Thomas Dolby’s ‘Hyperactive!’ is a song that has resonated with me since 1984. Although musicologists, curators and archivists would most likely categorize this song as late new-wave, synth-pop (or possibly, British synth-pop), for me, its sound lurks somewhere between Brit-funk, jazz funk and the melodic electro of the eighties: imagine if The VHB, Warp 9, Newcleus and Black Britain got together to make a tune, it might result in something like ‘Hyperactive!’.
Just a few weeks into the new year of 1984, in fact forty years ago this week, ‘Hyperactive!’ peaked at number 17 on the official singles chart (and remained in the chart for ten weeks), bringing a cacophony of horn stabs, trombone solos, Latin-inspired percussion and tight top-end funk chords amidst an enormous range of vocal representations. As the intro progresses, poised in its light strumming acoustic chords, a psychiatrist initiates the narrative:
Psychiatrist (spoken): “Hmm, tell me about your childhood.”
Patient (Thomas Dolby): “At the tender age of three, I was hooked to a machine, Just to keep my mouth from spouting junk, ha …”
Immediately, we hear an extreme therapeutic tactic in operation on a toddler, suggesting mental issues in the patient from a very young age (this is accentuated by Dolby’s acute emphasis on “ha”). However, as the song develops, it is revealed that the issue lies in the realm of music, or; THE FUNK – and here I refer to the concept of funk as an all-encompassing cultural phenomenon rather than purely a music genre. Dolby continues:
“… With the vision in my brain / And the music in my veins / And the dirty rhythm in my blood …”
Here, it becomes clear that the patient’s understanding of themselves is as a being who conceptualises, writes, plays and performs songs – the totality of music is a part of his human assemblage. Moreover, this assemblage has been evident in the patient throughout the phases of his development from infant to adult, as presented in the second bichorus:
“Hyperactive when I’m small / Hyperactive now I’m grown / Hyperactive and the night is young / And in a minute, I’ll blow …”
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