The Dream Academy

The airy baroque British pop trio dubbed the Dream Academy emerged in the mid-'80s as one of the leading lights of the psychedelic revival movement. The group was led by vocalist/guitarist Nick Laird-Clowes, a former member of the short-lived Act; also comprised of multi-instumentalist Kate St. John (an alumna of the Ravishing Beauties) and keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel, the Dream Academy issued their eponymously titled debut LP in 1985. Co-produced by David Gilmour, the atmospheric lead single "Life in a Northern Town," an elegy for Nick Drake, quickly reached the Top 20 of the U.K. charts; issued in the U.S. the following year, it became a Top Ten hit.

The trio's follow-up single, "The Love Parade," failed to repeat the success of its predecessor, however, and the band's commercial momentum stalled. After 1987's Remembrance Days quickly dropped from sight, the Dream Academy went into seclusion; when their 1991 comeback, A Different Kind of Weather, failed to restore their chart luster, the group promptly disbanded. In subsequent years St. John was the trio's most visible graduate; in addition to touring with Van Morrison, she teamed with Roger Eno, Bill Nelson, and others in the group Channel Light Vessel, and in 1996 issued her solo debut, Indescribable Night. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi