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The Dream Academy - The Dream Academy

The Dream Academy
"Life in a Northern Town" has long been one of my favourite songs. A dreamy (see what I did there?) song that seemed to be out of sync with the trends of the times, and yet it fit like a glove at the same time. The song propelled the band into the public consciousness but didn't seem to pull the album along with it. I know for me as much as I loved the song, and its association with co-producer David Gilmour, a little nugget that was often mentioned on the radio, I never bought the album. I likely wasn't the only one.

The song would over time become one of those tracks that would appear on multiple '80s compilations, as for the band, they were relegated to that most horrible of fates: The One Hit Wonder. Of course as is the case with so many of these bands who had their 15 minutes of fame, there was a lot more going on. Airplay and hit singles (in the singular) often do not define a band. For me it would take almost thirty years for me to hear more of their work when I picked up a copy of their 2014 compilation The Morning Lasted All Day: A Retrospective and it was so good.

One of the great tricks the band was able to pull off was sounding like a techno new wave band while incorporating a variety of acoustic instruments to create their ethereal sound. They were right in the mix of great UK bands at the time, from Echo and the Bunnymen to The Psychedelic Furs (who were the kings of the John Hughes soundtracks) but let's be honest so many of those great post-punk new wave bands were well known, but not especially well known if you know what I mean.

the band
The Dream Academy were centred on the trio of Gilbert Gabriel, keyboards and vocals, Nick Laird-Clowes, lead vocals, guitars and harmonica and Kate St. John, oboe, cor anglais, piano-accordion, tenor saxophone and vocals. The band was augmented by various musicians, and the result was a rich sound that was very organic, and still sounds really crisp.

The majority of the tracks were produced by David Gilmour, and Nick Laird-Clowes except for "The Love Parade" which was produced by Alan Tarney, who was having a bit of a career resurgence following the success of his production work with a-ha and Cliff Richard. It's a killer track, and was the follow up single to "Life in a Northern Town" but I honestly don't recall ever hearing it on the radio. It reminds me of something you'd hear on a Sergio Mendes album. It's an excellent song.

back cover
This was a really solid album, and while the songs were cohesive, they were varied enough to not all sound the same. It was a very pleasant surprise. If I'm allowed to say it, and I will - this was dreamy stuff you didn't have to go to school to appreciate.

The band would make three albums, their last studio release was in 1990 and then they disbanded.

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