She Blinded Me with Science
| "She Blinded Me With Science" | |||||||||||||||
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| Single by Thomas Dolby | |||||||||||||||
| from the album Blinded by Science and The Golden Age of Wireless | |||||||||||||||
| B-side | "One of Our Submarines" | ||||||||||||||
| Released | 1982 | ||||||||||||||
| Format | 7", 12" | ||||||||||||||
| Recorded | 1982 | ||||||||||||||
| Genre | Synthpop New Wave |
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| Length | 3:42 5:09 (extended version) |
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| Label | Venice in Peril (UK) Capitol Records (U.S.) |
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| Writer(s) | Thomas Dolby, Jo Kerr | ||||||||||||||
| Producer | Thomas Dolby | ||||||||||||||
| Thomas Dolby singles chronology | |||||||||||||||
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"She Blinded Me With Science" is a New Wave song by British musician Thomas Dolby, released in 1982. It was first released as a single in the UK in October 1982 and was subsequently included on the EP Blinded by Science and the second edition of Dolby's debut album The Golden Age of Wireless. It is a quirky, playful synthpop song featuring synthesizer sounds, plus a guitar track by XTC's Andy Partridge.
Although a success in the United States, peaking at No. 5 in the Billboard Hot 100 and 2 weeks at No. 1 in Canada's RPM Magazine, the song barely managed to score among the Top 50 in Dolby's native United Kingdom, peaking at No. 49 in the UK Singles Chart.
Dolby is often considered a one-hit wonder in the United States on the basis of the song's chart success there. In 2002, U.S. cable television network VH1 named "She Blinded Me with Science" No. 20 on its list of the "100 Greatest One-hit Wonders."[1] While the song is Dolby's only Top 40 single on the Billboard Hot 100, he has had other songs which scored on the music charts. In 2006, VH1 placed it at No. 76 on their list of "Greatest Songs of the '80s."[2] Then, in 2009, it ranked No. 13 on VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s.
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Song structure[edit]
The song's chorus, "She blinded me with science", plays upon the colloquial British expression "to blind [someone] with science", meaning to deliberately confuse someone by giving the impression of highly complex knowledge.
The song features interjections from the British scientist and TV presenter Magnus Pyke,[1] who repeatedly shouts "Science!" and delivers other lines in a deliberately over-the-top mad scientist voice, such as, "Good heavens, Miss Sakamoto! You're beautiful!" Producer "Mutt" Lange sings the high octave doubling Dolby's chorus vocals.
The song was showcased as part of Dolby's appearance at the South by Southwest 2007 music festival.[3]
Music video[edit]
In the music video, Dolby commits himself to a Home for Deranged Scientists. Various mad scientist types operate fanciful inventions on the grounds of the Home and act insane with normal scientific items. Throughout the course of the video, Magnus Pyke (as the Home Doctor) tries to diagnose what he is suffering from, all the while being seduced by Miss Sakamoto, a secretary in the Home. Dolby co-directed the music video with Steve Barron.[4]
Chart performance[edit]
| Country | Peak position |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 49[5] |
| United States | 5[5] |
| Canada | 1[6] |
| Preceded by "Mr. Roboto" by Styx |
Canadian "RPM" Singles Chart number-one single April 23, 1983 - April 30, 1983 |
Succeeded by "Let's Dance" by David Bowie |
References[edit]
- ^ a b Greatest One Hit Wonders List (No. 20-1) from the VH1 website
- ^ VH1's "100 Greatest Songs Of The '80s" an October 2006 press release from the VH1 website
- ^ Kym Kilgore (2007). "Thomas Dolby plans spring tour, album". LiveDaily. Retrieved 2010-08-20.
- ^ "Thomas Dolby - "She blinded me with science"". mvdbase.com. Retrieved 2012-09-20.
- ^ a b "Songfacts". Retrieved 2008-03-09.
- ^ "RPM Magazine". Retrieved 2010-09-26.
