The Flat Earth

The Flat Earth
Studio album by Thomas Dolby
Released	February 1984
Recorded	1982 - 1983
Genre	New wave
Length	37:22
Label	EMI, Capitol Records
Producer	Thomas Dolby
Thomas Dolby chronology
The Golden Age of Wireless (1982) The Flat Earth (1984) Aliens Ate My Buick (1988)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	[2]

The Flat Earth is Thomas Dolby's follow-up LP to The Golden Age of Wireless. It was recorded in 1983 and released in early 1984. It peaked at #14 in the UK Albums Chart. The first single from the album was "Hyperactive!", which peaked at #17 in the UK Singles Chart, making it Dolby's highest-charting single in his home country. Second and third singles, "I Scare Myself" and "Dissidents (The Search For Truth)", peaked at #46 and #90 respectively. The album charted at #35 in America, but none of the singles from the album made the top 40.

A remastered "Collector's Edition" of The Flat Earth was released on 13 July 2009, complete with bonus tracks and personal sleeve notes.

Track listing

All songs written by Thomas Dolby, except where noted.

LP: PCS 2400341

Side A

1. "Dissidents" (Thomas Dolby/Kevin Armstrong/Matthew Seligman) - 4:56
2. "The Flat Earth" - 6:41
3. "Screen Kiss" - 5:33

Side B

1. "White City" - 5:19
2. "Mulu the Rain Forest" - 5:00
3. "I Scare Myself" (Dan Hicks) - 5:40
4. "Hyperactive!" - 4:13

2009 Remastered Collector's Edition CD: 50999 2 67911 2 8

1. "Dissidents" (Dolby/Armstrong/Seligman) - 4:56
2. "The Flat Earth" - 6:40
3. "Screen Kiss" - 5:35
4. "White City" - 5:22
5. "Mulu the Rain Forest" - 4:55
6. "I Scare Myself" (Hicks) - 5:40
7. "Hyperactive!" - 4:17
8. "Get Out of My Mix (Dolby's Cube)" - 4:44 ⁽¹⁾
9. "Puppet Theatre" (Dolby/Seligman) - 4:14 ⁽¹⁾
10. "Dissidents (The Search for Truth Part 1)" (Dolby/Armstrong/Seligman) - 7:17 ⁽¹⁾
11. "Field Work (London Mix)" (with Ryuichi Sakamoto) (Dolby/Ryuichi Sakamoto) - 4:05 ⁽¹⁾
12. "Don't Turn Away" (from the film Howard the Duck) (Dolby/Allee Willis) - 5:03 ⁽¹⁾
13. "The Devil is an Englishman" (from the film Gothic) (Dolby/Stephen Volk) - 3:30 ⁽¹⁾
14. "I Scare Myself" (Live on tour, 1984) (Hicks) - 6:17 ⁽¹⁾
15. "Marseille" (Live on tour, 1984) (Dolby/Adele Bertei) - 4:41 ⁽¹⁾

⁽¹⁾ Bonus tracks

1. "Audio Lecture/White City" - 8:11 ⁽²⁾
2. "Dissidents (Live)" (Dolby/Armstrong/Seligman) - 4:46 ⁽²⁾
3. "I Scare Myself (Live)" (Hicks) - 5:36 ⁽²⁾
4. "New Toy (Live)" - 4:22 ⁽²⁾
5. "Puppet Theatre (Alternate Version)" (Dolby/Seligman) - 4:19 (Dolby/Seligman) ⁽²⁾

⁽²⁾ Bonus audio download available at www.thomasdolby.com

Personnel

• Thomas Dolby - Vocals, Piano, Effects
• Kevin Armstrong - Guitar, Trumpet, Backing vocals
• Matthew Seligman - Bass
• Adele Bertei - Backing vocals on tracks 1, 2, 7
• Lesley Fairbairn - Backing vocals on tracks 2, 3, 6
• Lionel Richie - Backing Vocals
• Bruce Woolley - Backing vocals on track 5
• Robyn Hitchcock - Vocals (spoken) on track 4
• Clif Brigden - Percussion, Electronic drums
• Peter Thoms - Trombone on tracks 6, 7
• Louise Ulfstedt - Vocals on track 7
• Justin Hildreth - Drum programming on track 7
• Matthew Salt - Tins, Thundersheet on track 7

• Mixed by Mike Shipley (tracks 1 to 6), Alan Douglas (track 7)
• Engineer - Dan Lacksman
• Mastered by Wally Traugott at Capitol, L.A.

References