D Ream
D:Ream is an Irish/English pop rock and dance group. They had a UK No. 1 hit with "Things Can Only Get Better" in 1994 as well as eight more top 40 hits.[1] They released three albums, two of which reached the UK top five.[1] The group had an all-male line-up which varied in number, but mainly centred on lead singer Peter Cunnah. The live band included keyboard player Brian Cox, who is now a professor of physics and a television presenter; although Cunnah, as the only official member, normally played keyboards (along with all other instruments) on studio recordings.
D:Ream | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Derry, Northern Ireland |
| Genres | Pop, dance, soul |
| Years active | 1992–1997 2008–present |
| Labels | Magnet Records/FXU Sire/Giant/Warner Bros. Records |
| Website | Official Web Site MySpace Web Site |
| Members | Peter Cunnah Al Mackenzie |
Early career
D:Ream first came to prominence with the euphoric single "U R the Best Thing" in the summer of 1992, an anthemic piano-house tune which did not chart but thanks to a Sasha remix was Pete Tong's Essential Tune of 1992. "Things Can Only Get Better", released in the spring of 1993, gave the group their first chart success. "U R The Best Thing" was eventually re-released in April 1993 and gave the group their second chart hit. The band were nominated for Best Dance act in the MTV Europe music awards in 1994 and for Best Single in the Brit Awards in 1995.
The band's first album, D:Ream on Volume 1, which was promoted for almost two years, produced seven singles ("Star" and "I Like It" came on a joint release as a double A-side). It was the track "Things Can Only Get Better" that gave them UK success and international fame. After they supported Take That on their tour, "Things Can Only Get Better" topped the UK Singles Chart, in early 1994.[1] Originally released in early 1993, when the track reached No. 24 in the UK,[1] it was later adopted by the UK Labour Party as their theme for the 1997 UK General Election, and consequently released for the third time; this time reaching No. 19 on the UK chart.[1]
Between 1992 and 1997, the band released two studio albums, (D:Ream on Volume 1 and World), ten different singles (two of which were released three times), and an official greatest hits album, (The Best of D:Ream). The group's record label released their first compilation, The Best of D:Ream, in 1997 instead of their third studio album, which remains unreleased. In 2006, a second collection was released, for The Platinum Collection series.
When D:Ream broke through into the charts, the band's main touring line-up consisted of core member Peter Cunnah (vocalist, songwriter), Al Mackenzie (musician), and Cian McCarthy. Other main performers included physicist Brian Cox who played keyboards for several years while studying for his physics PhD degree, Derek Chai on bass, and drummer Mark Roberts. The group also used a number of guest vocalists – such as T.J. Davis, who is featured as co-lead vocalist on "The Power (Of All the Love in the World)", one of the singles taken from their second album, as well as providing backing vocals on many other songs.
Reunion, and split-up
In 2008 D:Ream reformed after a chance meeting by Cunnah and Mackenzie. They recorded a new album released in 2011 on their own label User Records and their single, "All Things to All Men" was released on 7 September 2009. They also planned concert dates to follow.[2] Meanwhile, Brian Cox became a physics professor and science broadcaster and is currently working on the Large Hadron Collider project.[3] In late 2010 he announced that he was to provide some keyboard work for the new album, but would not be re-joining the band full-time.[4] As part of their 2012 commitments, the band played main support to Wheatus at the LeeStock Music Festival in Sudbury, Suffolk.[5]
Discography
Studio Albums
| Year | Album title | UK [1] |
AUS [6] |
GER [7] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | D:Ream on Volume 1 | 5 | 12 | 69 | ||
| 1995 | World | 5 | 155 | – | ||
| 2011 | In Memory Of... | – | – | – | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | ||||||
Compilations
| Year | Album title |
|---|---|
| 1997 | The Best of D:Ream |
| 2006 | The Platinum Collection |
| 2011 | Things Can Only Get Better: The Very Best of D:Ream |
Extended Plays
| Title | EP details |
|---|---|
| 4 Things 2 Come |
|
Singles
| Year | Single[8] | Chart position | Album | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [1] |
AUS [6] |
AUT [9] |
BEL (FLA) [10] |
DEN | EUR [11] |
GER [12] |
IRE [13] |
NDL [14] |
NZ [15] |
POR [16] |
SWI [17] |
SWE [18] |
US Dance [19] | |||
| 1992 | "U R the Best Thing" | 72 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | D:ream On Vol. 1 |
| 1993 | "Things Can Only Get Better" | 24 | – | 23 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 7 | |
| "U R the Best Thing" (re-release) | 19 | – | – | 50 | – | 62 | – | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | ||
| "Unforgiven" | 29 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 10 | – | – | – | ||
| "Star / I Like It" | 26 | – | – | – | – | 88 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1994 | "Things Can Only Get Better" (re-release) | 1 | 9 | – | 10 | 19 | 5 | 20 | 2 | 20 | 46 | – | 11 | 7 | – | |
| "U R the Best Thing (Perfecto Remix)" | 4 | 9 | – | 46 | – | 13 | 65 | 6 | 25 | – | – | 35 | – | – | ||
| "Take Me Away" | 18 | 52 | – | – | – | – | – | 30 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| "Blame It on Me" | 25 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1995 | "Shoot Me with Your Love" | 7 | 73 | – | – | – | 26 | 73 | 16 | – | – | – | 45 | – | 4 | World |
| "Party Up the World" | 20 | 122 | – | – | – | – | – | 24 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| "The Power (Of All the Love in the World)" | 40 | 150 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1997 | "Things Can Only Get Better" (re-release) | 19 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | The Best of D:Ream Vol. 1 |
| 2009 | "All Things to All Men" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | In Memory Of... |
| 2010 | "Drop Beatz Not Bombs" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| 2011 | "Gods in the Making" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| "Sleepy Head" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2014 | "Things Can Only Get Better" (re-release) | 66 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | D:ream On Vol. 1 |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | ||||||||||||||||
See also
References
- "Official Charts > Dream". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 29 April 2016. N.B. This page also contains peaks for the group 'Dream'
- "About D:REAM". Myspace. 25 May 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2008.
- "Things have only got better for Brian | Oldham Advertiser – menmedia.co.uk". Oldham Advertiser. 11 April 2007. Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
- "Professor Brian Cox to rejoin D:Ream". BBC News. 19 November 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
- Sky News report. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012
- Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks:
- Top 50 peaks: "australian-charts.com > D:Ream in Australian Charts". Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
- Top 100 peaks to December 2010: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
- "Take Me Away": "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 30 Oct 1994". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved 29 April 2016. N.B. The HP column displays the highest peak reached.
- "Shoot Me with Your Love": "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 08 Oct 1995". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved 6 July 2017.
- "Unforgiven", "Party Up the World" and "The Power (Of All the Love In the World)": "Response from ARIA to chart inquiry, received 5 June 2015". Imgur.com. Archived from the original on 5 June 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
- World: "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 15 July 2015". Imgur.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
- "Offizielle Deutsche Charts > D:Ream – D:Ream on Vol. 1 (album)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
- "Discogs List of Releases". Discogs UK. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
- "Austrian chart". austriancharts.at. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
- Belgian (Flanders region) peaks:
- "Things Can Only Get Better": "Ultratop > D:Ream – Things Can Only Get Better" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
- "U R the Best Thing": "Ultratop > D:Ream – U R the Best Thing" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
- Eurochart Hot 100 singles peaks:
- "Star/I Like It": "Eurochart Hot 100" (PDF). Music & Media. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
- German singles chart peaks:
- "Things Can Only Get Better": "Offizielle Deutsche Charts > D:Ream – Things Can Only Get Better (single)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
- "U R the Best Thing": "Offizielle Deutsche Charts > D:Ream – U R the Best Thing (single)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
- "Shoot Me with Your Love": "Offizielle Deutsche Charts > D:Ream – Shoot Me with Your Love (single)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
- "The Irish Charts – All there is to know > Search results for D:Ream (from irishcharts.ie)". imgur.com. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
- "dutchcharts.nl > Zoeken naar: D:Ream" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
- "New Zealand Chart". charts.nz. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
- Portuguese singles chart peaks:
- "Unforgiven": "Top 10 Portugal" (PDF). Music & Media. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- "Swiss Chart". Swiss Charts. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
- "Swedish chart". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
- "US Dance Club Play Chart". billboard.com. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
External links
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