Dolby was inspired to write "Airhead" about on a woman he knew in real life. He told the Associated Press in 1988, "The song is about one specific femane from first-hand experience. The big crime is that the lady behaves like an airhead even though she has a brain."[1]
Release
"Airhead" was released in the UK on 7-inch and 12-inch vinyl on 21 March 1988.[2] The CD format of the single was released on 4 April 1988.[3] For its release as a single, remixes of the song were created by Rusty Garner, and François Kevorkian and Goh Hotoda.[4]
Music video
The song's accompanying music video was directed by Drew Takahashi.[5] The video's concept came from Dolby himself. He revealed to Billboard in 1988, "All I had to do was explain the concept to one guy at the label, and he wrote me a check for $110,000."[6] In the US, the video achieved heavy rotation on MTV after being given Buzz Bin status.[7] It won the award for best storyline at the 1988 IMMC (International Music & Media Conference) Music Video Awards and was nominated at the Billboard Video Music Awards under the "most experimental" category.[8][9]
Critical reception
Upon its release as a single in the UK, Frank Gillespie of Number One picked "Airhead" as the magazine's "single of the week" and awarded it a full five star rating.[10] Betty Page of Record Mirror also picked it as one of the magazine's "singles of the week", calling the "chunky, funky, confident and brash" song an "entertaining tune about Californian bimbos, sort of 10cc meets Parliament".[11] Jerry Smith of Music Week stated, "The eccentric, mad professor image might have gone but Thomas Dolby returns with a typically wacky, jerkily funky little number that is so catchy as to be assured blanket coverage on every available medium."[12] Tom Doyle of Smash Hits felt that it was "not one of his better warblings", but said it is "still a clever effort".[13]
Pan-European magazine Music & Media called it a "welcome return" for Dolby, which "continue[s] his quirky, funk-based approach [to] produce a lively chart-bound and likeably eccentric number".[14] In the US, Billboard noted that Dolby returns with a "sharp tongue and a wicked groove".[15]
Track listings
7–inch single (UK, Europe, North America and Australasia) and cassette single (US)[16][17][18][19][20]
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