Thomas Dolby: Breaking the Barriers Between Music and Technology - A Memoir on The Speed of Sound

Vaibhav: Creatives at their best. Must read.

India on Oct 15, 2023

Miguel R: Uma história interessante pra quem curte música e tecnologias modernas. Mostra aspectos comerciais da indústria "fonográfica", e descreve a atividade intensa dos empreendedores de tecnologia do Silicon Valley, os altos e baixos. Vale a leitura.

Brazil on Jul 19, 2021

tqm: L’auto biografia di un pioniere. Grazie a gente come lui sono cresciuto e ho continuato ad amare la musica suonata con le macchine. Libro ben scritto, consigliato ai geeks e a chi vuole avere uno sguardo sempre nuovo per proporre nuove idee

Italy on Jan 28, 2018

Bluestatic: The book was a joy to read. Like so many in their 40s and 50s, Dolby's music was a part of my musical upbringing. So getting a peek behind the scenes of his remarkable career was a real treat. Reading one story after another about his challenges with the music industry, his surreal encounters with the likes of Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder, and how he managed to shape the digital frontier of music is enough to keep any reader engaged. From his early days, through "Science!" and then on to his experiences with the burgeoning high-tech world of the 90s and beyond with fascinating anecdotes about Bill Gates and others, Dolby keeps the pace moving and never bores the reader. I also wanted to mention how honest he is in this book. He never brags about his successes, but also acknowledges the more difficult elements of his personality. He appears to be immensely humble, but also highly ambitious. If you have any affinity at all for the music of the 80s and 90s, MTV, new wave, the digital revolution on music, or are interested in how one of the pioneers of today's music made his way to various degrees of success, you'll love this read.

United States on Nov 03, 2017

Rob: Dolby's story is an amazing one! A candid and honest rags to riches story about making it big in the music biz to changing the way we hear our cell phones ring around the globe. The man is a humble genius and a great story teller to boot. Highly recommended.

Canada on Jun 08, 2017

Terry Overall: This is a book I wanted to be written many, many years ago, but never really expected to see the light of day or make to print.

As a long time fan of Thomas Morgan Dolby Robertson's (or TMDR as many of my fellow enthusiasts refer to him), a long wait and tireless patience are an established pre-requisite for those who follow his work, as I'm sure he himself would also acknowledge.

And this, his first book much like his musical output over the past 30 years or so, rewards that patience immensely and gives an honest and highly enjoyable insight into what has been (and continues to be) a fascinating life & career.

Unlike most rock biographies, The Speed Of Sound flows almost like an adventure novel and is at times funny and heart breaking. Starting with his early days working in a fruit and veg shop & his nights as a roadie / sound engineer in pre & post punk London, the book then takes us into his storied musical career with fascinating insights into his creative process and production work as well as his documented collaborations with Lene Lovich, Whodini, Foreigner, George Clinton, David Bowie and of course Thomas' highly amusing accounts of his...

United Kingdom on Dec 29, 2016

MiniCoopGuy: This review will allude to some subject matter in the book which might be slight spoilers but not a pure giveaway to the story.

Most people know Thomas Dolby from his hit, “She Blinded Me with Science” and others know some of his lessor known hits as well. Why would a musician who some people call a “One Hit Wonder” write an autobiography, and more importantly why should you care? First of all, he wasn’t a “One Hit Wonder” as he had other songs that charted throughout the world, but “Science” is the one people remember from his video days on MTV. The second reason you should care is because this man changed the ways in which music impacts our daily lives. This is why his story is so important. What you know of the sound and music landscape via websites and the ring tones in your phone were truly shaped by Thomas and his team of gurus during the early days of the Internet. Did you know that? I know many people don’t.

Thomas Dolby’s story is unique from all musician autobiographies I’ve read mostly because it contains stories that truly draw in the reader to the point where you are thinking, “wow, did he really do this?” As we start the...

United States on Oct 28, 2016

Brian Borchers: Although Thomas Dolby is best known for his first careers as a musician and producer at the height of the 80's synth pop craze, he has since reinvented himself as a silicon valley entrepreneur, taken a few years off in semi-retirement in his native England, and most recently returned to the US as a professor at Johns Hopkins. To me the most interesting aspect of Dolby's story is how he has managed to do all of this as a largely self educated man from a modest background. Lots of one hit wonders have come and gone in the music industry, but I can't think of another who has followed that up with even more success in business. I can also think of lots of successful silicon valley entrepreneurs, but most of them come from privileged Ivy League backgrounds (you might mention Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, but I'd respond that both of them got into Harvard even if they didn't bother to finish.)

Dolby tells his story in a straight forward way, including lots of unflattering details that other autobiographers might have skipped. At times there is too much detail about recording sessions, concert tours, and business meetings, but some of the stories about personalities and events...

United States on Oct 27, 2016

Amazon Customer: Finished this fascinating memoir the day I received it. I've been anticipating the book's release for a while, and it did not disappoint. SPOILERS (but what review doesn't have a few): I already knew Elizabeth was Europa, but I still gasped when she said "We'll be the Pirate Twins again", I cried when TMDR described the worst moment of his life checking his Blackberry outside the school, I laughed about the water skiing accident, I cheered when Kathleen told off Michael Jackson and I felt sympathy for Lesley. And as for Kevin Rowland, "Come on Eileen" is the biggest turd of the 80s.

As TMDR admits early on, some events seemed to be re-ordered from ways we have heard them before, but this is done with admirable intent to emphasize the chronology of events and how each lends to things further along. I would have liked to see a bit of greater detail during the Sole Inhabitant and Map of the Floating City years since Le Funky Shed and the Nutmeg were great places of artistic cultivation. Things I learned: 1. When setting out, it never hurts to keep a name in your pocket 2. Stay true to who you are and what you want to build and steer your course with that mindset 3. Keep the...

United States on Oct 14, 2016