Alternative pop-meets-new wavers The Dream Academy formed in London in 1983 and
called in a signature hit with their debut 1985 single, "Life in a Northern
Town". Singer/guitarist Nick Laird-Clowes met keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel in the
late 1970s when the former was a member of The Act and the pair shared a mutual
desire to weave a raft of instruments into their sound, including timpani and
strings, hoping to veer away from the straight-down-the-line power-pop of the
day. After Nick Laird-Clowes met Kate St John at a party in the early '80s, The
Dream Academy was born. The trio ...