Song · The Dream Academy
“The Love Parade” by The Dream Academy
From the album The Dream Academy (1985)
“The Love Parade” by The Dream Academy appears on 2 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 1985 and 1999. It was first released in 1985 on the album The Dream Academy. Its best result is #81 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1985. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #161 alternative song of 1985 and #6,273 alternative song of all time.
"The Love Parade" was the fourth single the Dream Academy lifted from their 1985 self-titled album, and it's the odd one out on the record. David Gilmour produced everything else; for this one, on the advice of Rough Trade founder Geoff Travis, the band called in Alan Tarney instead, since they had a demo they loved and never got around to cutting it with Gilmour. Nick Laird-Clowes, who wrote it with Gilbert Gabriel and sings lead, credited Tarney with some special tricks, stacking the vocal 12 or 15 times in places.
It sounds nothing like "Life in a Northern Town", either: a brisk, bossa nova-flavored skip, with words that hint at adultery and erotic temptation, edgier than the singles that came before it. Peter Kagan and Paula Greis directed the video, and MTV put it into power rotation.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 81 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1985 | 107 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 749 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) | 1002 |
Also listed as: Love Parade.
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "The Love Parade" by The Dream Academy.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.