Nick Laird-Clowes (born 5 February 1957, in London, England) is an English musician and composer, best known as the lead singer and one of the principal songwriters for

the Dream Academy The Dream Academy were a British band consisting of singer/guitarist Nick Laird-Clowes, multi-instrumentalist (chiefly oboe, cor anglais player) Kate St John, and keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel. The band is most noted for their 1985 hit singles "L ...

. He co-wrote songs including "

Life in a Northern Town "Life in a Northern Town" is the debut single by British band the Dream Academy, released in March 1985. It is from their self-titled debut studio album ''The Dream Academy''. The song was written as an elegy to British folk musician Nick Drake ...

", "

The Love Parade ''The Love Parade'' is a 1929 American pre-Code musical comedy film, directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, involving the marital difficulties of Queen Louise of Sylvania (MacDonald) and her consort, ...

", " The Edge of Forever", "This World", "Indian Summer", "Power to Believe" and "12/8 Angel".

Biography

Laird-Clowes was a member of Alfalpha (one album EMI 1977) and The Act (one album 1982, ''Too Late At 20'', produced by Joe Boyd for his Hannibal label) before the Dream Academy. He was also a

presenter A presenter is a person or organization responsible for the running of a public event, or someone who conveys information on media via a broadcasting outlet. Presenter may refer to: People * News presenter, person who presents news during a new ...

for the first series of the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

music show '' The Tube''. The Dream Academy were formed in the 1980s and released three albums for Warner/Reprise: ''

The Dream Academy The Dream Academy were a British band consisting of singer/guitarist Nick Laird-Clowes, multi-instrumentalist (chiefly oboe, cor anglais player) Kate St John, and keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel. The band is most noted for their 1985 hit singles "L ...

'' (1985), ''

Remembrance Days Remembrance is the act of remembering, the ability to remember, or a memorial. Remembrance or Remembrances may also refer to: Events * :Remembrance days **Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice, a commemorative day observed by Argentina **R ...

'' (1987) and '' A Different Kind Of Weather'' (1990). His solo album, ''Mona Lisa Overdrive'', was released under the name Trashmonk in 1999 on

Alan McGee Alan John McGee (born 29 September 1960) is a Scottish businessman and music industry executive. He has been a record label owner, musician, manager, and music blogger for ''The Guardian''. He co-founded the independent Creation Records label, r ...

Creation Records Creation Records Ltd. was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Alan McGee, Dick Green, and Joe Foster. Its name came from the 1960s band The Creation, whom McGee greatly admired. The label ceased operations in 1999, although ...

label, and re-released a few years later with two extra tracks ("Mr Karma" and "Fur Hat") under the reinvented PopTones label, again by McGee. A friend of

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...

, with whom he co-produced both ''The Dream Academy'' and ''A Different Kind of Weather'' albums (Gilmour's younger brother Mark Gilmour had been guitarist in The Act), he also contributed

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...

to two songs on

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

's album ''

The Division Bell ''The Division Bell'' is the fourteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 28 March 1994 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and on 4 April by Columbia Records in the United States. The second Pink Floy ...

''. As Trashmonk, he opened for some of Gilmour's performances in the early 2000s. Gilmour also played on the Dream Academy's "Living in a War" and "The Chosen Few" first released retrospectively on the 2014 compilation ''The Morning Lasted All Day - A Retrospective'' in 2014. In the 2000s, Laird-Clowes has been involved in

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and documentary

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

s, producing the score for '' The Invisible Circus'', directed by Adam Brooks and starring

Cameron Diaz Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress. With a variety of works in film, she is widely recognised for her work in romantic comedies and animation. Diaz has received various accolades, including nominations for ...

. He was the musical consultant for

Bernardo Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci (; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in Italian cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved international ...

's '' The Dreamers'', and was responsible for composing the music for '' Fierce People'', a 2005 film directed by

Griffin Dunne Thomas Griffin Dunne (; born June 8, 1955) is an American actor, film producer, and film director. Dunne studied acting at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City. He is known for portraying Jack Goodman in '' An Amer ...

, starring

Diane Lane Diane Colleen Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at age 14 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film ''A Little Romance''. The two films that could have catapulted her to star ...

and

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films ''Citizen X'' (1995) an ...

and for ''

Wit Licht "Wit licht" (English: "''White Light''") is a single by Dutch singer-songwriter Marco Borsato, from his album "''Wit licht''". The song was released on April 18, 2008. It was written and produced by John Ewbank. It reached the peak position in bo ...

'', directed by Jean van de Velde.

Nick Broomfield Nicholas Broomfield (born 1948) is an English documentary film director. His self-reflective style has been regarded as influential to many later filmmakers. In the early 21st century, he began to use non-actors in scripted works, which he cal ...

's film ''

Battle for Haditha ''Battle for Haditha'' is a 2007 drama film directed by British director Nick Broomfield based on the Haditha killings. Dramatising real events using a documentary style, ''Battle for Haditha'' is Broomfield's follow up to '' Ghosts.'' The film ...

'', premiered at the

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

in 2007, also had a Laird-Clowes soundtrack.
In June 2009, he scored Broomfield's

agitprop Agitprop (; from rus, агитпроп, r=agitpróp, portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', "propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in Soviet Russia where it referred to ...

documentary for

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

, ''A Time Comes'', featuring the single "Mayday". In May 2007, Laird-Clowes and

Joe Boyd Joe Boyd (born August 5, 1942) is an American record producer and writer. He formerly owned Hannibal Records. Boyd has worked on recordings of Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, The Incredible String Band ...

organised a

Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his ...

memorial concert, "The Madcap's Last Laugh", at the

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...

in London, in which he also performed (the concert also featured both Pink Floyd and

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...

). In 2013, he worked as both composer and music consultant for the

Richard Curtis Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, producer and film director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known primarily for romantic comedy films, among them '' ...

directed film, '' About Time''. In 2016 Laird-Clowes played a series of Dream Academy concerts in Japan. In 2017, he composed the music for the feature documentary, '' Whitney: Can I Be Me'', directed by Nick Broomfield. In 2019, and also for Nick Broomfield, he composed the score for the acclaimed Universal film about

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

, ''Marianne & Leonard: Words Of Love''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laird-Clowes, Nick 1957 births Living people English songwriters English male singers English television presenters Singers from London The Dream Academy members British male songwriters