Aliens Ate My Buick

Aliens Ate My Buick
Studio album by Thomas Dolby
Released	13 April 1988
Studio	Soundcastle, Smoketree
Genre	New wave
Length	44:52
Label	EMI-Manhattan
Producer	Thomas Dolby, Bill Bottrell
Thomas Dolby chronology
The Flat Earth (1984) Aliens Ate My Buick (1988) Astronauts & Heretics (1992)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Rolling Stone

Aliens Ate My Buick, released in 1988, is the third studio album by new wave/synthpop artist Thomas Dolby. It peaked at number 30 on the UK Albums Chart. The album's sales were disappointing and reviews were mixed. The lead single from the album, "Airhead", peaked at number 53. Second and third singles, "Hot Sauce" and "My Brain Is Like a Sieve", peaked at number 80 and number 89, respectively. In the US, the album peaked at number 70.

Dolby has said in interviews that he believes the album's commercial failure was due to his change in musical direction, evident on the album.

Track listing

All songs by Thomas Dolby unless otherwise noted

1. "The Key to Her Ferrari" – 4:39 **
2. "Airhead" (Dolby, Grant Morris) – 5:07
3. "Hot Sauce" (George Clinton) – 5:03
4. "Pulp Culture" – 5:35
5. "My Brain Is Like a Sieve" – 4:52
6. "The Ability to Swing" (Thomas Dolby, Matthew Seligman) – 4:30
7. "Budapest by Blimp" – 8:40
8. "May the Cube Be With You" – 6:49*

• Was a bonus track on cassette and CD releases only.

Personnel

• Thomas Dolby – keyboards, vocals
• Larry Treadwell – guitar *
• Terry Jackson – bass *
• David Owens – drums *
• Mike Kapitan – synthesizer *
• Arno Lucas – congas, timbales
• Laura Creamer – percussion, vocals *
• Bill Watrous – trombone
• Robin Leach – Voice over (Track 1)
• Ed Asner – Voice over (Track 5)
• Bill Bottrell – Spaghetti Western Guitar (Track 3)

* The Lost Toy People

Backing Vocals

• Edie Lehmann, Donny Geraldo, Mendy Lee (1)
• Bruce Woolley, Colin Crabtree (2)
• Rose Banks Stone, Jean Johnson Mcgrath (3,4,5)
• Lesley Fairbairn (7)

Engineering

• Bill Bottrell – executive engineer
• Mike Tacci – assistant engineer
• Daryl Koutnick – assistant engineer