Thomas Dolby was an indelible part of the electronic music landscape on both sides of the Atlantic in the ’80s. The Zelig of synthpop, he was seemingly there or thereabouts at all points of that crucial decade.

Perhaps most exciting of all was to find himself at No. 5 in the States in 1982 with “She Blinded Me With Science,” which, with its video featuring celebrity zany scientist Dr. Magnus Pike, propelled Thomas to international stardom. By the time of the elastic electro-funk of 1984’s “Hyperactive!,” Thomas was mixing in pretty stellar circles: that single was originally intended for Michael Jackson.

In the ’80s, Thomas released three solo albums — The Golden Age of Wireless (1982), The Flat Earth (1984) and Aliens Ate My Buick (1988) — and throughout he dodged attempts to pigeonhole him by record companies and public alike.

His involvement in Live Aid — as a member of David Bowie’s band — and in Roger Waters’ performance of Pink Floyd’s The Wall in Berlin in 1990 were, respectively, “a dream come true” and “an astonishing event to be involved in.” And then, Thomas made a 180-degree turn, career-wise, as he headed off to Silicon Valley. He formed his own company, Beatnik, coming up with the polyphonic ringtone synthesizer for the world’s biggest mobile phone manufacturer Nokia

Since 2001, Thomas has acted as Musical Director of the TED Conference, an annual world renowned event that attracts some of the world's foremost thinkers, inventors, and speakers.

He is also proud of A Map of the Floating City, his first solo album in almost two decades. The album includes contributions from Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, Regina Spektor, Eddi Reader and Imogen Heap and reflects Thomas’ eclectic approach to music-making.