The Dream Academy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | |
| Years active |
|
| Labels | |
| Past members | |
The Dream Academy was a British band consisting of singer/guitarist [3] and primary songwriter [4] Nick Laird-Clowes, multi-instrumentalist Kate St John, and keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel. [5] The band is most noted for their 1985 hit record, "Life in a Northern Town". [6] [7]
Laird-Clowes and Gabriel met each other in the late 1970s whilst the former was in a band called The Act. Their idea was to create a songscape different from the power pop groups popular at the time in the UK, by mixing instruments and sounds that had been rarely done prominently before, such as strings, woodwinds, percussion (timpani) and synthesizers. At first, Laird-Clowes and Gabriel called themselves the Politics of Paradise. [8]
The Dream Academy formed in 1983. [1] [5] Laird-Clowes met Kate St John (then of The Ravishing Beauties) at a party and asked her to join his band. The trio settled on the name The Dream Academy and shopped their demos for nearly two years. Their work was rejected by every record label before they finally landed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records in 1985. Along the way, they made connections with Adam Peters and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, a friend of Laird-Clowes. Gilmour would go on to produce and/or play on two of their albums and co-write one Dream Academy song, "Twelve-Eight Angel". [8]
The band's first single, "Life in a Northern Town" (1985), was a worldwide success and sizeable hit in the U.S., charting at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, from an album co-produced by Gilmour. [1] The song also made number 15 in the UK Singles Chart. [9] The single was dedicated to the English singer-songwriter Nick Drake. [1] [10] It was their only major chart success. The band's follow-up single, "The Love Parade" (1985), charted in the U.K. [11] and the United States. [12] [13]
Also in 1985, The Dream Academy covered the Smiths' "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want". [14] Their version of the song peaked at number 83 on the UK Singles Chart. [15] The Dream Academy's instrumental version of this cover was used in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off in 1986. [14]
The band launched a worldwide promotional tour based on the chart success of "Life in a Northern Town" and appeared on the television programmes Saturday Night Live , The Tonight Show , American Bandstand (with Dick Clark), MTV (interview with J. J. Jackson), and Top of the Pops . The Dream Academy's eponymous debut album also reached a wide audience in the U.S. Their two subsequent albums did not match their initial success. [1]
The Dream Academy disbanded in 1991. [14]
The band released a compilation album entitled Somewhere in the Sun... Best of the Dream Academy in Japan in 2000. In 2014, the band released another compilation album: The Morning Lasted All Day: A Retrospective . The Morning Lasted All Day was compiled, annotated, and remastered by Laird-Clowes. [16]
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [17] | US [18] | ||||||||
| 1985 | The Dream Academy
| 58 | 20 | ||||||
| 1987 | Remembrance Days
| — | 181 | ||||||
| 1990 | A Different Kind of Weather
| — | — | ||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2000 | Best of the Dream Academy
|
| 2014 | The Morning Lasted All Day: A Retrospective [19]
|
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [17] | AUS [20] | BEL [21] | CAN [22] [23] | CAN AC [24] | IRE [25] | NLD [upper-alpha 1] | US [27] | US AC [28] | US Main [29] | |||
| 1985 | "Life in a Northern Town" | 15 | 4 | — | 14 | 7 | 9 | — | 7 | 2 | 7 | The Dream Academy |
| "The Edge of Forever" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 37 | ||
| "This World" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1986 | "The Love Parade" | 68 | 76 | 30 | 41 | — | — | — | 36 | 13 | 37 | |
| "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" | 83 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Ferris Bueller's Day Off (soundtrack) | |
| "Indian Summer" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Remembrance Days | |
| 1987 | "The Lesson of Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Power to Believe" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "In the Heart" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| 1990 | "Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | A Different Kind of Weather |
| 1991 | "Angel of Mercy" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2014 | "Sunrising" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Morning Lasted All Day |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||||
Scott Dibble is a Canadian singer-songwriter, recording artist and producer, who has recorded and performed with the bands Watertown and Hemingway Corner.
Mae Moore is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Her music is a blend of pop, folk and jazz. Her most successful album, 1992's Bohemia, was an international hit, although her other albums have been successful mainly in Canada. Over the course of her career, Moore achieved nine top 40 singles in Canada, as well as two JUNO nominations, two Canadian Folk Music Awards nominations, and won two SOCAN Awards. Moore's second album, Bohemia, drew critical acclaim and was released internationally. Her biggest hit, "Genuine", became a top 10 hit in June 1995 and was one of Canada's ten most-performed compositions of the year.
The Revolution is an American band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1979 by Prince, serving as his live band and later as his studio band. The band's sound incorporated rock, pop, R&B, funk, new wave and psychedelic elements. Along with Prince's other projects, the Revolution helped create the Minneapolis sound. By the time of their 1986 breakup, the Revolution had backed Prince on two studio albums, two soundtracks and two videos.
The Outfield were an English rock band based in London. The band achieved success in the mid-1980s and are best remembered for their hit single, "Your Love". The band's lineup consisted of guitarist John Spinks, vocalist and bassist Tony Lewis, keyboard player Reg Webb, and drummer Alan Jackman.
Nick Laird-Clowes is an English musician and composer, best known as the singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter for The Dream Academy.
The Dream Academy is the debut studio album by English band The Dream Academy, released in November 1985. It was produced by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour and Nick Laird-Clowes. "Life in a Northern Town", written as a tribute to the musician Nick Drake, became the Dream Academy's only major chart success, reaching number 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 15 in the UK.
Remembrance Days is the second album by the British band The Dream Academy. Not as successful as the band's 1985 self-titled debut, the album peaked at number 181 in the United States.
"The Love Parade" is the fourth single released by The Dream Academy. It was a more "edgy" song than their previous singles, made so by the inclusion of implied themes of adultery and erotic temptation in the lyrics, and was arranged to a brisk bossa nova-esque beat which was in stark contrast to the style of the group's first single Life In A Northern Town . There were two additional singles released in the UK by Blanco y Negro, a 7" shaped picture disc and a second limited edition release.
"Take It Back" is a song by the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released as the seventh track on their 1994 album The Division Bell. It was also released as a single on 16 May 1994, the first from the album, and Pink Floyd's first for seven years. The single peaked at number 23 on the UK Singles Chart, the fourth highest in the band's history, below 1979 number 1 hit "Another Brick In The Wall" and 1967 top 20 hits "See Emily Play" and "Arnold Layne." The music for the song was written by guitarist David Gilmour and album co-producer Bob Ezrin, with lyrics by Gilmour, his wife Polly Samson and Nick Laird-Clowes.
"Be Near Me" is a song by English pop band ABC. It was released in April 1985 as the second single from their third studio album, How to Be a ... Zillionaire! It peaked at No. 26 on the UK Singles Chart in 1985, and was the only single from the album to reach the UK top 40. It was more successful in the United States where it reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also went to number-one on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart in September of that year, remaining on top for two weeks.
"These Dreams" is a song by American rock band Heart from their 1985 self-titled eighth studio album Heart. It was released on January 18, 1986, as the album's third single, becoming the band's first song to top the Billboard Hot 100. The single's B-side track, "Shell Shock", was also the B-side of Heart's previous single "Never".
"Glory of Love" is a 1986 song performed by Peter Cetera, which he wrote and composed with his then-wife Diane Nini and David Foster. The song was recorded by Cetera shortly after he left the band Chicago to pursue a solo career. Featured in the film The Karate Kid Part II (1986), it was Cetera's first hit single after he left the band, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and it was included on his album Solitude/Solitaire (1986), which Michael Omartian produced.
"To Know Him Is to Love Him" is a song written by Phil Spector, inspired by words on his father's tombstone, "To Know Him Was to Love Him." It was first recorded by the only vocal group of which he was a member, the Teddy Bears. Their recording spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1958, while reaching No. 2 on the UK's New Musical Express chart. Peter & Gordon and Bobby Vinton later had hits with the song, with its title and lyrics changed to "To Know You Is to Love You". In 1987, the song was resurrected by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris, whose Trio recording topped the U.S. country singles chart.
"Love Is in the Air" is a 1977 disco song by Australian singer John Paul Young. It was written by George Young and Harry Vanda, and released as the lead single from Young's fourth studio album, Love Is in the Air (1978). The song became a worldwide hit in 1978, peaking at No. 3 on the Australian charts and No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, it peaked at No. 7 on the pop chart and spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, his only U.S. top 40 hit. The song plays at 122 beats per minute, a typical 1970s disco rhythm. At the Australian 1978 King of Pop Awards, the song won Most Popular Australian Single. In 1992, a remix of the song was released and featured on the soundtrack to the Golden Globe-nominated film Strictly Ballroom. A new music video was also produced.
The English alternative rock band the Smiths released four studio albums, one live album, 10 compilation albums, three extended plays (EPs), 24 singles, one video album and 13 music videos on the Rough Trade, Sire and WEA record labels. The band was formed in 1982 in Manchester by vocalist Morrissey, guitarist Johnny Marr, bass player Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce.
"Life in a Northern Town" is the debut single by British band The Dream Academy, released in March 1985. It appears on the band's self-titled debut studio album, The Dream Academy. The song was written as an elegy to British folk musician Nick Drake. Written by band members Nick Laird-Clowes and Gilbert Gabriel, the song was produced by Laird-Clowes with help from Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. The single reached No. 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in February 1986 and reached No. 15 on the UK charts. It is the band's highest charting single in the UK, the US, and Ireland.
"Bluebird" is a song recorded by Canadian country pop singer Anne Murray for her 1990 album release You Will from which it was the second track sent for promotion to radio.
The Morning Lasted All Day: A Retrospective is a compilation album released by The Dream Academy in 2014. It is the band's second compilation album, following the Japan-only release of Somewhere in the Sun... Best of the Dream Academy in 2000. While the latter album was assembled without input from the band, The Morning Lasted All Day was compiled, annotated, and remastered by lead singer Nick Laird-Clowes. Of the album's 24 tracks, 6 were previously unreleased. These include the instrumental version of "Power to Believe" selected by John Hughes for use in Planes, Trains and Automobiles and "Sunrising", the first song recorded by the band since 1990. Also included are two songs featuring guitar by David Gilmour, who co-produced two of the band's three studio albums.
"Please Love Me Forever" is a song written by John Malone and Ollie Blanchard. The song was originally released by Tommy Edwards in 1958. Hit versions were later released by Cathy Jean and the Roommates in 1960 and Bobby Vinton in 1967.
Chester was a Canadian bubblegum pop band, active primarily from 1972 to 1975. Although they released only two singles in their original form before breaking up, the single "Make My Life a Little Bit Brighter" was a Top 10 hit on the Canadian pop charts in 1973 and the band garnered a Juno Award nomination for Most Promising Group at the Juno Awards of 1974.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| current_members =
