Your Wildest Dreams

"Your Wildest Dreams"
Single by The Moody Blues
from the album The Other Side of Life
B-side "Talkin' Talkin'"
Released 9 April 1986
Recorded 1985
Genre Pop rock
Length 4:51 (album)
3:51 (single)
Label Polydor Records
Writer(s) Justin Hayward
Producer(s) Tony Visconti
The Moody Blues singles chronology
"Running Water"
(1984)
"Your Wildest Dreams"
(1986)
"The Other Side of Life"
(1986)

"Your Wildest Dreams" is a 1986 single by the progressive rock band the Moody Blues, and it was written by the band's lead singer, principal songwriter and lead guitarist Justin Hayward. The song was first released as a single, and was later released on the Moody Blues 1986 album The Other Side of Life. It was a top-10 hit in the United States, peaking at #9, which had not happened to a Moody Blues song since "Nights in White Satin" in 1972. The song also became an Adult Contemporary number-one hit,[1] and also charted at number two on the Mainstream Rock chart.

The Moody Blues' previous album, The Present, was relatively unsuccessful, although it did contain a couple of moderately successful singles. This caused the Moody Blues to lose some of their popularity among younger audiences. The success of "Your Wildest Dreams" reintroduced the Moody Blues to this younger audience, and their popularity was boosted even higher than before as a result.

With the band moving towards a more electronic sound, the Moody Blues relied less upon band member Ray Thomas and his flute skills—"Your Wildest Dreams" was one of the first singles not to feature Thomas, although he would continue playing flute on their earlier songs at Moody Blues' concerts and being an additional back-up vocalist.

The lyrics of "Your Wildest Dreams" tell the story of a man who is remembering his first love, and wonders if she remembers him the way he remembers her. "Your Wildest Dreams" was followed up by a sequel in 1988. The sequel is titled "I Know You're Out There Somewhere", and it appears on the Moody Blues album Sur la Mer.

A music video was also produced for "Your Wildest Dreams", which received a Billboard Video of the Year award. The video was frequently featured on MTV. The model in the video is Janet Spencer-Turner. The Moody Blues are represented in the video by the British band Mood Six.[2] The video was recognized as the "best overall video" at the Billboard Video Music Conference held in Los Angeles in November 1986. Brian Grant was awarded the top director honor.[3]

Chart positions

Year Chart Position
1986 Adult Contemporary 1
Mainstream Rock Tracks 2
Billboard Hot 100 9
Australian Kent Music Report 20

Personnel

References

  1. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 174.
  2. Unterberger, Richie (2001). "The Moody Blues". In Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, Stephen Thomas Erlewine. All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 243. ISBN 9780879306274.
  3. "Moody Blues Capture Top Video Honors". Billboard 98 (49): 1. 6 December 1986.

External links

Preceded by
"No One Is to Blame" by Howard Jones
Billboard Adult Contemporary (chart) number-one single
July 5, 1986 (2 weeks)
Succeeded by
"Glory of Love" by Peter Cetera