EMI has announced a new best-of CD + DVD package featuring the work of Thomas Dolby, The Singular Thomas Dolby.
Dolby reminisces:
EMI is not all a-buzz the way it was when I first walked in there around 1980. The atmosphere was quite mellow, to say the least. Still, it was an interesting sensation, being back in the offices of a major label, staring at tiny transparencies on a light box through a loom. Outtakes from old photo sessions where the picture commonly used was the only one I remembered; and entire sessions I’d forgotten about completely. And there were some nice surprises too: rolls of stills taken during video shoots. Paparazzi snaps of me palling around with my then label-mates Queen, Duran Duran, and Spandau Ballet. One aspect of getting older is, while I’m still picky about the way I look from different angles and with different expressions… the old shots all look pretty damn good!
When a producer attends a mastering session, the engineer has often pre-prepared EQ and volume levels on the songs, cut the gaps to length etc. Hopefully there’s not a lot of tweaking to do. Yet this was quite a tricky one, because of the enormous difference in sonic style between ‘Urges’ circa 1980 and ‘I Love You Goodbye’ a dozen or so years later, and all the singles in between.
There were necessary compromises made when we originally cut the vinyl versions, because vinyl is sensitive to some artefacts and if there’s too much bass, the grooves gut cut too deep for safe manufacturing. Yet I’ve become accustomed to those modified sonics over the years, so it’s a bit of a shock to hear the songs back to the way they were when they first came out of the studio.
The Singular Thomas Dolby is set to be followed by remastered versions of 82’s The Golden Age of Wireless, and 84’s The Flat Earth.
If you’ve had a chance to check out The Singular Thomas Dolby, leave a comment with your thoughts!
Details:
Disc: 1
1. Urges
2. Leipzig
3. Europa And The Pirate Twins
4. Airwaves
5. Radio Silence
6. Windpower
7. She Blinded Me With Science
8. One Of Our Submarines Is Missing
9. Hyperactive
10. Dissidents
11. I Scare Myself
12. Field Work
13. May The Cube Be With You
14. Airhead
15. Hot Sauce
16. My Brain Is Like A Sieve
17. Close But No Cigar
18. Silk Pyjamas
19. I Love You Goodbye
Disc: 2 (DVD)
1. Europa And The Pirate Twins
2. Airwaves
3. Radio Silence
4. Windpower
5. She Blinded Me With Science
6. One Of Our Submarines Is Missing
7. Hyperactive
8. Dissidents
9. I Scare Myself
10. Field Work
11. May The Cube Be With You
12. Airhead
13. Hot Sauce
14. Close But No Cigar
15. Silk Pyjamas
16. I Love You Goodbye
17. Hyperactive
18. Field Work
19. Hot Sauce –Track listing
via RetroThing
