| D:Ream | |
| Origin: | Derry, Northern Ireland |
| Genre: | Pop, dance, soul |
| Years Active: | 1992–1997 2008–present |
| Label: | Magnet Records/FXU Sire/Giant/Warner Bros. Records |
| Current Members: | Peter Cunnah Al Mackenzie Alex Leam |
D:Ream are a British pop and dance group. They had a UK No. 1 hit with "Things Can Only Get Better" in 1994. Eight more top 40 hits followed, including "U R the Best Thing" and "Shoot Me with Your Love". Their two 1990s studio albums reached the UK top five.
The group had a line-up which varied in number, but centred on lead singer Peter Cunnah. The live band included keyboard player Brian Cox, who later became an academic and science broadcaster on television, although Cunnah played keyboards on studio recordings.
In 1992, D:Ream released the single "U R the Best Thing", a piano-house tune which did not chart. However, thanks to a Sasha remix, it 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. "U R The Best Thing" was eventually re-released in April 1993 and was the group's second chart hit. In 1994, they were nominated for Best Dance act in the MTV Europe music awards, and then for Best Single in the 1995 BRIT Awards.
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 they supported Take That on their tour, "Things Can Only Get Better" topped the UK Singles Chart, in early 1994. Originally released in early 1993, when the track reached No. 24 in the UK, it was later adopted by the Labour Party as their theme for the 1997 UK General Election, and consequently released for the third time; this time reaching No. 19 on the UK chart. In May 2024, the same song was played during Rishi Sunak's announcement of a general election in July 2024 by Steve Bray.[1] [2]
The band released two studio albums, D:Ream on Volume 1 (1992) and World (1995), ten different singles, two of which were released three times, and an official greatest hits album, (). In 1997, the group's record label released their first compilation, . In 2006, a second collection was released, for The Platinum Collection series.
When D:Ream broke through into the charts, the band's main touring line-up consisted of core members Peter Cunnah (vocalist, songwriter) and Al Mackenzie (musician). Other main performers included physicist Brian Cox, who played keyboards for several years while working towards his physics PhD before being replaced by Simon Ellis, as well as Derek Chai on bass, Alex Leam on triangle, and drummer Mark Roberts. 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. He also provided backing vocals on many other songs.
In 2008 D:Ream reformed after a chance meeting by Cunnah and Mackenzie. Their single, "All Things to All Men" was released on 7 September 2009 on their own label User Records. They released the album In Memory Of... in 2011. They also planned concert dates to follow.[3] Meanwhile, Brian Cox became a physics professor and science broadcaster who has worked on the Large Hadron Collider project.[4] 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.[5] As part of their 2012 commitments, the band played main support to Wheatus at the LeeStock Music Festival in Sudbury, Suffolk.[6]
On 23 July, 2021 Cunnah and Mackenzie released a new studio album, Open Hearts Open Minds.
The band stated in June 2024 that they regretted the use of the song "Things Can Only Get Better" in political campaigns and would not grant permission for it to be used in future campaigns.[7]
| Year | Album title | UK [8] | AUS | GER [9] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | D:Ream on Volume 1 | 5 | 12 | 69 | |||
| 1995 | World | 5 | 155 | — | |||
| 2011 | In Memory Of... | — | — | — | |||
| 2021 | Open Hearts Open Minds | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||
| Year | Album title | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | ||
| 2006 | The Platinum Collection | |
| 2011 | Things Can Only Get Better: The Very Best of D:Ream |
| Year | Single[10] | Chart position | Album | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | UK Club [11] | AUS [12] | AUT [13] | BEL (FLA) [14] | DEN | EUR [15] | GER [16] | IRE [17] | NDL [18] | NZ [19] | POR [20] | SWI [21] | SWE [22] | US Dance [23] | |||
| 1992 | "U R the Best Thing" | 72 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | D:Ream On Vol. 1 | |
| 1993 | "Things Can Only Get Better" | 24 | – | 23 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 7 | ||
| "U R the Best Thing" (re-release) | 19 | 1 | – | – | 50 | – | 62 | – | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | ||
| "Unforgiven" | 29 | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 10 | – | – | – | ||
| "Star / I Like It" | 26 | – | – | – | – | 88 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| "Things Can Only Get Better" (re-release) | 1 | 14 | 9 | – | 10 | 19 | 5 | 20 | 2 | 20 | 46 | – | 11 | 7 | – | ||
| 1994 | "U R the Best Thing (Perfecto Remix)" | 4 | 7 | 9 | – | 46 | – | 13 | 65 | 6 | 25 | – | – | 35 | – | – | |
| "Take Me Away" | 18 | 9 | 52 | – | – | – | – | – | 30 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| "Blame It on Me" | 25 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 1995 | "Shoot Me with Your Love" | 7 | 73 | – | – | – | 26 | 73 | 16 | – | – | – | 45 | – | 4 | World | |
| "Party Up the World" | 20 | 122 | – | – | – | – | – | 24 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| "The Power (Of All the Love in the World)" | 40 | 150 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 1997 | "Things Can Only Get Better" (re-release) | 19 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | The Best of D:Ream Vol. 1 | |
| 2009 | "All Things to All Men" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | In Memory Of... | |
| 2010 | "Drop Beatz Not Bombs" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2011 | "Gods in the Making" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| "Sleepy Head" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 2014 | "Things Can Only Get Better" (re-release) | 66 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | D:Ream On Vol. 1 | |
| 2021 | "Meet Me at Midnight"[24] | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Open Hearts Open Minds | |
| "Many Hands"[25] | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| "I Used to Believe in Love"[26] | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 2022 | "Pedestal"[27] | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Non-album single | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||||||
