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(Hell, evenHomer Simpsonwas a fan.)
Wed start at three in the afternoon and come home at five in the morning.
We didnt want to do that anymore.
The 80s in London was such a wonderful time in music.
There was so much going on that I really enjoyed.
As a band we still kind of looked good.
But we were looking for a new producer.
I had previously met Tony Visconti and I fell in love with him.
He had everything that a musician and songwriter wanted.
It was a total open house.
So many famous people would just pop in.
Tony is a magnetic character and I decided I wanted to work with him.
There was no argument there, hehadto do this record.
He was a great choice for us.
There was no plan, really, we were lost.
We were guided to Tony.
I was always trying to write a pop song.
Fortunately, it went into all of these greater concepts in the past.
If you had taken out parts of them individually, they wouldve been pop songs.
I was lucky that they fit in with the rest of the songs.
It wasnt that we were looking for something new; it was the fact that we were lost.
But when I met Tony, I knew that I just wanted to be with him.
Your Wildest Dreams was perfect for that.
I wrote it at home and I still have the instruments that I wrote it on.
That was the big change.
We didnt really know what we wanted.
Sometimes things happen at the right time.
Thats the most important thing.
If you feel like you’ve got the option to contribute to a song, youre there.
If you feel that you cant or if its in safe hands with somebody else, thats also fine.
Thats the lovely part about being in a group.
You dont have to be there all the time.
I dont believe we ever had a discussion with direction or anything like that, thankfully.
That would be horribly embarrassing.
Your Wildest Dreams came just from me at home.
Im not even sure if I was serious.
Even though theres a lot of truth in the lyrics.
What character did you play while writing Your Wildest Dreams?I just stumble through my life into songs.
I wonder where they are.Hop in to that time machine.
Its as simple as that, really.
I got swept along with that.
What kind of journey are we talking about?[Pauses.]
Well, you want to know what happened.
I cant say anything more about it than that, except that I would advise against it.
Because it upsets the equilibrium of a lot of things that you really shouldnt try.
Theres another song I wrote called you’re able to Never Go Home.
You cant, really.
Its like going back to those streets.
As a selfish songwriter, it didnt stop me.
I loved everything about Your Wildest Dreams.
That ecstasy happens rarely in life, and its very precious.
If my numbers are correct, Your Wildest Dreams is the bandssecond most-successful song.
They either get on board or they dont.
In this case, we delivered the album and I traveled to New York City with it.
There was a promotion guy and he jumped up when he saw me and shouted, Woooo eeee oooooo!
Hey man, we have a hit!People were behind it from the start.
Weve all written things for the band that we thought, or hoped, would be commercial success.
And they havent been.
The people around us didnt jump on board.
So we learned to curb our expectations.
You cant just do it yourself.
Thats why the Moodies were always a touring band to mitigate that.
We didnt always have to rely on promotional people.
Another important person I met was Brian Grant, who I asked to do the music video.
Our record company actually gave us money and a huge budget to do a video.
Which was unheard of!
The music video is so silly and dystopian, I love it.Oh, absolutely.
It was such an MTV video.
Brian wanted us to do the video literally.
Its got to be about the imaginary youth in the song.
There I was at 40, imagining a person at 17.
Do you feel that Your Wildest Dreams created a funny divide of sorts for your fans?
A lot of people came to the band at that time and theyre still with us now.
People of our own age, I dont know where they are.
Its an interesting illustration of exactly what you said.
Thats the first time we had anyone who looked like they were enjoying things onstage.
He contributed a lot to our music and he was a great member.
But on that tour, I noticed one night there was a group of fans at the front.
When we started this new material, they got up and walked out.
Girls do that at school.
They get together and decide on a plan.
And boys are so stupid that they dont even think about a plan.
Im not sure if they came back or not, but that was their protest.
Its interesting what you said about the Moodies becoming a touring band almost by necessity.
With all of those people talking.
Some of them went on for hours.
There was no doubt we would get in once that put it over to the fans.
To be in the company of that induction class was a real honor.
Thats important and it means itll stay with them all their lives.
Whether you like it or not doesnt make a difference.
Music and young people just go together.
They fall for it and they have wonderful times together.
Your Wildest Dreams is a bright spot in any show for me.
Theres a happiness that enters the room when you play that song.
I suppose its because of the common experience.
Theres something in it thats joyous.
I absolutely love it.
Its the only time for me as a writer where I thought that I hit a nice spot.
Where would you rank Your Wildest Dreams among the bands discography?
But I really think its the 1980s.
The ecstasy of success that Your Wildest Dreams brought us will never be forgotten.
