The love parade - Dream Academy

The Dream Academy never got much recognition beside their greatest hit 'Life in a northern town', but obviously there was more to the band than just the one song. They released three albums and twelve singles, but only three singles ever made the UK singles chart. 

One of them was 'The love parade', released in early 1986 as a track from their self-titled debut album. It reached number 68 in the UK singles chart but fared a bit better in Belgium where it peaked at number 30. In the American Adult Contemporary chart it even reached number 13. 

'The love parade' is the only song on the Dream Academy's eponymous album not to be produced by David Gilmour. Instead, the band recruited Alan Tarney to work with them on the track. Tarney was brought in at the suggestion of Rough Trade Records founder Geoff Travis to work on the song. "What happened was, we had a pretty good demo for 'Love Parade' and we loved it, and when we made the record with David, somehow we never got 'round to it". Lead vocalist Nick Laird-Clowes noted that Tarney brought some "real special techniques" to the table: he tracked the vocals "12 or 15 times" during certain portions of the song. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7144
Found: Record fair, Rijswijk, 3 March 2024
Tracks: 'The love parade' / 'Girl in a million (for Edie Sedgwick)'

Please please please let me get what I want - Dream Academy

I am pretty pleased and surprised when I find a single I never saw before of a band I know and love - and with this one it was a case of 'well, it's cheap, I may as well check it out'. Most people know the Dream Academy for their mid-Eighties hit Life in a Northern town only, but I checked out a few other singles by them and I was never disappointed.

This particular single was released in 1985, pretty soon after The Smiths released the song as a B-side to their 1984 single 'William, it was really nothing'. The single reached number 83 in the UK singles chart. A later cover version by Slow Moving Millie in 2011 was more successful: it peaked at number 31.

My collection: 7" single no. 5894
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 14, 2018
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Please please please let me get what I want' / 'In places on the run'

Love - Dream Academy

'Love' was written by John Lennon and originally appeared on his 1970 album 'John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band'. The Dream Academy recorded their cover version of the song in 1990 and released it as a single. Although it sounded very contemporary (or perhaps because of that), it did not chart in any territory.

The song did appear on their third and last album 'A different kind of weather' (1991). The cd-single of 'Love' featured six remixes of the track, with other remixes appearing on other formats. Perhaps they overdid it a bit.

My collection: 7" single no. 2854

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, June 21, 1997

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Love' / 'Mordechai Vanunu'

Life in a northern town - Dream Academy

The Dream Academy was formed by singer/guitarist Nick Laird-Clowes; multi-instrumentalist Kate St John plus keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel. Their debut single was 'Life in a Northern town', a tribute song to Nick Drake. The lyric is a reference to Tanworth-in-Arden (England) native Nick Drake, who died of an antidepressant overdose in 1974.

The single became the most successful of their career, peaking at number 7 in America and number 15 in the UK. The chanting backing vocals of the song were sampled by English dance act Dario G for their 1997 hit 'Sunchyme'.

My collection: 7" single no. 2910

Found: Record exchange, London, November 31, 1997

Cost: 50p

Tracks: 'Life in a Northern town' / 'Test tape no. 3'