D:Ream are a Northern Irish 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", " Take Me Away" and "

Shoot Me with Your Love "Shoot Me with Your Love" is a song by Northern Ireland, Northern Irish music group D Ream, D:Ream, released in June 1995 by Magnet Records, Magnet and FXU as the first single from their second album, ''World (album), World'' (1995). Co-written b ...

". 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.

Early career

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 Peter Michael Tong (born 30 July 1960) is an English DJ who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as '' Essential Mix'' and '' Essential Selection'' on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio streams, for ...

'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 The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an al ...

, 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 Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...

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 Rishi Sunak (born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2022 to 2024. Following his defeat to Keir Starmer's La ...

's announcement of a general election in July 2024 by

Steve Bray Steven Nicholas Bray (born 26 June 1969) is a British Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrat activist from Port Talbot in South Wales who, in 2018 and 2019, made daily protests against Brexit in College Green, London, College Green, Westmins ...

. The band released two studio albums, '' D:Ream on Volume 1'' (1992) and ''

World The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

'' (1995), ten different

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

, two of which were released three times, and an official

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

, ('' The Best of D:Ream''). In 1997, the group's record label released their first compilation, '' The Best of D:Ream''. 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 A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

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.

Reunion, and split-up

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. Meanwhile, Brian Cox became a

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

professor and science broadcaster who has worked on the

Large Hadron Collider The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It was built by the CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) between 1998 and 2008, in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists, ...

project. 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. As part of their 2012 commitments, the band played main support to

Wheatus Wheatus is an American rock band from Northport, New York, formed in 1995. They are known principally for their 2000 single, "Teenage Dirtbag". They also experienced success with their 2001 cover version of Erasure (duo), Erasure's "A Little ...

at the LeeStock Music Festival in

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, Suffolk. 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.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilations

Extended plays

Singles

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:D-Ream Pop music groups from Northern Ireland Electronic music groups from Northern Ireland Musical groups from Derry (city) Musical groups established in 1992 1992 establishments in Northern Ireland Magnet Records artists Sire Records artists People associated with the 1997 United Kingdom general election