"Just a Dream" is a song recorded by American singer

Donna de Lory Donna De Lory is an American singer, dancer and songwriter. Part of a musical family, De Lory has been performing since a young age. Her voice can be heard on albums by Carly Simon, Ray Parker Jr., Kim Carnes, Santana, Martika, Laura Branigan, Be ...

for her eponymous debut studio album (1992). It was released as the album's second single on March 9, 1993, by

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

. The song was written and produced by

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

and

Patrick Leonard Patrick Ray Leonard (born March 14, 1956) is an American songwriter, keyboardist, film composer, and music producer, best known for his longtime collaboration with Madonna. His work with Madonna includes her albums '' True Blue'' (1986), ''Who's ...

while composing the former's fourth studio album, '' Like a Prayer'' (1989). Since Madonna felt "Just a Dream" would not suit her discography, she gave it to de Lory for recording. After release, the song received mixed review from

critics A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

. "Just a Dream" debuted and peaked at number 71 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and reached number ten on the US

Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

and number 17 on the

Dance Singles Sales In the issue dated March 16, 1985, ''Billboard'' magazine debuted its first chart devoted exclusively to 12-inch Singles Sales. The 50-position weekly ranking joined ''Billboard''s established Club Songs chart, reduced to the same 50 positions, ...

charts, respectively.

Background and release

worked as a background vocalist for American singer

from the time when she was hired by the latter for her 1987

Who's That Girl World Tour The Who's That Girl World Tour (billed as Who's That Girl World Tour 1987) was the second concert tour by American singer and songwriter Madonna. The tour supported her 1986 third studio album '' True Blue'', as well as the 1987 soundtrack ''Who ...

. She continued working with Madonna for subsequent tours like

Blond Ambition World Tour The Blond Ambition World Tour (billed as Blond Ambition World Tour 90) was the third concert tour by American singer Madonna. It supported her fourth studio album '' Like a Prayer'' (1989), and the soundtrack album to the 1990 film ''Dick Tracy ...

(1990),

The Girlie Show World Tour The Girlie Show was the fourth concert tour by American singer and songwriter Madonna, in support of her fifth studio album, ''Erotica'' (1992). In October 1992, Madonna simultaneously released ''Erotica'' and the coffee table book ''Sex''. The ...

(1993),

Drowned World Tour The Drowned World Tour (billed as Drowned World Tour 2001) was the fifth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna in support of her seventh and eighth studio albums ''Ray of Light'' (1998) and ''Music'' (2000), respectively. The tour ...

(2001) and

Confessions Tour The Confessions Tour was the seventh concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna, launched in support of her tenth studio album, ''Confessions on a Dance Floor'' (2005). The tour began in Inglewood on May 21, 2006, and ended in Tokyo ...

(2006). When de Lory was preparing her eponymous debut studio album, Madonna offered her a song called "Just a Dream", which she had co-written with

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

for her fourth studio album, '' Like a Prayer'' (1989), but did not use it. As explained in

Lucy O'Brien Lucy O'Brien (born 13 September 1961)Author Biography, O'Brien, Lucy – She Bop: The definitive history of women in rock, pop, and soul, London: Penguin, 1995 is a British author and journalist whose work focuses on women in music. Early musi ...

's biography, '' Madonna: Like an Icon'', the singer felt that "Just a Dream" was too " rockier" for her discography and asked de Lory to contact Leonard and record it instead. Madonna's vocals were kept in the album version of the track with de Lory's vocals being added on top of it.

released "Just a Dream" as the second single from de Lory's debut album on March 9, 1993, in

12-inch The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

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and CD formats. It also received a number of remixes which were added to the track list of the different releases. Along with Madonna and Leonard's songwriting and production, other personnel who worked on the track included Lenny Underwood who played the keyboards and Daniel Abraham who programmed the song. Abraham was assisted by Justin Strauss for additional production and remixing of "Just a Dream". Todd Culver edited the song while Doug Deangelis and Shaun James engineered the final mix.

Reception

"Just a Dream" received mixed feedback from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. Reviewing the track for ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', editor Larry Flick felt it was de Lory's "valiant bid for top 40 radio acceptance" and described it as a "peppy li'l tune" which would be a suitable choice for mainstream and crossover radios. Flick also complimented the different remixes that the song received, with their genres ranging from

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and ch ...

Cathy Dennis Catherine Roseanne Dennis (born 25 March 1969)Gregory, Andy (2002) ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa; , p. 133 is a British singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. She was the vocalist for D Mob, which had the su ...

-style

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Bryan Buss reviewed de Lory's album and said that with songs like "Just a Dream" and "Praying for Love", the singer "showed she could perform pop with the best of them". Conversely, a writer for ''

Out Out may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 * ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander * ''Out'' (2002 film), a Japanese film ba ...

'' magazine criticized the inclusion of "Just a Dream" in de Lory's album, feeling that Madonna and Leonard's songwriting and production "ruined" the "peppy and optimism" nature of the record. In the United States, "Just a Dream" reached number ten on the

chart, and was present for a total of 11 weeks on it. The CD and the maxi singles released went on to chart on the

chart, reaching a peak of number 17. The song debuted and peaked at number 71 on the

on the chart dated July 18, 1993, present for just one week.

Track list

*US CD and cassette single # "Just a Dream" – 4:27 # "Just a Dream" (Groovier version) – 4:38 *US 12-inch single # "Just a Dream" (Extended Club remix) – 7:35 # "Just a Dream" (Hard Dub) – 6:40 # "Just a Dream" (Just Right Vocal) – 6:56 *UK CD maxi single # "Just a Dream" (7-inch version) – 4:27 # "Just a Dream" (Groovier version) – 4:38 # "Just a Dream" (Justin Strauss remix) – 7:36 # "Just a Dream" (C & C Posse House remix) – 8:33 # "Just a Dream" (Dan's Extended Pop mix) – 6:29 *EU CD maxi single # "Just a Dream" – 4:10 # "Just a Dream" (Alternate Pop mix) – 4:26 # "Just a Dream" (Extended Club mix) – 7:36

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of the CD single. *

– vocals *

– songwriting, back vocals, production *

– songwriting, production * Lenny Underwood – keyboards * Daniel Abraham – programming, additional production, remixing * Justin Strauss – additional production, remixing * Todd Culver – editing * Doug Deangelis – track engineering * Shaun James – overdub engineering

Charts

References

{{authority control 1992 songs 1993 singles Donna De Lory songs MCA Records singles Songs written by Madonna Songs written by Patrick Leonard Song recordings produced by Madonna Song recordings produced by Patrick Leonard