"Europa and the Pirate Twins" is a song by English artist

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 ...

, from his 1982 album '' The Golden Age of Wireless''. Written by Dolby, who produced it alongside Tim Friese-Greene, the song was released as a single on 3 October 1981. The song, described as a "synth pop classic", was inspired by the atmosphere of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and features a guest appearance by

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (guitars, vocals) and Colin Moulding (bass, vocals), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing in ...

Andy Partridge Andrew John Partridge (born 11 November 1953) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer who founded the rock music, rock band XTC. He and Colin Moulding each acted as a songwriter and frontman for XTC, with Partridge writi ...

. The single reached a peak position of 48 in the United Kingdom, Dolby's home country, as well as charting in the United States and Canada.

Composition

Taken from the album '' The Golden Age of Wireless'', "Europa and the Pirate Twins" was written by

, who produced it in collaboration with Tim Friese-Greene. The song opens with a "bluesy" harmonica solo, performed by

of the band

. The song makes use of

electronic drum Electronic drums is a modern electronic musical instrument, primarily designed to serve as an alternative to an acoustic drum kit. Electronic drums consist of an electronic sound module which produces the synthesized or sampled percussion sounds ...

s, and features a "high-register" synthesiser line throughout. The song's main musical hook is a " Bo Diddley beat", a repetitive rhythm common in several musical genres.

Drowned in Sound ''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums. History ''D ...

's Joseph Stannard has noted that "Europa and the Pirate Twins" is written with World War II as a strong influence, and that the song "emphasises the short distance between olby'sgeneration and the one which endured the last global conflict". Dolby has described the song, along with the tone of the album, as reflecting "a sense of relationship that's going on as being overwhelmed by something on a grander level", adding that "there's a very strong wartime atmosphere to it". The song was described as "a semi-autobiographical romp" in the liner notes for Dolby's 2009 greatest hits album ''The Singular Thomas Dolby'', the release of which was overseen by the singer. "Europa and the Pirate Twins" received a "sequel" on Dolby's 1992 album ''

Astronauts & Heretics ''Astronauts & Heretics'' is the fourth studio album by English new wave/synth-pop musician Thomas Dolby, released in 1992. It was Dolby's last studio album until 2011's '' A Map of the Floating City'' and his last album to be released on viny ...

'', in the song "Eastern Bloc"; which has been described by ''

Audio Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of sound ...

'' magazine as "appealingly faithful" to the original.

Release

"Europa and the Pirate Twins" was released as a single in the United Kingdom on 3 October, 1981. It was Dolby's first major label release, taken from his

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

-released début album ''The Golden Age of Wireless''. The song spent three weeks in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, reaching a peak position of 48. The song first appeared in ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' magazine's Canadian singles chart on 18 June 1983, debuting at number 50. It eventually reached a peak position of 45 in that chart. The song debuted in the United States' ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart on 2 July 1983, spending five weeks there and peaking at number 67. It also reached a peak position of 37 on the ''Billboard'' rock chart in 1982. The song's release was accompanied by a music video, blending together several elements of footage. These included footage of the Ziegfeld Follies, Dolby interacting with a futuristic "telecomputer", and black-and-white shots of Dolby and a shrouded female figure by the coast. The video was written and directed by Dolby.

Reception

"Europa and the Pirate Twins" has been described by Peter Buckley, in his book ''The Rough Guide to Rock'', as "showcas ngDolby's trademark combination of the charming and the gimmicky". Writing for Allrovi, Stewart Mason described the song as "a hyperactive synth pop classic", whose "every nook and cranny is stuffed with some sort of ear-grabbing hook". Mason added that the song "pack a remarkable amount of detail into two short verses and a bridge" and "resolves with a soaring, bittersweet chorus". Writing about the song's music video, Dennis Shin of

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

described Dolby as being on the "leading edge" in the medium, highlighting the videos for " She Blinded Me with Science" and "

Hyperactive! "Hyperactive!" is a single (music), single by British musician Thomas Dolby, taken from his second album ''The Flat Earth'', released in 1984. Backing vocals were provided by Adele Bertei. Additional spoken word vocals were provided by Louise Ulf ...

" in addition to describing that for "Europa and the Pirate Twins" as being "one of his lesser-known and unsung videos".

Cover version

A cover version of the song featuring lyrics in Swedish is the title track on the Swedish band Noice's 1982 synth pop album ''Europa''.

References

Literature

* * * {{authority control 1981 songs 1981 singles Thomas Dolby songs EMI Records singles Song recordings produced by Tim Friese-Greene Songs written by Thomas Dolby