''The Dream Academy'' is the debut studio album by English band The Dream Academy, released in November 1985. It was produced by

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 ...

guitarist

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 ...

and Nick Laird-Clowes. " Life in a Northern Town", written as a tribute to the musician

Nick Drake Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter known for his acoustic guitar-based songs. He did not find a wide audience during his lifetime, but his work gradually achieved wider notice and recognit ...

,Apprentice to the stars
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 26 March 1999 became the Dream Academy's only major chart success, reaching number 7 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 15 in the UK. The follow-up single from the album, "

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, ...

", was not received as well as their debut single, reaching number 36 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and only number 68 on the UK chart, but still received solid radio airplay. Also of note is the song " The Edge of Forever", which plays in a prominent scene during the John Hughes film '' Ferris Bueller's Day Off'', resulting in many fans of 1980s films becoming more familiar with the Dream Academy's music. ''The Dream Academy'' went on to chart at number twenty on the US ''Billboard'' 200 in the US.

Track listing

Charts

Miscellanea

*"This World" was written about Nick's concerns about his friends becoming junkies. *"Life in a Northern Town" and "The Love Parade" have two different video versions. *"The Party" contains parts of "Life in a Northern Town" and "The Edge of Forever" at the end of the song. *Warners released a 4 video compilation from this album, including videos for "Life in a Northern Town" (2nd version), "The Love Parade" (U.S. radio version), "This World" (filmed in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

), and "

Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths. It was released as the B-side of "William, It Was Really Nothing" in 1984 and later featured on the compilation albums ''Hatful of Hollow'' and ''Loude ...

". *VH-1 featured the video for the song in an episode of ''

Pop Up Video ''Pop Up Video'' is a VH1 television show that shows music videos annotated via "pop-up" bubbles — officially called "info nuggets" — containing trivia and witticisms relating to the video in question. The show was created by Woody T ...

'' in 1999. *"Life in a Northern Town" was featured in an episode of King of the Hill.

Personnel

The Dream Academy * Gilbert Gabriel - keyboards, vocals * Nick Laird-Clowes - guitars, harmonica, vocals * Kate St. John - piano,

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

cor anglais The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

, piano-accordion Additional personnel *

Gary Barnacle Gary Barnacle (born 1959 in Dover, England) is an English saxophonist, flautist, brass instrument arranger, composer, and producer. Barnacle is primarily noted for his session work and live work, including various Prince's Trust concerts at Wem ...

- tenor saxophone *Dave DeFries - trumpet * Peter Buck - guitar on "The Party" *David Gilmour - guitars on "Bound to Be" & "The Party" *Greg Dechert - Hammond organ *Mickey Feat, Pino Palladino,

Guy Pratt Guy Adam Pratt (born 3 January 1962) is a British musician. He is best known for his prolific work as a session bass player, working with artists including Pink Floyd (also David Gilmour and Nick Mason), Roxy Music (also Bryan Ferry), Gary M ...

- bass *

Chucho Merchan Chucho is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Chucho Avellanet (born 1941), Puerto Rican singer and comedic actor *Christian Benítez (1986–2013), Ecuadorian footballer nicknamed 'Chucho' *Chucho Castillo (born 1944), former Mexi ...

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

*Tony Beard, Bosco DeOliveira,

Luís Jardim Luís Alberto Figueira Gonçalves Jardim (born 4 July 1950) is a Portuguese percussionist, born in the Madeira Island, best known for his work with producer Trevor Horn. Family Jardim is a cousin of Alberto João Jardim (former president of the ...

, Ben Hoffnung, Jake LeMesurier,

Dave Mattacks David James Mattacks (born 13 March 1948) is an English rock and folk drummer. Best known for his work with Fairport Convention, Mattacks has also worked both as a session musician and as a performing artist. Apart from playing the drums, he i ...

- drums, various percussion

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dream Academy, The 1985 debut albums The Dream Academy albums Albums produced by David Gilmour Albums produced by Alan Tarney Blanco y Negro Records albums Warner Records albums