Nick Laird-Clowes
Born (1957-02-05) 5 February 1957
London, England
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar

Nick Laird-Clowes (born 5 February 1957, in London, England) is an English musician and composer, best known as the singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter for The Dream Academy.

Life and career

Laird-Clowes was a member of Alfalpha and The Act[1] before forming The Dream Academy. He was also a presenter for the first series of the Channel 4 music show The Tube.[2]

The Dream Academy formed in 1983.[3][4] Laird-Clowes sang and played guitar for the band[5] and was its primary songwriter.[6] The band's other members were multi-instrumentalist Kate St John and keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel.[4] The Dream Academy is most noted for their 1985 hit single, "Life in a Northern Town" (1985),[7][8] which was a worldwide success and a sizeable hit in the U.S.[3] The band released three albums: The Dream Academy (1985), Remembrance Days (1987)[9] and A Different Kind Of Weather (1990).[7] The Dream Academy disbanded in 1991.[10]

Laird-Clowes released a solo album, Mona Lisa Overdrive, under the name Trashmonk in 1999.[11]

A friend of David Gilmour, with whom he co-produced both The Dream Academy and A Different Kind of Weather albums,[12] Laird-Clowes contributed lyrics to two songs on Pink Floyd's album The Division Bell.[13]

In the 2000s, Laird-Clowes was involved in film and documentary soundtracks. He produced the score for The Invisible Circus (2001), directed by Adam Brooks and starring Cameron Diaz,[14] and was the musical consultant for Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers (2003).[15] Laird-Clowes composed the music for Fierce People (2005), which was directed by Griffin Dunne and starred Diane Lane and Donald Sutherland,[16] and for Wit Licht (2008), directed by Jean van de Velde.[17][18] Nick Broomfield's film Battle for Haditha, which premiered at the London Film Festival in 2007, also had a Laird-Clowes soundtrack.[19][20][21] In June 2009, he scored Broomfield's agitprop documentary for Greenpeace, A Time Comes, featuring the single "Mayday".[22]

In May 2007, Laird-Clowes and Joe Boyd produced a Syd Barrett memorial concert, "The Madcap's Last Laugh", at the Barbican Centre in London; the concert also featured both Pink Floyd and Roger Waters.[23]

In 2013, Laird-Clowes worked as both composer and music consultant for the Richard Curtis directed film, About Time.[21] In 2014, The Dream Academy released a compilation album entitled The Morning Lasted All Day: A Retrospective; it was compiled, annotated, and remastered by Laird-Clowes.[24]

In 2017, Laird-Clowes composed the music for the feature documentary, Whitney: Can I Be Me, directed by Nick Broomfield.[25] In 2019 (and also for Broomfield), he composed the score for the acclaimed Universal film about Leonard Cohen, Marianne & Leonard: Words Of Love.[26]

References

  1. ↑ Harris, Will (7 July 2015). "Interview: Nick Laird-Clowes of The Dream Academy". www.rhino.com.
  2. ↑ Lindores, Mark (14 February 2022). "Remembering The Tube". www.classicpopmag.com.
  3. 1 2 "Biography: The Dream Academy". AllMusic.com.
  4. 1 2 Smith, Christopher (12 September 2020). "WHERE ARE THEY NOW? The Dream Academy".
  5. ↑ "The Dream Academy special Gilbert Gabriel". www.c86show.org. 2 October 2022.
  6. ↑ "Lunchtime with Joe on Monday 6th September from 12noon with Nick Laird-Clowes (Dream Academy), Andy McCluskey (OMD) and Ruth Lear". northmanchester.fm. 31 August 2021.
  7. 1 2 Kamau, Eric (18 September 2022). "Top 10 Songs From The Dream Academy".
  8. ↑ Jamison, Darren (7 March 2023). "100 Greatest Songs from 1986 - Singersroom.com".
  9. ↑ "The Dream Academy". iHeart.
  10. ↑ Goodwin, Stuart (15 February 2012). "Old Music: The Dream Academy – Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (Instrumental)" – via The Guardian.
  11. ↑ "MOJO Time Machine: Dream Academy Break Big With Life In A Northern Town". Mojo. 20 June 2022.
  12. ↑ Miles, Barry; Mabbett, Andy (1994). Pink Floyd - The Visual Documentary. Omnibus. ISBN 0-7119-4109-2.
  13. ↑ Mabbett, Andy (2010). Pink Floyd - The Music and the Mystery. Omnibus. ISBN 978-1-84938-370-7.
  14. ↑ "UNEVEN `CIRCUS' HAS MOMENTS OF CLARITY, TRUTH". Courant.com. 2 February 2001.
  15. ↑ "The Dreamers - Original Soundtrack - Credits" – via www.allmusic.com.
  16. ↑ Rabinowitz, Mark (28 April 2005). "Fierce People". ScreenDaily.com.
  17. ↑ "INTERVIEWS WITH ACTORS AND FILMMAKERS". FILM TALK. 27 September 2016.
  18. ↑ "Film Music Site - Wit Licht Soundtrack". www.filmmusicsite.com.
  19. ↑ D'Arcy, David (1 October 2007). "Battle for Haditha". ScreenDaily.com.
  20. ↑ "Nick Laird-Clowes - Battle for Haditha Album Reviews, Songs & More" – via www.allmusic.com.
  21. 1 2 http://www.emimusicpub.com/worldwide/artist_profile/nick-laird-clowes_profile.html Archived June 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  22. ↑ "Behind the scenes of Nick Broomfield's A Time Comes". 30 May 2009 – via The Guardian.
  23. ↑ Greene, Andy (27 September 2016). "Flashback: Pink Floyd Honor Syd Barrett at Final Concert".
  24. ↑ "Real Gone Music - News - The Dream Academy". Real Gone Music. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  25. ↑ Dalton, Stephen (26 April 2017). "'Whitney: Can I Be Me': Film Review". Hollywood Reporter.
  26. ↑ McCarthy, Todd (29 January 2019). "'Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love': Film Review". Hollywood Reporter.
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