WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.299 Welcome back to another Deep Dive. Today we are 00:00:03.299 --> 00:00:06.519 taking a close look at a late 1960s Australian 00:00:06.519 --> 00:00:09.279 band called New Dream. Though they originally 00:00:09.279 --> 00:00:11.160 started out under the name The Dream. Right, 00:00:11.179 --> 00:00:13.500 exactly. Now, if you were sitting there wondering 00:00:13.500 --> 00:00:15.939 why we're devoting an entire Deep Dive to a, 00:00:15.960 --> 00:00:18.980 you know, relatively obscure pop group from over 00:00:18.980 --> 00:00:21.260 half a century ago. That's a fair question. It 00:00:21.260 --> 00:00:24.019 is. But it's because their specific trajectory 00:00:24.019 --> 00:00:28.300 offers a surprisingly perfect shortcut to understanding 00:00:28.300 --> 00:00:31.010 the brutal structural mechanics of the music 00:00:31.010 --> 00:00:33.649 industry. Yeah, absolutely. We have a wonderfully 00:00:33.649 --> 00:00:36.609 detailed Wikipedia article serving as our source 00:00:36.609 --> 00:00:38.990 material today. It covers their formation, their 00:00:38.990 --> 00:00:41.710 discography, and their chart performance. But 00:00:41.710 --> 00:00:43.810 our mission here is to read between those lines. 00:00:43.929 --> 00:00:46.250 And look at the bigger picture. Exactly. We're 00:00:46.250 --> 00:00:48.369 using this single case study to extract some 00:00:48.369 --> 00:00:50.850 hard truths about how artists pivot to chase 00:00:50.850 --> 00:00:53.570 trends, the highly engineered economy of commercial 00:00:53.570 --> 00:00:55.929 pop, and exactly what happens when a musical 00:00:55.929 --> 00:00:59.479 genre simply ages out. It really is a flawless 00:00:59.479 --> 00:01:02.619 microcosm of the pop music machine. If you picture 00:01:02.619 --> 00:01:04.819 the backdrop for this deep dive, I want you to 00:01:04.819 --> 00:01:09.359 imagine a vintage, late 1960s Melbourne discotheque. 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:12.060 Oh, I can picture it. Right. You have fading, 00:01:12.140 --> 00:01:14.560 psychedelic concert posters peeling off the brick 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:17.920 walls, dim, smoky lighting, and a cramped stage 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:20.040 where local musicians are just sweating through 00:01:20.040 --> 00:01:22.739 their sets. Yeah. This is that exact historical 00:01:22.739 --> 00:01:26.319 moment when the raw, organic energy of a local 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:29.500 live club scene collides head -on with the highly 00:01:29.500 --> 00:01:31.780 calculated, heavily produced, and incredibly 00:01:31.780 --> 00:01:34.459 lucrative world of commercial pop music. Which 00:01:34.459 --> 00:01:36.879 is such a massive shift. It is. It is the perfect 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:38.780 setting for understanding the tension between 00:01:38.780 --> 00:01:41.299 artistic authenticity and mainstream viability. 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:44.000 That tension is exactly what makes this story 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:46.760 so compelling to me. is not just a timeline of 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:48.719 record releases, it's a look at the ambition 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:51.640 and the compromises of young musicians navigating 00:01:51.640 --> 00:01:54.500 a rapidly corporatizing industry. Yeah. Okay, 00:01:54.540 --> 00:01:56.060 let's unpack this. Let's trace this back to the 00:01:56.060 --> 00:01:58.840 origin point in late 1967 in Melbourne, Australia. 00:01:59.480 --> 00:02:02.000 The band doesn't just spontaneously form. They 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:04.599 are actually the result of a merger between two 00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:07.700 rival local pop bands. Which is always a recipe 00:02:07.700 --> 00:02:09.699 for drama. Oh, absolutely. You have a group called 00:02:09.699 --> 00:02:12.539 The Changing Times joining forces with members 00:02:12.539 --> 00:02:15.199 of a group called The Final Four. From The Changing 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:17.819 Times, we get Alex Cadell, who also went by Alex 00:02:17.819 --> 00:02:20.580 Opitz on bass and lead vocals, and Jenny Johnston 00:02:20.580 --> 00:02:23.120 on the organ. Right. And the source material 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:26.219 provides a detail here that immediately complicates 00:02:26.219 --> 00:02:29.340 the dynamic. Cadell and Johnson were notably 00:02:29.340 --> 00:02:32.280 sometime domestic partners. Just huge. Yeah. 00:02:32.539 --> 00:02:34.780 And they take that dynamic and bring in the guys 00:02:34.780 --> 00:02:38.099 from the Final Four. Mark Archer on drums, Jack 00:02:38.099 --> 00:02:40.699 McGrath and Peter Nicole on guitars, and Terry 00:02:40.699 --> 00:02:43.020 Sturzker on bass. They merge it all together 00:02:43.020 --> 00:02:46.300 and call themselves The Dream. Merging two rival 00:02:46.300 --> 00:02:49.479 local bands is hard enough on its own, but doing 00:02:49.479 --> 00:02:51.879 it with your romantic partner is basically setting 00:02:51.879 --> 00:02:54.280 up a psychological pressure cooker. I can only 00:02:54.280 --> 00:02:56.580 imagine. It is almost like a local Melbourne 00:02:56.580 --> 00:02:59.719 discotheque version of Fleetwood Mac. You have 00:02:59.719 --> 00:03:02.419 a classic supergroup scenario on a micro level. 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:05.659 You are taking the established egos and big personalities 00:03:05.659 --> 00:03:08.740 from two competing bands and trying to mash them 00:03:08.740 --> 00:03:11.500 into one cohesive unit. That alone guarantees 00:03:11.500 --> 00:03:13.860 friction. But then you layer in the fact that 00:03:13.860 --> 00:03:16.180 Cadell and Johnston are domestic partners trying 00:03:16.180 --> 00:03:18.960 to navigate this newly merged professional environment. 00:03:19.219 --> 00:03:21.460 And they're out there playing every night. Exactly. 00:03:21.460 --> 00:03:23.719 They are cutting their teeth on the local club 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:26.819 circuit. The sheer intensity of trying to stand 00:03:26.819 --> 00:03:29.800 out in a crowded local scene, integrating different 00:03:29.800 --> 00:03:33.139 playing styles and doing it all while managing 00:03:33.139 --> 00:03:36.020 a romantic relationship within the band. It is 00:03:36.020 --> 00:03:38.439 a massive crucible for any group of musicians. 00:03:38.819 --> 00:03:41.419 It has to be the ultimate test of both the relationship 00:03:41.419 --> 00:03:44.199 and. the music. But whatever they were doing 00:03:44.199 --> 00:03:46.219 in those sweaty Melbourne clubs, it was clearly 00:03:46.219 --> 00:03:49.139 working. It definitely was. Because early on, 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:51.900 they had a very distinct, cohesive sound that 00:03:51.900 --> 00:03:55.460 was heavily influenced by R &B and soul. By 1968, 00:03:55.780 --> 00:03:57.599 they signed with Festival Records and put out 00:03:57.599 --> 00:04:00.919 a single. It is a cover of Al Wilson's Who Could 00:04:00.919 --> 00:04:03.120 Be Loving You. A classic. And on the B -side, 00:04:03.180 --> 00:04:05.560 they laid out a rendition of Cannonball Adderley's 00:04:05.560 --> 00:04:09.280 1966 hit Mercy, Mercy, Mercy. That's a serious 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:11.860 track to tackle. It is. And these tracks were 00:04:11.860 --> 00:04:14.800 even re -released on a split extended play, sharing 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:16.360 the record with another band on the festival 00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:19.800 label called Campact. So they are really establishing 00:04:19.800 --> 00:04:23.379 themselves as a gritty, credible R &B club band, 00:04:23.579 --> 00:04:26.579 leaning hard into the Hammond organ and driving 00:04:26.579 --> 00:04:29.240 bass lines. Yeah. And that credibility leads 00:04:29.240 --> 00:04:31.800 to a massive break. Which is the ultimate validation 00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:35.910 for a live band. Exactly. In January 1968, The 00:04:35.910 --> 00:04:39.009 dream lands a support slot for two absolute titans 00:04:39.009 --> 00:04:42.110 visiting from the United Kingdom, the Who and 00:04:42.110 --> 00:04:45.410 the Small Faces. Wow! Right? Picture the sheer 00:04:45.410 --> 00:04:49.209 thrill of that moment. You are a local band grinding 00:04:49.209 --> 00:04:51.329 it out in front of maybe 100 people a night, 00:04:51.389 --> 00:04:53.529 and suddenly you are walking out onto a stage 00:04:53.529 --> 00:04:56.209 to open for the Who. That is life -changing. 00:04:56.410 --> 00:04:57.930 It must have felt like absolute confirmation 00:04:57.930 --> 00:05:00.509 that their R &B sound was the ticket to global 00:05:00.509 --> 00:05:03.040 superstardom. Opening for international acts 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:05.300 of that specific caliber proved something very 00:05:05.300 --> 00:05:06.980 important about The Dream at that moment. They 00:05:06.980 --> 00:05:10.139 had serious live chops. You do not get put on 00:05:10.139 --> 00:05:12.379 a bill with The Who unless you have the stage 00:05:12.379 --> 00:05:15.740 presence and the raw musical energy to hold a 00:05:15.740 --> 00:05:18.540 massive audience's attention. The small faces 00:05:18.540 --> 00:05:21.420 and The Who were known for blistering, aggressive 00:05:21.420 --> 00:05:25.040 live performances. So The Dream was clearly operating 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:28.269 at a very high level of musicianship. But as 00:05:28.269 --> 00:05:30.009 the history of the music industry constantly 00:05:30.009 --> 00:05:33.110 reminds us, having a phenomenal live show and 00:05:33.110 --> 00:05:36.009 a critically respected R &B sound does not always 00:05:36.009 --> 00:05:38.290 translate to long -term commercial dominance. 00:05:38.610 --> 00:05:41.329 Yeah, that is the hard truth. The entire landscape 00:05:41.329 --> 00:05:44.310 of pop music was shifting underneath their feet. 00:05:44.490 --> 00:05:46.050 And here's where it gets really interesting. 00:05:46.209 --> 00:05:49.730 Because in March of 1969, they make a massive 00:05:49.730 --> 00:05:52.379 fundamental pivot. They changed their name from 00:05:52.379 --> 00:05:54.579 The Dream to New Dream. Just adding the new. 00:05:54.819 --> 00:05:56.540 Yeah, but it's not just a fresh coat of paint. 00:05:56.680 --> 00:05:58.720 They completely abandoned their R &B and soul 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:00.600 roots. Completely. They throw out the Cannonball 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:02.959 Adderley covers and fully embrace bubblegum pop. 00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:05.839 Wait, so they just dropped the gritty R &B overnight? 00:06:06.300 --> 00:06:08.660 You would think the local fans who saw them play 00:06:08.660 --> 00:06:10.899 those sweaty club gigs would completely reject 00:06:10.899 --> 00:06:13.500 that kind of corporate pivot. Why make such a 00:06:13.500 --> 00:06:16.019 drastic change? What's fascinating here is that 00:06:16.019 --> 00:06:19.139 it seems baffling from a purely artistic standpoint. 00:06:19.819 --> 00:06:21.959 But if you look at the economics of the late 00:06:21.959 --> 00:06:25.459 1960s music industry, it makes perfect sense. 00:06:25.639 --> 00:06:27.379 OK, break that down for us. The industry does 00:06:27.379 --> 00:06:29.920 not run on stage presence. It runs on record 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:33.620 sales. Bubblegum pop was emerging as this incredibly 00:06:33.620 --> 00:06:37.199 lucrative, highly targeted genre designed specifically 00:06:37.199 --> 00:06:40.120 for a demographic with massive purchasing power. 00:06:40.500 --> 00:06:44.800 Teenagers and preteens is upbeat. It is aggressively 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:47.600 cheerful. And most importantly, it is heavily 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:50.709 sanitized. By changing their name to New Dream 00:06:50.709 --> 00:06:53.689 and shifting their entire repertoire, they are 00:06:53.689 --> 00:06:55.949 making a calculated business decision. They're 00:06:55.949 --> 00:06:58.069 following the money. They are essentially signaling 00:06:58.069 --> 00:07:00.449 to Festal Records and the broader industry that 00:07:00.449 --> 00:07:02.730 they are adaptable and they want a piece of that 00:07:02.730 --> 00:07:05.149 mainstream hit -making market share. And the 00:07:05.149 --> 00:07:07.149 label immediately puts them to work. Following 00:07:07.149 --> 00:07:09.290 this massive identity shift, Festival Records 00:07:09.290 --> 00:07:11.629 starts rapidly issuing singles. We're talking 00:07:11.629 --> 00:07:15.050 yours until tomorrow in April 1969, and then 00:07:15.050 --> 00:07:17.490 right on its heels, Catching Up on Fun in July 00:07:17.490 --> 00:07:21.589 1969. Back to back. Yeah. And the titles alone, 00:07:21.810 --> 00:07:24.350 I mean, Catching Up on Fun, tell you everything 00:07:24.350 --> 00:07:27.790 you need to know about the new vibe. It is worlds 00:07:27.790 --> 00:07:30.970 away from the soul of Mercy, Mercy, Mercy. The 00:07:30.970 --> 00:07:32.990 strategy behind releasing yours until tomorrow 00:07:32.990 --> 00:07:35.430 and catching up on fun just three months apart 00:07:35.430 --> 00:07:38.629 is textbook pop music marketing. How so? The 00:07:38.629 --> 00:07:41.589 economy of bubblegum pop relies on constant saturation. 00:07:41.949 --> 00:07:44.529 You do not give the teenage audience time to 00:07:44.529 --> 00:07:46.629 forget about you. You keep hitting them with 00:07:46.629 --> 00:07:49.089 these short, sweet, easily digestible tracks 00:07:49.089 --> 00:07:51.389 to capture and hold their attention. Right. Keep 00:07:51.389 --> 00:07:53.860 feet of the machine. It is a manufactured approach 00:07:53.860 --> 00:07:56.100 to fame. They are moving away from the organic, 00:07:56.180 --> 00:07:59.180 improvisational feel of the live R &B discotheque 00:07:59.180 --> 00:08:01.439 and stepping into the highly engineered, tightly 00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:03.680 controlled world of the three -minute hit single. 00:08:03.879 --> 00:08:08.240 Moving into 1970 and 1971, the band reaches peak 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:10.819 saturation. And honestly, the calculation actually 00:08:10.819 --> 00:08:13.420 pays off. Now there are some lineup changes along 00:08:13.420 --> 00:08:15.360 the way to tighten up the sound. They bring in 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:17.500 John Dubois on bass guitar and Peter Reed on 00:08:17.500 --> 00:08:20.319 drums, joining Johnston, Cadell, and McGrath. 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:23.300 A fresh rhythm section. Yeah. And with this newly 00:08:23.300 --> 00:08:25.600 finalized lineup, they release a single in March 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:29.819 1970 called The Groupie. Now, here is a fascinating 00:08:29.819 --> 00:08:32.899 detail about the mechanics of this era. The song 00:08:32.899 --> 00:08:35.240 was actually written by a United States songwriter 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:38.019 named James E. Buzz Kaysen, and it was originally 00:08:38.019 --> 00:08:40.919 performed by a U .S. group called the Four Fuller 00:08:40.919 --> 00:08:43.940 Brothers. Right. But New Dream's localized version 00:08:43.940 --> 00:08:46.960 takes off in Australia, hitting the top 30 on 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:49.700 the Go Set National Top 40. We need to pause 00:08:49.700 --> 00:08:52.240 and unpack the significance of Go Set here because 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:54.440 it is crucial to understanding how bubblegum 00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:56.899 pop operates. Oh, definitely. Go Set was the 00:08:56.899 --> 00:08:59.480 definitive Australian pop music newspaper at 00:08:59.480 --> 00:09:02.620 the time. Before streaming data or digital algorithms, 00:09:02.940 --> 00:09:05.259 print media was the primary metric for measuring 00:09:05.259 --> 00:09:07.460 public engagement. Yeah. Hitting their national 00:09:07.460 --> 00:09:10.460 top 40 chart based on sales is a big deal. But 00:09:10.460 --> 00:09:12.460 what is even more critical for a bubblegum pop 00:09:12.460 --> 00:09:15.299 band are the Go Set pop polls. These were reader 00:09:15.299 --> 00:09:17.360 determined polls where the fans mailed in their 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:19.720 votes. Right. Reader polls measure a very different 00:09:19.720 --> 00:09:22.960 kind of success than live club attendance. Precisely. 00:09:23.309 --> 00:09:26.389 A gritty R &B band survives on how many people 00:09:26.389 --> 00:09:29.789 buy tickets to the gig on a Friday night. A bubblegum 00:09:29.789 --> 00:09:32.509 pop band survives on fanaticism. That's a great 00:09:32.509 --> 00:09:34.769 way to put it. They survive on teenagers cutting 00:09:34.769 --> 00:09:37.090 out photos from a magazine and mailing in ballots. 00:09:37.590 --> 00:09:41.429 The Go Set Pop polls were a direct quantifiable 00:09:41.429 --> 00:09:44.309 line to how intensely the demographic was responding 00:09:44.309 --> 00:09:46.929 to their newly manufactured image. And the demographic 00:09:46.929 --> 00:09:50.110 was absolutely eating it up. They were. In that 00:09:50.110 --> 00:09:53.539 1970 Go Set Pop poll. New Dream was voted the 00:09:53.539 --> 00:09:55.940 number three group in the entire country. Wow. 00:09:56.419 --> 00:09:59.200 Cadel hit number four for male vocalists, Dubois 00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:01.720 hit number six for guitarists, and Reed hit number 00:10:01.720 --> 00:10:03.639 six for drummers. Yeah. They went from being 00:10:03.639 --> 00:10:06.580 a respected local opener to dominating the national 00:10:06.580 --> 00:10:09.019 cultural conversation. Which demonstrates the 00:10:09.019 --> 00:10:11.519 ruthless efficiency of their pivot. They essentially 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:13.620 looked at the market, identified exactly what 00:10:13.620 --> 00:10:15.799 the industry was demanding, engineered their 00:10:15.799 --> 00:10:18.299 sound and image to match it perfectly, and were 00:10:18.299 --> 00:10:21.580 rewarded with intense brand loyalty and top tier 00:10:21.580 --> 00:10:24.279 chart positions. From a purely commercial standpoint, 00:10:24.620 --> 00:10:27.299 it was a masterstroke of adaptation. Was it a 00:10:27.299 --> 00:10:29.480 masterstroke, though? I mean, sure, they got 00:10:29.480 --> 00:10:31.740 the chart success and the magazine covers, but 00:10:31.740 --> 00:10:34.629 it feels like a double edged sword. They achieved 00:10:34.629 --> 00:10:37.789 this massive peak, but it completely destroyed 00:10:37.789 --> 00:10:40.049 their longevity. That is the inherent trade -off. 00:10:40.129 --> 00:10:42.769 You trade long -term artistic credibility for 00:10:42.769 --> 00:10:46.269 immediate explosive commercial impact. And to 00:10:46.269 --> 00:10:48.789 their credit, they rode that explosion to its 00:10:48.789 --> 00:10:51.070 absolute limit. Yeah, they really did. Yeah. 00:10:51.129 --> 00:10:54.710 That limit hits in May 1971 when they release 00:10:54.710 --> 00:10:57.529 their highest charting hit ever, a song called 00:10:57.529 --> 00:11:00.250 Soft Delights, which peats at number 21. That's 00:11:00.250 --> 00:11:02.269 huge. And again, we see the mechanics of the 00:11:02.269 --> 00:11:04.840 global pop machine at work. The song wasn't an 00:11:04.840 --> 00:11:07.139 organic creation born out of a jam session. It 00:11:07.139 --> 00:11:09.139 was written by Mike Chabon, an Australian -born, 00:11:09.240 --> 00:11:11.820 UK -based writer. Yes. It was initially performed 00:11:11.820 --> 00:11:14.659 by his early UK group, Tangerine Peel. New Dream 00:11:14.659 --> 00:11:16.649 acquires the track. filters it through their 00:11:16.649 --> 00:11:19.070 polished bubblegum pop machine, and it becomes 00:11:19.070 --> 00:11:21.370 their defining hit. This is the era of the global 00:11:21.370 --> 00:11:23.909 session writer. Writers like Mike Chapman in 00:11:23.909 --> 00:11:26.470 the U .K. or Buzz Kasin in the U .S. were churning 00:11:26.470 --> 00:11:30.029 out these highly calibrated pop songs and labels 00:11:30.029 --> 00:11:33.450 would use local bands like New Dream as interchangeable 00:11:33.450 --> 00:11:36.990 regional vehicles to localize these hits for 00:11:36.990 --> 00:11:39.250 different markets. It's so systematic. It really 00:11:39.250 --> 00:11:41.789 is. When you look at the go set pop poll results 00:11:41.789 --> 00:11:44.970 for 1971, you see the true peak of this highly 00:11:45.159 --> 00:11:48.679 formulaic ecosystem. Jenny Johnston reaches number 00:11:48.679 --> 00:11:51.580 five in the female category and the single Soft 00:11:51.580 --> 00:11:54.639 Delights hits number seven. They found the ultimate 00:11:54.639 --> 00:11:57.080 formula. take an internationally written upbeat 00:11:57.080 --> 00:12:00.200 pop song give it a polished local face and maximize 00:12:00.200 --> 00:12:02.399 the fan engagement so they have successfully 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:05.820 navigated a complex band merger completely discarded 00:12:05.820 --> 00:12:08.440 their original genre rebranded their entire identity 00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:11.440 localized international tracks and climbed to 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:13.320 the top of the national print bowls an incredible 00:12:13.320 --> 00:12:16.120 run so what does this all mean because just as 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:18.120 quickly as they manufactured the success the 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:20.639 entire thing unravels we hit 1972 and the bubble 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:23.220 gum bubble just bursts despite releasing a few 00:12:23.220 --> 00:12:25.529 more charting singles They had a track called 00:12:25.529 --> 00:12:28.629 Candy Love in September 71, and another called 00:12:28.629 --> 00:12:33.570 Turn 21 in March 72. The group suddenly splinters. 00:12:33.929 --> 00:12:38.230 By late 1972, they disband. That fast? Cadell 00:12:38.230 --> 00:12:40.710 decides to try solo career, and the drummer, 00:12:40.830 --> 00:12:42.870 Peter Reed, goes off to join a completely different 00:12:42.870 --> 00:12:45.730 group called Gary Young's Hot Dog. The hit -making 00:12:45.730 --> 00:12:48.980 machine just shuts down overnight. This highlights 00:12:48.980 --> 00:12:51.779 the immense danger of tying your entire professional 00:12:51.779 --> 00:12:54.720 identity to a highly specific transient musical 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:57.960 trend. Bubblegum pop, by its very structural 00:12:57.960 --> 00:13:00.879 definition, is ephemeral. It is designed to be 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:03.220 consumed rapidly and then discarded the moment 00:13:03.220 --> 00:13:05.879 the next flavor is introduced. The problem with 00:13:05.879 --> 00:13:08.220 targeting a preteen and teenage demographic is 00:13:08.220 --> 00:13:10.399 that your audience inevitably grows up. Their 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:12.700 tastes mature. They move on. And suddenly that 00:13:12.700 --> 00:13:15.139 aggressively upbeat, sugary sound that made you 00:13:15.139 --> 00:13:18.039 famous feels incredibly dated. The culture moves 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:20.480 on. And because you abandon your original R &B 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:22.519 credibility, you have no foundation to fall back 00:13:22.519 --> 00:13:24.720 on. Yeah, that's the tragedy of it. But if we 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:27.379 connect this to the bigger picture. What makes 00:13:27.379 --> 00:13:29.879 the decline of New Dream so uniquely fascinating 00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:33.139 is not just that they broke up. It is the highly 00:13:33.139 --> 00:13:35.960 unusual timing of their biggest physical release. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:37.820 Oh, this is where the timeline gets completely 00:13:37.820 --> 00:13:41.159 surreal. In 1973, they released their debut album. 00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:44.159 It is their sole eponymous studio album, simply 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:46.840 titled New Dream, and it is produced by a well 00:13:46.840 --> 00:13:49.720 -known figure named Brian Catt. Right. But if 00:13:49.720 --> 00:13:52.159 you are tracking the dates, you realize the glaring 00:13:52.159 --> 00:13:55.850 issue here. They broke up in late 1972. They 00:13:55.850 --> 00:13:58.230 release their definitive, self -titled, full 00:13:58.230 --> 00:14:00.750 -length studio album after the band has already 00:14:00.750 --> 00:14:03.470 completely ceased to exist. It is such a strange, 00:14:03.490 --> 00:14:05.830 almost ghostly artifact in pop music history. 00:14:06.070 --> 00:14:08.350 Usually a debut album is a living, breathing 00:14:08.350 --> 00:14:10.789 document. Exactly. It is something a band releases 00:14:10.789 --> 00:14:12.950 to define their current era, something they tour 00:14:12.950 --> 00:14:14.870 behind, something they use to build momentum. 00:14:15.330 --> 00:14:17.809 But here, the label is dropping a full -length 00:14:17.809 --> 00:14:19.929 collection of music into the market for a group 00:14:19.929 --> 00:14:21.710 that has already splintered, packed up their 00:14:21.710 --> 00:14:25.480 gear, and moved on to other projects. this posthumous 00:14:25.480 --> 00:14:27.960 album actually sounded like, I want to read a 00:14:27.960 --> 00:14:31.700 vibrant, incredibly specific quote from Australian 00:14:31.700 --> 00:14:34.720 musicologist Ian McFarlane. I love this quote. 00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:38.000 It's so good. He describes the 1973 album as, 00:14:38.019 --> 00:14:41.240 quote, a gloriously camp mix of the band's bubblegum 00:14:41.240 --> 00:14:44.519 hits, easy listening pop fluff replete with sweet 00:14:44.519 --> 00:14:47.320 harmonies and schmaltz strings, end quote. That 00:14:47.320 --> 00:14:49.700 description is so perfectly evocative. When he 00:14:49.700 --> 00:14:52.659 uses a term like schmaltz strings, you immediately 00:14:52.659 --> 00:14:54.840 know exactly what he means. If I break that down 00:14:54.840 --> 00:14:56.759 for the listener, what does that actually mean 00:14:56.759 --> 00:14:58.720 musically, especially compared to where they 00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:01.419 started? When you hear schmaltz strings, imagine 00:15:01.419 --> 00:15:05.159 those overly dramatic, syrupy, heavily synthesized 00:15:05.159 --> 00:15:07.659 orchestral backgrounds you would hear in a melodramatic 00:15:07.659 --> 00:15:10.580 1970s soap opera or an elevator. Oh yeah, I can 00:15:10.580 --> 00:15:12.840 hear it now. It is heavily arranged, incredibly 00:15:12.840 --> 00:15:15.639 safe, and designed to offend absolutely no one. 00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:19.779 is the exact polar opposite of the raw, driving 00:15:19.779 --> 00:15:22.000 Hammond organ and the gritty bass playing they 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:24.279 were utilizing when they opened for The Who just 00:15:24.279 --> 00:15:26.940 five years earlier. That's day and night. McFarlane 00:15:26.940 --> 00:15:30.679 calling it easy listening pop fluff and a gloriously 00:15:30.679 --> 00:15:33.940 camp mix highlights exactly what the album was. 00:15:34.490 --> 00:15:36.570 It was a time capsule of a trend that had already 00:15:36.570 --> 00:15:39.350 peaked and died. It was campy because it was 00:15:39.350 --> 00:15:41.769 so aggressively cheerful at a time when the broader 00:15:41.769 --> 00:15:44.789 cultural appetite of the mid 1970s was already 00:15:44.789 --> 00:15:47.970 shifting toward heavier rock, funk and more complex, 00:15:48.190 --> 00:15:50.850 cynical sounds. It's almost like a monument to 00:15:50.850 --> 00:15:53.120 a sound that no longer existed. And the story 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:56.019 has one final gasp, a tiny postscript that proves 00:15:56.019 --> 00:15:58.759 you really cannot go backward. Right. In 1974, 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:01.720 Johnston and Goodell actually attempt a brief 00:16:01.720 --> 00:16:04.159 reunion. They get the name back together and 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:06.179 release two final singles for Astor Records. 00:16:06.360 --> 00:16:08.679 Yeah. One is called I Can't Stop Dancing, and 00:16:08.679 --> 00:16:11.120 the other is just wonderfully absurdly titled 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:13.519 Schlick Schlack Boom Boom. Schlick Schlack Boom 00:16:13.519 --> 00:16:15.460 Boom is perhaps the most desperate attempt at 00:16:15.460 --> 00:16:18.120 a bubblegum pop title I have ever heard. Exactly. 00:16:18.299 --> 00:16:20.779 But the magic was completely gone. The audience 00:16:20.779 --> 00:16:23.610 had moved on. Ian McFarlane had a rather brutal 00:16:23.610 --> 00:16:25.809 but entirely accurate assessment of this 1974 00:16:25.809 --> 00:16:28.590 reunion attempt. He simply noted that by that 00:16:28.590 --> 00:16:30.789 stage, the band's bubblegum pop sound had become 00:16:30.789 --> 00:16:33.789 entirely outmoded. obsolescence in the music 00:16:33.789 --> 00:16:38.090 industry is rarely a slow graceful fade it is 00:16:38.090 --> 00:16:40.690 usually a sudden jarring realization that your 00:16:40.690 --> 00:16:42.850 formula simply does not compute with the culture 00:16:42.850 --> 00:16:46.529 anymore yeah the 1974 singles are a fascinating 00:16:46.529 --> 00:16:48.990 study in trying to recapture lightning in a bottle 00:16:48.990 --> 00:16:51.850 they tried to revive the exact formula that brought 00:16:51.850 --> 00:16:54.850 them go set glory in 1970 but you cannot force 00:16:54.850 --> 00:16:56.990 the culture to regress the teenagers who voted 00:16:56.990 --> 00:16:58.490 for them three years prior were listening to 00:16:58.490 --> 00:17:00.950 different bands now they grew up exactly the 00:17:00.950 --> 00:17:03.580 disco sex they to play had evolved. The sound 00:17:03.580 --> 00:17:06.660 was just outmoded. Bringing this entire journey 00:17:06.660 --> 00:17:08.980 into focus for you, it is just an incredibly 00:17:08.980 --> 00:17:12.660 compressed, wild ride that reveals so much about 00:17:12.660 --> 00:17:15.299 how the industry operates. We started in the 00:17:15.299 --> 00:17:18.640 sweaty, gritty local discotheques of 1967 Melbourne 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:21.519 with domestic partners and rival bands merging 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:24.059 to form an R &B outfit credible enough to open 00:17:24.059 --> 00:17:26.559 for The Who. A great start. Then we watched them 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:29.240 make a highly calculated overnight pivot. tossing 00:17:29.240 --> 00:17:30.819 out their credibility to engineer themselves 00:17:30.819 --> 00:17:33.960 into a polished, ballgum pop hit machine that 00:17:33.960 --> 00:17:36.599 dominated the national reader polls and localized 00:17:36.599 --> 00:17:39.599 global hits. And finally, we saw them crash into 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:42.400 sudden obsolescence, releasing their only studio 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:45.019 album after they didn't even exist anymore, and 00:17:45.019 --> 00:17:47.420 failing to recapture the spark in a landscape 00:17:47.420 --> 00:17:50.019 that had completely left them behind. This deep 00:17:50.019 --> 00:17:52.960 dive serves as a perfect structural map of the 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:55.990 pop machine. It shows how brutally fast cultural 00:17:55.990 --> 00:17:58.750 trends move, and it highlights the incredibly 00:17:58.750 --> 00:18:01.210 precarious tightrope that artists are forced 00:18:01.210 --> 00:18:03.890 to walk. That tightrope is so dangerous. It is. 00:18:03.990 --> 00:18:06.670 On one hand, you have to adapt to the market 00:18:06.670 --> 00:18:08.630 to survive. You have to be willing to change 00:18:08.630 --> 00:18:11.329 your sound to achieve that massive mainstream 00:18:11.329 --> 00:18:13.930 commercial success, just like New Dream did in 00:18:13.930 --> 00:18:17.109 1969. But the counterweight to that adaptation 00:18:17.109 --> 00:18:20.009 is that by tying yourself so closely and so cynically 00:18:20.009 --> 00:18:23.109 to a specific manufactured trend, you risk losing. 00:18:23.309 --> 00:18:25.269 your relevance the absolute second that market 00:18:25.269 --> 00:18:27.789 inevitably shifts it is a brilliant case study 00:18:27.789 --> 00:18:30.289 and before we wrap up there is a final lingering 00:18:30.289 --> 00:18:32.890 thought to mull over specifically regarding that 00:18:32.890 --> 00:18:35.890 strange 1973 record the eponymous new dream album 00:18:35.890 --> 00:18:39.410 think about the psychology of that release when 00:18:39.410 --> 00:18:42.589 a band's definitive artistic statement Their 00:18:42.589 --> 00:18:45.569 only full length studio album is released posthumously 00:18:45.569 --> 00:18:48.009 after the group has already splintered and gone 00:18:48.009 --> 00:18:50.289 their separate ways, whose dream is actually 00:18:50.289 --> 00:18:52.509 being realized. That's the question. Is that 00:18:52.509 --> 00:18:55.609 album a monument lovingly built to give the fans 00:18:55.609 --> 00:18:59.170 a final sense of closure? Is it a cynical, calculated 00:18:59.170 --> 00:19:02.130 cash grab by the record label trying to squeeze 00:19:02.130 --> 00:19:04.470 the last few drops of revenue out of a dead brand 00:19:04.470 --> 00:19:07.650 before the rights expire? Or is it simply the 00:19:07.650 --> 00:19:09.809 ghostly echo of a bubble that has already popped, 00:19:10.049 --> 00:19:12.329 floating out into a world that has already moved 00:19:12.329 --> 00:19:14.509 on? Something to think about. It is definitely 00:19:14.509 --> 00:19:16.109 something to think about the next time you see 00:19:16.109 --> 00:19:19.190 a highly polished pop album hit the charts. Thanks 00:19:19.190 --> 00:19:21.430 for joining us on this deep dive, and we'll see 00:19:21.430 --> 00:19:21.890 you next time.