It’s time to get back to my favorite decade. For the month of March, I’ll be looking back at some of my favorite jams from the 80s. These songs often came to me via MTV or the radio. NYC-area stations WDRE, WPLJ, WNEW, K-ROCK and Z100 introduced me to everything from irresistible pop confections to under-the-radar post-punk anthems. I would not be who I am today if it weren’t for the 80s. It was the decade when I discovered music can be a truly powerful thing. #31DaysOf80sSongs
In the States, The Dream Academy was a band that made a brief, but significant splash with their unique interpretation of early dream pop. You could tell which songs were Dream Academy songs by their ethereal and accessible brand of synth pop. “Life In A Northern Town” transported us to a time and place that seemed surreal. “The Salvation Army band played. And the children drunk lemonade. And the morning lasted all day.” Their cover of The Smiths’ “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want” was a lighter, more buoyant version of the somber original. And then there was their minor hit: “The Edge Of Forever”.
The song may not have received an ounce of publicity if it weren’t for an unforgettable scene toward the end of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. While Ferris Bueller may have immortalized the track, there are a few things about “The Edge Of Forever” that marks it as a true relic of that generation on its own merits. Like “Life In A Northern Town”, the production helped the song to paint a picture. Co-produced by David Gilmour, this one was steeped in euphoric romanticism. It borrowed signature 80’s elements like a sax solo and synth-based instrumentation, but it did so in a way that wasn’t contrived or too familiar. Here, The Dream Academy created a dream state that you could easily get lost in.
“There's a million hearts beating in a row.”