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What's New items from 1997 have been moved here to shorten up the main
discography a bit.
15 DECEMBER: On Friday, December 19, at 8pm Comedy Central will be rerunning the 1985 Saturday Night Live episode featuring The Dream Academy performing "Life in a Northern Town.". The episode also features Teri Garr as guest host and The Cult performing "She Sells Sanctuary". Check your local listings to verify times. 10 DECEMBER: Chris Woodgeard sent me some info that Nick co-wrote three songs and sang back-up on one track for 3rd Matinee's 1994 album "Meanwhile". 3rd Matinee was a one-off project featuring Richard Page (Mr. Mister) and Patrick Leonard (Toy Matinee). Also in hunting the web, I found this company which has for sale a 1991 Rock Over London CD featuring a short interview with Nick. 5 DECEMBER: I updated the Other Projects section as I received some additional information regarding Gilbert Gabriel's project "The Colour of Love". Thanks to Yu Onoda for the info.
17 NOVEMBER: Simon Young provided the following great info: "After the final Dream Academy album in 1990 I went to Los Angeles, but after three months I was having a bit of a breakdown, missing my friends, and I went up into the mountains to a retreat where I studied with a Tibetan Buddhist guru. I sang my songs to him and he gave me some very good advice. When I got back to England in 1993, my friend Dave Gilmour asked me to work on the Pink Floyd album The Division Bell, so I came up with some ideas for that and co-wrote a couple of the songs. Then I started taking my demos to some major label A&R men, one of whom said 'These are ballads. Anyone can write ballads. Nobody wants ballads now.' He pointed to a poster of Carter USM and told me, 'This is what you should be doing.' That was so depressing I decided just to make my songs for myself - The Floyd royalties kept me fairly financially secure. Stephen Duffy has been incredibly supportive and made me get out and do things. It was through Stephen that I met Alan McGee. Alan told me his first wife had walked out on him while Dream Academy's Love Parade was playing. I ended up playing a gig at the Living Room, after which Alan offered me a deal. He said the most amazing thing: 'Don't try to make a hit record. Make the record you want to make.' So that's what I've been doing, and we expect to have it out in the early part of 1998, probably under the name Trashmonk. Then Rough Trade rang me and said Dario G had sampled the chant from Dream Academy's Life in a Northern Town for this song Sunchyme. At first I was reluctant to let it be used, but my girlfriend convinced me, and I'm glad she did because now I'm used to it I really like it" 10 NOVEMBER: Added some interpage navigation to the site. Also added another Act sample for Get It While You're Young. 21 OCTOBER: Added info to Album section about fan-created rarities compilations including one called "Three Steps Past the Edge of Forever". 8 OCTOBER: Fred Schuster wrote a great story about how he came to meet Nick and play with Alfalpha back in the seventies. Fred is now a music writer at an Los Angeles newspaper. Thanks a lot for the story Fred! 1 OCTOBER: On September 30, Comedy Central reran the 1985 Saturday Night Live episode featuring The Dream Academy's live performance of "Life in a Northern Town". It was great to finally see this after so many years. Nick looked a bit nervous up there, but they did fine. The core three were assisted by five or six other musicians to play all the parts in the song. Hope many of you were able to catch it! If not, I'll try to let you know the next time it's shown. 30 SEPTEMBER: Kate St. John's new album, "Second Sight" is due out on October 7th. 29 SEPTEMBER: Geoff Covey and James Weitzman supplied info on that track that samples from "Life in a Northern Town" It is called "Sunchyme" by Dario G. I believe it is released in the UK and the correct label info is Amato/Eternal/WEA130CD. 4 SEPTEMBER: Geoff Covey gave me some info on The Dream Academy's one tour in 1991. He also provided a great recollection of two shows. 25 AUGUST: I recently acquired The Act album and the Alfalpha album (expensive!). I've added the track listing of the Alfalpha album below, as well as information on which tracks Nick Laird-Clowes sings on. Actually, he sings on all the tracks, but he only sings lead on a few. Anyway, if you're curious how it sounds, the best reference points I can give are bands like Crosby Stills and Nash and perhaps a little Al Stewart. There is some nice playing on this record, even if it does sound a bit syrupy in parts. The album is largely acoustic, though it does feature some nice electric leads on a few tracks. Much like CSN, the group employs two and three-part harmonies throughout many of the songs. In particular, I think "Work" has a nice "Suite Judy Blue Eyes" kind of feel to it. I've chosen Sky Turned Red and Spinning Around to sample for you. They both feature Nick on lead vocals, and while neither sounds like The Dream Academy, I think these are the closest to the sound he would eventually go on to develop. Maybe you would like to see the cover art for Alfalpha and The Act. The Alfalpha features a very youthful photo of Nick and company, with photography by David Hockney! 18 AUGUST: Tim Kirk informed me of yet another b-side that had slipped through the cracks. "The Demonstration" appeared as a b-side of the UK Love CD-5. See the sounds section below to hear a bit of it. Thanks Tim! 1 JULY: Interesting info comes courtesy of Marco Matarazzo (from Italy) who informed me of a 1988 Japanese single called "In The Heart". The song is musically very similar to "Lowlands" which later appeared on A Different Kind of Weather, but the lyrics are completely different. Here is a comparison of the two. Marco also informed me that "This World" was released as a single in Australia.
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