Today’s classic song of the day is “Life in a Northern Town,” by the British band, the Dream Academy. Released in March of 1985, it peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, #9 on the Irish chart, and #15 on the UK Singles chart.
“Life in a Northern Town” is a nostalgic song about living in a small English town in the early 1960s. The song combines elements of classical music, African chant, and classic pop. It was written by band members Gilbert Gabriel and Nick Laird-Clowes and dedicated to the late musician Nick Drake. Mr. Laird-Clowes remembers this:
“We had the idea, even before we sat down, to write a folk song with an African-style chorus. We started it and when we got to the verse melody, there was something about it that reminded me of Nick Drake.”
The Dream Academy consisted of Mr. Laird-Clowes on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, Mr. Gabriel on backing vocals and synthesizers, and Kate St. John on backing vocals, piano, and cor anglais, an oboe-like double-reed instrument. For “Life in a Northern Town,” they augmented their basic lineup with more synthesizers, timpani, percussion, and various sound effects.
This track reminds me a lot of a little-known band called Shelleyan Orphan who had a similar mix of baroque and psychedelic influences around the same time period. I find this sound—and “Life in a Northern Town,” especially—particularly effective and affecting; it was certainly a unique sound in that era of prime MTV.
“Life in a Northern Town” was the debut single for the Dream Academy, from their self-titled debut album. They didn’t have any other notable hits and disbanded in 1991.
