Xperience June 2026: The Prog Digest By Klyde Kadiddlehumper

The Prog Digest

By Klyde Kadiddlehumper

You all know that Klyde goes to shows.  Usually with Constant Companion (CC) in tow. Recently, an old mate dropped a note and said, “Hey, let’s go see Dolby again.”

The numbers are interesting, as (similar to  Peter Capaldi)  the subject here is exactly five months older than Klyde – born Oct 14, 1958, in London as Thomas Morgan Robertson.  To us, he’s Thomas Dolby, named for the noise-reducing process developed by Dr. Ray Dolby. (Perhaps one day Klyde will tell the story of the time The Fatman – long may he wave, probably having dinner with an Elvis Impersonator – and I were at a talk by Dr Dolby, and I asked pithy questions.)

The show was in Kingston, likely a part of the tour to allow his bass player, Gail Ann Dorsey, to hang with friends and family as it’s her current place of residence.  A wonderful performer herself, she opened the show and has a really lovely voice and is a talented songwriter.  Oh, and did I mention she played in Bowie’s band?

With a full band (which is uncommon for Dolby), the show was sold out, the audience excited, and the seats, ummmmm, uncomfortable.

Now, my companion for the evening (in honor of Mel Brooks, we will call him The Schwartz) and I were excited.  What we did not know is just how much we would learn, some of which is pretty well known, other bits, not so much.

Thomas Dolby played in Bowie’s band for Live Aid in July 1985. I remember it well.  Interesting story – Dolby snuck a small camera with him and caught a photo of Bowie, reflected in the glass, in the chopper as they flew to Wembley Stadium. Bowie had a serious fear of flying and did not want pictures.

On a trip to LA, the weather stunk, Dolby had mono, and there was a break.  He called the only person in his Filofax in the area and took a car to the guy’s house. He got out of the car, the gates opened, he walked to the door, rang the bell, and that friend opened said door.  Thomas Dolby warmed himself a bit by hanging out with Michael Jackson.

On the reissue of his album “The Golden Age of Wireless” is a song that was the B-side to “She Blinded Me with Science” called “One of Our Submarines.”  As family lore would have it, his uncle (Stephen Spring-Rice, second-in-command of the WW2 submarine P48) was lost at sea during a “training exercise” off the coast of England.

Dolby told the story about meeting a guy and finding out, after many WW2 documents were declassified, that the P48 had actually been lost off the coast of Tunisia.  Anyone with a map will note that Tunisia is in Northern Africa.  Decidedly not the southern coast of England.

While cool enough, what The Schwartz and I were not clued in on was that Thomas Dolby is a professor at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins.  Chaired even.

During his performance, Dolby played bits of a new piece and while I’d love to provide more detail, it’s not ready for prime time and, well, he asked we not make a fuss.  As a writer, it’s tough not to, but then again, the man was nice enough to ask.

In the end, we did not eat at Colonel Sandurz, no Yogurt was offered, we did not Barf, and neither of us is married to a Druid American Princess.

However, The Schwartz was with me.

Until next time.

Klyde