D:Ream 'Things Can Only Get Better'

Chart Peak: 1 (4 weeks) [24 in 1993]

YouTube

D:Ream had 4 Top 30 hits last year including a No. 23 {sic} with 'Things Can Only Get Better'... A support slot on the Take That tour and a timely re-issue just after Christmas finally drew full attention to this uplifting tune which took the band fronted by Irishman Peter Cunnah to the top of the charts in January 1994

Indeed, by the time the single topped the chart, Peter Cunnah was the only permanent member of the band as his co-founder Al Mackenzie had left after the first release. The one member people have heard of now is of course Professor Brian Cox, who played keyboards for a while (though I don't know whether he appears on this particular track). That and a reunion of the band (who released a new album only last month) might have contributed to extra exposure of this track recently, although in any case I've been spending a lot of time in the muscial world of early 1994 lately and this has been inescapable there.

To be honest, I was pretty indifferent to this song in 1994, not having heard it in 1993, but I really grew to dislike it third time around in 1997 when, as you might know, it was used as a campaign song by Tony Blair. I don't object on any party-political basis, but I stayed up most of the night listening to the election result on the radio and heard this track looped over and over again while they were waiting for Blair to make his victory speech. Even the best song ever would be hard to enjoy under those circumstances and you know what? This isn't the best song ever.

I have to declare myself as a grumpy old curmudgeon who generally doesn't like this sort of self-consciousy positive music anyway, but Cunnah's OTT pseudo-soul singing in the serious intro totally kills its chances. The more he oversells it the more obvious its weaknesses are. If I'd known Professor Cox, he'd have been used to being told to turn down annoying over-intrusive music.

[NB - I lost the original version of this post and had to rewrite it, so I hope there aren't any mistakes.]


Also appearing on: Now 25, 28, 31
Available on: Summer Holiday