

So Rick Astley wasn't the only one in the 80's with a trenchcoat then.

[starchild123456]

this was 3 years earlier, keep in mind

[CharlesNigro]

How the hell did this not hit at least the top 40 in America? God, if Dolby isn't underrated, I don't know who is.

[starchild123456]

I don't know, but it did reach top 40 in the UK, but i'm sure you know that....Dolby was the man of the 80's

[creeker275]

gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay you are all gay feeling looking gay homo milk!!!! chew on that children, and keep your sexual preferences to yourself!!! GROW UP!!! tHOMAS dOLBY IS STILL THE KING

[gymbo63]

i thought it was joe buck!

[revkrull]

Ha Ha!

I too notice the similarity.

[dibujantemac]

genius

[wayne39]

The point is why is everyone obsessed with the word gay on youtube vids? Not just this one, its used as a general term of abuse or put down on loads of vids.

[astralplane47]

just cos someone says he looks gay at 0:46 has nothing to do with sexual preference......it means he looks happy ! The word gay has been bastardised and lost its true meaning, however he looks like a fooking pillow biter to me, great song