The Dream Academy: Life in a Northern Town (1985)

 |   |  1 min read

The Dream Academy: Life in a Northern Town (1985)

Although not quite a one-hit wonder (the follow-up to this, The Love Parade, got to 36 in the US), the Dream Academy probably deserved better just on the strength of this curious and clever debut single.

It manages to be a lot of things in its 4.18 running time: part wistful nostalgia in the manner of Penny Lane, a nod to Nick Drake, references to Sinatra, JFK and the Beatles (cue screaming), a chorus based on an African chant; a little bit psychedelic, a line from the Walker Brothers at the end . . .

Apparently it took a year to record and it was co-produced by Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and the band's Nick Laird-Clowes (who was having guitar lessons from Paul Simon and who later contributed lyrics to Floyd's Division Bell album).

Also in the ranks was multi-instrumentalist Kate St John who subsequently worked with a large roster of people from Van Morrison and Joe Boyd to Nigel Kennedy and Laaraji. Both Laird-Clowes and co-founder Gilbert Gabriel subsequently went into film and television soundtrack work.

So they were hardly short on talent but . . .

They did three albums in total, each with diminishing returns and then went their own ways in the early Nineties.

So this lovely, nostalgic and memorable single  which had two different videos -- the first one which screened in New Zealand is posted below -- was to be their crowning achievement (unless you count an instrumental version of a Smiths' song in Ferris Bueller's Day Off).

A good one though.

Almost makes those shitty and bleak northern towns in England sounds enticing. 

For more oddities, one-offs or songs with an interesting backstory check the massive back-catalogue at From the Vaults.

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   From the Vaults articles index

Doris Duke: To the Other Woman, I'm the Other Woman (1970)

Doris Duke: To the Other Woman, I'm the Other Woman (1970)

After Doris Duke - born Doris Curry then later singing as Doris Willingham -- recorded her album I'm a Loser at Capricorn Studios in Macon, Georgia in '69 with Jerry Williams Jnr they found it a... > Read more

Al Stewart: Clarence Frogman Henry, Audrey Hepburn and The Year of the Cat (1980)

Al Stewart: Clarence Frogman Henry, Audrey Hepburn and The Year of the Cat (1980)

He may be a bit of a bore in interviews (see here), but Al Stewart did tell a great shaggy-dog story in concert -- and of course wrote Year of the Cat among many other fine songs. So here you... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

Tim Green/Massimo Magee: Abeyance (Orbit577/digital outlets)

Tim Green/Massimo Magee: Abeyance (Orbit577/digital outlets)

The last time we heard from drummer Green and saxophonist Magee was very recently when – with other-drummer Tony Irving – they released the exciting but challenging free improvisation... > Read more

Maria Ana Bobone: Fado and Piano (Arc Music)

Maria Ana Bobone: Fado and Piano (Arc Music)

Quite why this fado singer and pianist would break the elegant and stately mood of her otherwise acoustic album with a live electronica piece which seems to channel the spirit of Clannad/Enya is... > Read more