"Hyperactive!" is a song by English new wave and

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

musician

Thomas Dolby Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...

, released on 9 January 1984 by

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

and

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

as the lead single from his second studio album '' The Flat Earth''. Backing vocals were provided by Adele Bertei. Additional spoken word vocals were provided by Louise Ulfstedt and Kevin Armstrong as 'The Analyst'. According to Dolby, he initially composed the song for

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

, whom he had met in 1982. He decided to record it himself since he never got any feedback from Jackson after sending him a

demo tape A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...

. It was the first single to be taken from the album and peaked at number 17 on the UK Singles Chart and number 16 on the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' charts, but only reached number 62 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Chart positions

Usage in media

The song appeared in the 2002 video game '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'' on the fictional in-game radio station "Wave 103". In 2017, the song was featured over the second episode closing credits of the FX series ''

Legion Legion may refer to: Military * Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army * Aviazione Legionaria, Italian air force during the Spanish Civil War * A legion is the regional unit of the Italian carabinieri * Spanish Legion, ...

''. The song appears in the ninth episode of Season 4 of ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...

''.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1984 songs 1984 singles Thomas Dolby songs Songs about diseases and disorders EMI Records singles Capitol Records singles Songs written by Thomas Dolby