The Speed of Sound
Breaking the Barriers Between Music and Technology: A Memoir
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The remarkable story of rising to the top of the music charts, a second act as a tech pioneer, and the sustaining power of creativity and art.
Thomas Dolby’s hit songs “She Blinded Me with Science” and “Hyperactive!” catapulted him to international fame in the early 80’s. A pioneer of New Wave and Electronica, Thomas combined a love for invention with a passion for music, and the result was a new sound that defined an era of revolutionary music. But as record company politics overshadow the joy of performing, Thomas finds a surprising second act.
Starting out in a rat-infested London bedsit, a teenage Thomas Dolby stacks boxes by day at the grocery and tinkers with a homemade synthesizer at night while catching the Police at a local dive bar, swinging by the pub to see the unknown Elvis Costello and starting the weekend with a Clash show at a small night club. London on the eve of the 1980s is a hotbed for music and culture, and a new sound is beginning to take shape, merging technology with the musical energy of punk rock. Thomas plays keyboards in other bands’ shows, and with a bit of luck finds his own style, quickly establishing himself on the scene and recording break out hits that take radio, MTV and dance clubs by storm. The world is now his oyster, and sold out arenas, world tours, even a friendship with Michael Jackson become the fabric of his life.
But as the record industry flounders and disillusionment sets in, Thomas turns his attention to Hollywood. Scoring films and computer games eventually leads him to Silicon Valley and a software startup that turns up the volume on the digital music revolution. His company barely survives the dotcom bubble but finally even the mavericks at Apple, Microsoft, Netscape and Nokia see the light. By 2005, two-thirds of the world’s mobile phones embed his Beatnik software. Life at the zenith of a tech empire proves to be just as full of big personalities, battling egos and roller-coaster success as his days spent at the top of the charts.
THE SPEED OF SOUND is the story of an extraordinary man living an extraordinary life, a single-handed quest to make peace between art and the digital world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In his engaging memoir, British New Wave icon Dolby retraces his journey from London stock clerk to pop star to unlikely success as a Silicon Valley pioneer. A tech savant, Dolby ditched school at 16 and tried for a career in punk-rock London. In short order, he was cowriting, playing, and producing for groups such as Whodini, Prefab Sprout, and Foreigner. He then became a celebrity when "She Blinded Me with Science" flew up the charts in the U.S. Disillusioned with the music business after the commercial failures of his following albums, Dolby turned to an odd new phenomenon known as the Internet and relocated to the Bay Area. Intuition informed him that consumers wanted more than bleeps and blats on their cell phones, and after a decade-long struggle piloting a startup, he hit the jackpot with his RetroFolio ringtone software. Soon afterward, he returned to England and composing. Dolby's style understated but acute and wealth of anecdotes make for an enjoyable narrative, even if he soft-pedals the ambition and talent that drove his success. His winding career crosses the paths of a celebrity ensemble including Eddie Van Halen, Bill Gates, David Bowie, and George Clinton under very odd circumstances, including close encounters of the disturbing kind with Michael Jackson. To those who know Dolby only from his 1980s bug-eyed mad-scientist persona, his punk roots and windsurfing chops will come as shock, but the bespectacled Brit is more Renaissance man than one-hit wonder. , This review has been edited to reflect the correct agent information for the book.