“Hyperactive” by Thomas Dolby

"Hyperactive!" was the lead single from The Flat Earth, Thomas Dolby's second album, released by EMI and Capitol in 1984, and it was written with somebody else in mind. Dolby had met Michael Jackson in 1982 and sent him a demo, and when no word came back he cut it himself. He has said it stood apart from the rest of the album, which he thought of as a late-night, smoochy record.

It's a nervy, twitching funk cartoon, Dolby producing and playing piano, Kevin Armstrong's guitar and Matthew Seligman's bass snapping at each other, Peter Thoms' trombone blurting in, and the American singer Adele Bertei adding backing vocals. It reached 17 in the UK and 16 in Canada, made 62 on the Hot 100 and crossed over to Billboard's dance club listing.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.