D Ream

D:Ream were a Northern Irish pop and dance band of the 1990s. They had a UK Number One hit with "Things Can Only Get Better" in 1993 as well as eight more top 40 hits. They released two albums, both of which reached the top five. The group had an all-male line-up which varied in number, but mainly centred on lead singer Peter Cunnah. One of their former members was Brian Cox who is now a professor of physics and a television presenter.

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 and thanks to the Labour Party election campaign of 1997 became their best known success. "U R The Best Thing" was eventually re-released in April 1993 and gave the group their second chart hit.

Between 1992 and 1997, the period during which they were active, 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). In 2006, a second collection was released, for The Platinum Collection series.

When D:Ream became famous the main members were Peter Cunnah (vocalist, songwriter), Al Mackenzie (musician) and Cian McCarthy (sax), although later the group would become a one man band, exclusively centred upon the singer. Another member, Brian Cox, played keyboards for several years in D:Ream, while studying for his physics PhD degree. Mark Roberts played drums. 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.

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 supporting Take That on their tour, "Things Can Only Get Better" topped the UK Singles Chart, in early 1994. Originally released in late 1993, when the track reached Number 24, 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 getting to Number 19. Despite this, 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.

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.^[1]

Brian Cox became a physics professor and science broadcaster and is currently working on the Large Hadron Collider project.^[2] 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.^[3]

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.

As part of their 2012 commitments, the band played main support to Wheatus at the LeeStock Music Festival in Sudbury, Suffolk.^[4]

Discography

Albums

Singles

See also

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

References

External links

• D:Ream's official website
• EveryHit.com UK Top 40 Database
• Discogs Detailed bio-discography with links to all releases