Nick Laird-Clowes

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

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] [better source needed ] 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]