She Blinded Me with Science: Difference between revisions
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'Tim Kerr' to 'Jo Kerr'. (Full name Jonathan Michael Kerr.)All 3 were in an earlier band. Each brother co-wrote a song (TK 'Commercial breakup').allmusic.com/song/she-blinded-me-with-science-t21464083 |
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| Length = 3:42<br />5:09 <small>(extended version)</small> |
| Length = 3:42<br />5:09 <small>(extended version)</small> |
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| Label = Venice in Peril <small>(UK)</small><br />[[Capitol Records]] <small>(U.S.)</small> |
| Label = Venice in Peril <small>(UK)</small><br />[[Capitol Records]] <small>(U.S.)</small> |
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| Writer = Thomas Dolby, |
| Writer = Thomas Dolby, Jo Kerr |
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| Producer = Thomas Dolby |
| Producer = Thomas Dolby |
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| Certification = |
| Certification = |
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Revision as of 16:55, 17 January 2011
| "She Blinded Me with Science" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "One of Our Submarines" |
"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 synth-pop song featuring synthesizer sounds.
Although a "top 5" success in the United States, peaking at #5 in the Billboard Hot 100 and 2 weeks at #1 in Canada's RPM Magazine, the song barely managed to score among the Top 50 in Dolby's native United Kingdom, peaking at #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" #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. Thus, the label "one-hit wonder" might be considered a misnomer for Dolby. In 2006, VH1 placed it at #76 on their list of "Greatest Songs of the '80s."[2] Then, in 2009, it ranked #13 on VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s.
Song structure
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. In the song, however, the phrase is interpreted as a straightforward reference to the natural sciences.
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, the most famous line of which was, "Good heavens, Miss Sakamoto! You're beautiful!" Andy Partridge, leader of the band XTC, contributes a guitar part to the song.
The song was showcased as part of Dolby's appearance at the South by Southwest 2007 music festival.[3]
Music video
In the music video, Dolby commits himself to a Home for Deranged Scientists. 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. Interspersed into the video, various "deranged scientists" operate fanciful inventions on the grounds of the Home and act deranged with normal scientific items. Dolby directed this video himself.
Chart performance
| Country | Peak position |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 49[4] |
| United States | 5[4] |
| Canada | 1[5] |
Cover versions
- Singer Melissa Lefton covered the song (with a pronoun change to "He") on the soundtrack for the 2001 animated film Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius.
- A cover of the song was recorded by American alternative band The Click Five, which was played in the trailer for the 2008 animated movie Igor.
- A cappella group Toxic Audio covered the song in their album Chemistry.
- Bill Parsons covered the song on his album Special Delivery.
Sampling
- In 2004, Mobb Deep sampled the song for their hit single "Got it Twisted".
- Sampled in "America's Most Hated" by Kevin Federline, which was taken from Got it Twisted.
Popular culture
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- This song was played over the opening credits of the pilot episode for the short-lived mid-'80s science fiction series Misfits of Science.
- Was featured in an Episode 104 of Muppets Tonight (episode guest star John Goodman) in a skit featuring Dr. Phil van Neuter singing the song.
- It was the initial theme song for the sceptical podcast, The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe.
- Used as ringtone for character Howard Wolowitz on television series The Big Bang Theory. It was also the initial theme song chosen for the first unaired pilot of the same television series.
- It is the initial theme song of the MTV Brasil television show 15 Minutes.
- In the video game Fallout 3, the character Dr. Lesko will shout "I will blind you with science!" if he turns hostile towards the main character.
- Clips are commonly used during Quirks & Quarks, a Canadian weekly science news program.
- Used as the opening and closing song for the Non Prophets atheistic podcast.
- In the film Wildcats starring Goldie Hawn, the high school marching-band played a version of Thomas Dolby’s “She Blinded Me With Science during a game.
- Is briefly and poorly sung by character Kahn in the King of the Hill episode called Three Days of the Kahndo.
- Parts of the song are used in a series of commercials for Swiffer.
- Nickelodeon got the rights to make a instrumental version of that as the theme song for the 2002 Kids Choice Awards mostly because the awards set was a Mad Scientists Lab and it was to help promote the film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.
- It was also used in a Pantene commercial in 2003.
- In the Psych episode "Not Even Close… Encounters," Shawn sets up Gus by saying "The only thing we were blinded by is" "SCIENCE."
- It was used as the theme song for the Discovery Channel show Mythbusters.
- The chorus appears in Swiffer Wet Jet commercials in 2010.
- It was featured in a musical number in Season 4, Episode 7 (titled "Stoned") of Eureka.
References
- ^ a b Greatest One Hit Wonders List (#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.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b "Songfacts". Retrieved 2008-03-09.
- ^ "RPM Magazine". Retrieved 2010-09-26.