New Dream were an Australian pop music group formed in 1967 as The Dream when founding mainstays Jenny Johnston on organ and Alex Kadell ( Alex Opitz) on lead vocals (both ex-Changing Times) joined with latter day members of the Final Four. The Dream's repertoire shifted to

bubblegum pop Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is considered disposable, contrived, or marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States i ...

and they changed their name in March 1969. Their most popular single, "Soft Delights" (May 1971), peaked at No. 21 on the ''

Go-Set ''Go-Set'' was the first Australian pop music newspaper, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne by Phillip Frazer, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble. NOTE: This PDF is 282 pages. Widely described as ...

'' national top 40. They released a sole album, ''New Dream'', in 1973 however they had disbanded late in the previous year. They briefly reformed in 1974 before breaking up again.

History

Late in 1967 Alex Kadell ( Alex Opitz) the bass guitarist and lead vocalist of Melbourne pop music group Changing Times and his band mate (and sometime domestic partner) Jenny Johnston on organ joined with local rival pop band, the Final Four, to form another pop music group, the Dream. * 1st Edn nline * 2nd Edn: Note: spells Alex' last name as Optiz The Final Four's line-up had been Mark Archer on drums, Jack McGrath on guitar, Peter Nicoll on guitar, and Terry Stirzker on bass guitar. The Changing Times had formed in the mid-1960s; Johnston and Opitz joined in 1966 with Alan Eliot on drums and Lyn Thomas on lead guitar. That group later included

Wayne Duncan Wayne Duncan is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours'', played by Jonathon Sammy-Lee. He made his first screen appearance as Wayne during the episode broadcast on 4 February 1993. Wayne becomes a chemistry teacher at ...

on bass guitar (ex- Rondells) and Gary Young on drums (ex-Silhouettes, Rondells). As a member of the Dream, Opitz used the name Kadell and concentrated on his lead vocals with Stirzker providing bass guitar. The group performed on the local discotheque circuit. They released a single, "Who Could Be Loving You?", in 1968, via Festival Records as a cover version of

Al Wilson Aldra Kauwa Wilson (born June 21, 1977) is a former American college and professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. He played college football for the University of Tennessee, and ...

's original. The B-side, "

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" is a jazz song written by Joe Zawinul in 1966 for Julian "Cannonball" Adderley and which appears on his album '' Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at "The Club"''. The song is the title track of the album and became a surprise hit i ...

", was their rendition of

Cannonball Adderley Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered for the 1966 soul jazz single "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", whi ...

's 1966 hit. Both tracks were re-released for a split extended play, shared with two tracks by Festival label mates,

Cam-Pact Cam-Pact was an Australian soul and psychedelic pop band which formed in April 1967. Originally they performed as The Camp Act but soon changed to Cam-Pact (or CamPact). Although little known outside Melbourne at the time, the various lineups of ...

. The Dream played a support slot for United Kingdom visitors, the Who and Small Faces, in January 1968. Nicoll was replaced on guitar by Brian Holloway in June, who in turn left before the end of that year. The group changed their name to New Dream in March 1969 and their repertoire moved to

. They signed with

Festival Records Festival Records (later known as Festival Mushroom Records) was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005. Festival was a wholly owned subsidiary of News Limited from 1961 to ...

and issued their debut single, "Yours Until Tomorrow", in April 1969. The follow-up single, "Catching Up on Fun", appeared in July. Their next single, "The Groupie" (March 1970), reached the top 30 on the ''

'' national top 40. It had been written by United States songwriter, James E "Buzz" Cason, and was originally performed by US group, the Four Fuller Brothers. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' &/or 'Performer:' New Dream's version was recorded by the line-up of Johnston, Kadell and McGrath joined by John du Bois on bass guitar and Peter Reed on drums. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...

(ARIA) created their own

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabul ...

in mid-1988. In July ''Go-Set'' published their annual pop poll results as determined by its readers as most popular in various categories: New Dream were listed at No. 3 for group, Kadell at No. 4 for male, du Bois at No. 6 for guitarist and Reed at No. 6 for drummer. New Dream's next single, "Soft Delights" (May 1971), became their highest charting when it reached No. 21. It is written by Australian-born UK-based,

Mike Chapman Michael Donald Chapman (born 13 April 1947) is an Australian-American record producer and songwriter who was a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s. He created a string of hit singles for artists including The Sweet, Suzi ...

, Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' &/or 'Performer:' and was performed by his early UK group, Tangerine Peel. The group's next two singles, "Candy Love" (September) and "Turned 21" (March 1972), both charted. For the July 1971 ''Go-Set'' pop poll, listings were: Johnston at No. 5 for female, New Dream at No. 6 for group, du Bois at No. 6 for bass guitarist, "Soft Delight" at No. 7 for single and Reed at No. 8 for drummer. Du Bois left in January 1972 and was replaced by Graham Jones (ex-Iguana, Captain Australia and the Honky Tonk). The new line-up issued further singles and recorded an eponymous debut album, which was produced by

Brian Cadd Brian George Cadd AM (born 29 November 1946) is an Australian singer-songwriter, keyboardist, producer and record label founder, a staple of Australian entertainment for over 50 years. As well as working internationally throughout Europe and the ...

. Australian musicologist,

Ian McFarlane Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the '' Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017. As a journalist ...

, described it as, "a gloriously camp mix of the band's bubblegum hits, easy listening pop fluff replete with sweet harmonies and schmaltz strings." It appeared in 1973, however, the group had already disbanded late in the previous year. Kadell started his solo career while Reed joined Gary Young's Hot Dog. Johnston and Kadell reformed New Dream in 1974 for two more singles but McFarlane noted, "by that stage, the band's bubblegum pop sound had become outmoded."

Members

* Mark Archer – drums * Jenny Johnston – organ * Alex Kadell ( Alex Opitz) – lead vocals * Jack McGrath – guitar, backing vocals * Peter Nicoll – guitar * Terry Stirzker – bass guitar * Brian Holloway – guitar * John du Bois – bass guitar * Peter Reed – drums * Graham Jones – bass guitar

Discography

Albums

* ''New Dream'' (1973) –

Extended plays

;The Dream * ''Something Easy''/''Who Could Be Loving You?'' (

split EP A split album (or split) is a music album that includes tracks by two or more separate artists. There are also singles and EPs of the same variety, which are often called "split singles" and "split EPs" respectively. Split albums differ from "var ...

, 1968) –

Singles

;The Dream * "Who Could Be Loving You?" (1968) –

;New Dream * "Yours Until Tomorrow" (1969) – Festival Records * "Catchin' Up on Fun" (1969) – Festival Records * "The Groupie" (1970) – Festival Records * "Soft Delights" (1971) – Festival Records * "Candy Love" (1971) – Festival Records * "Turned 21" (1972) – Festival Records * " Ride a White Swan" (1972) – Festival Records * "Girl I'm Gonna Get You" (1973) – Festival Records * "I Can't Stop Dancing (Dancing in the Dark)" (1974) –

Astor Records Astor Records was an Australian recorded music manufacturer and distributor that operated from the early 1960s to the early 1980s. Astor was the trade name of the consumer electronics manufacturer Radio Corporation Pty. Ltd, a division of Electron ...

* "Schlick Schlack Boom Boom" (1974) – Astor Records

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Dream Australian pop music groups Musical groups established in 1967 Musical groups disestablished in 1974 Musical groups from Melbourne