“The Power of Vinyl”, is a segment where I will share the old records that I’ve bought from thrift stores and record shops. There’ll be some familiar favorites as well as some stuff that I had no idea what it was, but liked the cover art or title.
Today’s record is the 1982 release of Thomas Dolby’s In The Golden Age of Wireless. Thomas Dolby is known for his signature synthpop style that brought to life some of his more successful singles like “She Blinded Me with Science”, and “Hyperactive”. While his manic “Mad Scientist” persona was the gimmick that made him a lot of money in the 80′s, his music, while still heavy into electronics, was far more than the product of an electronics geek. It is also the product of a master songwriter. Despite his popularity for dancy pop singles, he wrote a great many ballads, that offer up more substance than the glossy hits as well as more of that electronic wizardry. The themes of technology still reside in all of the songs, but they aren’t silly at all. There’s a nice mix of instrumentation among the songs, from the drum machine boosted “Flying North”, the chillingly atmospheric “One of Our Submarines, to the green power advocating slow grind “Windpower”. Overall the album is ballad heavy, but when the beats, electronics and songwriting comes together the album still yields a few enjoyable tunes, that all evoke a time of wonder and awe at the possibilities of the technology that we now possess.
