The Dream Academy formed kinda sorta in the late 70's (1983 would be the year they officially became the Dream Academy) in London, England when Nick Laird-Clowes and Gilbert Gabriel went looking for a different sound than the power pop that ruled the day at the time in the U.K. Multi-instrumentalist Kate St. John would join a little while later and the trio was set. They released their first single and album in 1985, immediately had a hit single and album...and then pretty much faded into oblivion. The band would go on to release two more albums (neither of which had any commercial success), and a total of 12 singles, only three of which would chart either here in America or in their native U.K. The band parted in 1991, and did not reunite until 2014 (and again in 2016) for the obligatory Let's Make a Little Cash From Our One Hit Single Tour (nothing wrong with that--beats hell out of slinging groceries). They've only released two Hits packages, which is somewhat surprising considering the number of bands that can get eight to ten out of their one hit. All three members continue to play music for a living, and as far as I'm concerned, that's as good of a coda as any pop star can have.
Fun Fact: One of the instruments Kate St. John plays is the cor anglais, which until doing my half-assed research I had never heard of. It's also known as an English horn, and is somewhat akin to the oboe (which St. John, multi-instrumentalist that she is, also plays).
"Life in a Northern Town" was the first single the Dream Academy ever released on their quite appropriately named debut LP, The Dream Academy. It would go on to reach #7 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100 and #15 on their British charts. The album hit #20 here in the U.S. but only #58 in their native U.K. Somewhat of an oddity for an English band to have more success here in the U.S. of A. than in their home country.
"Life in a Northern Town" is a tribute to English folk artist Nick Drake, who died of an accidental drug overdose in 1974 (I'm not terribly familiar with his work, other than his song "Pink Moon" which will be featured on FNJ sometime in the future). Gabriel said the song was based on an event that occurred while he was in college (seems to me from the lyrics that Drake may have had a gig at said college and Gabriel wrote about what occurred), though the song has become somewhat of an anthem for, surprisingly enough, people who live in northern towns. The song is actually quite a tour de force, featuring elements of pop, rock, classical, and African tribal chants (the utterly delightful, if completely nonsensical, chorus). It has a definite anthemic quality to it (and not just for folks in northern towns)--you could definitely see this one as being one the audience sways to as they thrust their lit lighters into the air at a Dream Academy concert. The song has a couple of nice moments I'd never noticed until listening to it again over the past few days--at one point they mention the world freezing and as they do you can hear a chill wind blowing, and at another point as they're singing about the artist's appearance you can hear a crowd cheering. Anyhoo, it's another in a long line of wonderful reminders of how groups of people can come together and for a moment in time reach as close to perfection as most of us can get...at least in the realms of pop music.
Lyric Sheet: "He said in winter 1963/It felt like the world would freeze/With John F. Kennedy/And The Beatles..."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee
Fun Fact: One of the instruments Kate St. John plays is the cor anglais, which until doing my half-assed research I had never heard of. It's also known as an English horn, and is somewhat akin to the oboe (which St. John, multi-instrumentalist that she is, also plays).
"Life in a Northern Town" was the first single the Dream Academy ever released on their quite appropriately named debut LP, The Dream Academy. It would go on to reach #7 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100 and #15 on their British charts. The album hit #20 here in the U.S. but only #58 in their native U.K. Somewhat of an oddity for an English band to have more success here in the U.S. of A. than in their home country.
"Life in a Northern Town" is a tribute to English folk artist Nick Drake, who died of an accidental drug overdose in 1974 (I'm not terribly familiar with his work, other than his song "Pink Moon" which will be featured on FNJ sometime in the future). Gabriel said the song was based on an event that occurred while he was in college (seems to me from the lyrics that Drake may have had a gig at said college and Gabriel wrote about what occurred), though the song has become somewhat of an anthem for, surprisingly enough, people who live in northern towns. The song is actually quite a tour de force, featuring elements of pop, rock, classical, and African tribal chants (the utterly delightful, if completely nonsensical, chorus). It has a definite anthemic quality to it (and not just for folks in northern towns)--you could definitely see this one as being one the audience sways to as they thrust their lit lighters into the air at a Dream Academy concert. The song has a couple of nice moments I'd never noticed until listening to it again over the past few days--at one point they mention the world freezing and as they do you can hear a chill wind blowing, and at another point as they're singing about the artist's appearance you can hear a crowd cheering. Anyhoo, it's another in a long line of wonderful reminders of how groups of people can come together and for a moment in time reach as close to perfection as most of us can get...at least in the realms of pop music.
Lyric Sheet: "He said in winter 1963/It felt like the world would freeze/With John F. Kennedy/And The Beatles..."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee
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