Dreamer (Livin' Joy song)

"Dreamer" is a 1994 song recorded by Italian dance group Livin' Joy, featuring vocals by Janice Robinson. It was number one in the US Hot Dance Club Play chart that year.^[1] In May 1995, it entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 1 for one week.^[2]

The song was first released in the United Kingdom in September 1994 and peaked at number 18 in the UK Singles Chart.^[3] After the track saw moderate success and broke the top 20 in the UK, the DJ behind Livin' Joy, Viani DJ, then decided to focus on other projects, namely Alex Party to record "Don't Give Me Your Life". After the success of "Don't Give Me Your Life", he released another single, "Read My Lips", which did not match the success the previous track had achieved, so they returned their focus on Livin' Joy once more and returned with a remix of their original hit "Dreamer". The song was re-released and entered the UK chart at number 1,^[4] beating the out-going number one by Oasis by a narrow margin of just 500 sales.^[5] In the United States, the song was a sleeper hit on pop radio, but finally managed to peak at #72 on the Billboard Hot 100, #38 on Billboard's Rhythmic Top 40 chart, #10 on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart and #40 on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. In mid-1996, "Dreamer" re-entered the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #95

The first version released in 1994 was by US singer Janice Robinson, then when the group was unable to reach a deal with Robinson for a follow up single she was replaced by Doris Diggs AKA Tameka Starr who did a version only found on the group's debut and only released album to date Don't Stop Movin'. Diggs remained the group's singer until their 1999 single "Just for the Sex of It" with plans for a widescale commercial release but due to the public's disinterest it was eventually only released in Australia where it peaked at #76 on the charts and managed to receive a limited club run where it was popular hit in the nightclubs.

Janice Robinson released her own version of Dreamer as a solo artist in 2005 reaching number 5 in the US Dance chart.

Music Video

There are two versions, the first video for the 1994 version had split screen footage of sped up urban cityscapes with a silhouetted female dancer (unclear if this is Janice Robinson) and for the 1995 re-release with a new edit had Janice Robinson performing the song with some scenes on a carousel horse and other scenes on a brass bed and silver foiled background, she also has various changes of wigs and costumes throughout the video. There are certain shots that go from colour to black and white, also inter-cut separately are dancers / models acting out sexualised posse's with one model taking a shower fully clothed and other shots with a model holding and stroking a Chihuahua dog.

Track listing

1994 UK CD single

1. Dreamer (Original Club Mix) 5:37
2. Dreamer (Slo Moshun Mix) 10:37
3. Dreamer (Junior's Sound Factory Mix) 9:47
4. Dreamer (Factory Dub) 7:05
5. Dreamer (Junior's Instrumental) 9:44
6. Dreamer (Radio Mix) 3:38

1994 UK 12" Promo

1. Dreamer (Original Club Mix) 5:39
2. Dreamer (Alex Party Underground Mix) 5:20
3. Dreamer (Piano Mix)

1995 Re-release CD

1. Dreamer (7" Mix) 3:44
2. Dreamer (Original Club Mix) 5:39
3. Dreamer (Rollo's Big Mix) 8:36
4. Dreamer (Loveland's Viva Tenerife Mix) 6:53
5. Dreamer (Junior Vasquez Sound Factory Mix) 8:56
6. Dreamer (Jupiter 12" Collision Mix) 6:01

Matt Helders version

A cover version of the track by Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders was released on his Late Night Tales compilation in 2008. This version features vocals from Nesreen Shah. It was also released as a 7" vinyl single limited to 1000 copies.^[6] Arctic Monkeys lead singer Alex Turner's spoken word story "A Choice Of Three" appears as a b-side.^[7]

See also

• List of number-one dance singles of 1994 (U.S.)

References