What do you think?
Rate this book
Dreamworld: The fabulous life of Daniel Treacy and his band Television Personalities
London 1977: Daniel Treacy drops out of school, bored to death. With friends, he records a few songs thanks to a few pounds sterling lent to him by his parents and sends the finished single to the legendary radio DJ John Peel, who is immediately thrilled —the Television Personalities are born ...
In the turbulent life of Daniel Treacy we meet Jimmy Page, Bob Marley, Alan McGee, David Gilmour, Wham!, Nico and Kurt Cobain. "Dreamworld" is the very real, very crazy story of a genius in music history. Enriched with plenty of scene and period color from British pop from the 1960s to the present, »Dreamworld« tells of all the ups and downs of a legend who was once called the »Godfather of Indie Pop«.
The translation by David Marshall appears with a fully revised color picture section and numerous illustrations.
In the turbulent life of Daniel Treacy we meet Jimmy Page, Bob Marley, Alan McGee, David Gilmour, Wham!, Nico and Kurt Cobain. "Dreamworld" is the very real, very crazy story of a genius in music history. Enriched with plenty of scene and period color from British pop from the 1960s to the present, »Dreamworld« tells of all the ups and downs of a legend who was once called the »Godfather of Indie Pop«.
The translation by David Marshall appears with a fully revised color picture section and numerous illustrations.
- GenresMusic
290 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 29, 2022
1 person is currently reading
36 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 15, 2024
I had to knock this down a star for the weird writing style (originally in French). It is sort of a present/past tense like, "I am moving my left foot. I am moving my right foot." However, that was nothing compared to the fictitious interviews with celebrities that had me wondering, "Did that really happen?" [Like the whole story about Treacy in a makeshift homeless shelter at the the Millennium Dome].
Based on the title I thought this was going to be a fun book. I don't know how the Television Personalities crossed my path, but with songs like "I Helped Patrick McGoohan Escape," they quickly earned a place on the iPod. The songs are almost all bouncy and kitschy even if there may be an underlying sadness a la Ray Davies. However, I did not realize they had so many albums.
Daniel Treacy might be the one guy on earth who is even more pissed off than I am about missing the sixties [like me he was cognizant but unable to fully participate]. Of course, he could be said to have been born at home plate, having the Kings Road in London as his playground. Thus he saw its evolution from mod to punk which is quite evident in his lyrics which name drop everything from the period including obscure films like Privilege and Smashing Time. [They also played "the Groovy Cellar" whose name I stole for my radio show even if I never actually got there].
The problem was they were too early to the Britpop party and only found a smattering of success in Germany. That's the reason this turned out to be kind of a depressing read. I would be hard-pressed to decide who was more miserable, Daniel Treacy or Kurt Cobain.
And speaking of Kurt, he was of course a big fan of Television Personalities [was there any obscure indie rock he did not know about?]. Anyway, he invited them to open for Nirvana at the London Astoria just as Nevermind was exploding. TP were of course heckled by yobbos who did not get the whole TP vibe or their rendition of "Seasons in the Sun." Kurt appologized and apparently they had a discussion about that song. They both owned the 45 and knew the flip side, "Put the Bone In." ["A bit rubbish that one," with which opinion I concur]. I sure wish I had been there for that conversation!
In other words, there was a lot of stuff in here I did not know. For instance, how did I not know that Nirvana played Berlin two days after the wall came down? However, I would have rather had it in a more straightforward rock bio format from a brit who knew the band.
Based on the title I thought this was going to be a fun book. I don't know how the Television Personalities crossed my path, but with songs like "I Helped Patrick McGoohan Escape," they quickly earned a place on the iPod. The songs are almost all bouncy and kitschy even if there may be an underlying sadness a la Ray Davies. However, I did not realize they had so many albums.
Daniel Treacy might be the one guy on earth who is even more pissed off than I am about missing the sixties [like me he was cognizant but unable to fully participate]. Of course, he could be said to have been born at home plate, having the Kings Road in London as his playground. Thus he saw its evolution from mod to punk which is quite evident in his lyrics which name drop everything from the period including obscure films like Privilege and Smashing Time. [They also played "the Groovy Cellar" whose name I stole for my radio show even if I never actually got there].
The problem was they were too early to the Britpop party and only found a smattering of success in Germany. That's the reason this turned out to be kind of a depressing read. I would be hard-pressed to decide who was more miserable, Daniel Treacy or Kurt Cobain.
And speaking of Kurt, he was of course a big fan of Television Personalities [was there any obscure indie rock he did not know about?]. Anyway, he invited them to open for Nirvana at the London Astoria just as Nevermind was exploding. TP were of course heckled by yobbos who did not get the whole TP vibe or their rendition of "Seasons in the Sun." Kurt appologized and apparently they had a discussion about that song. They both owned the 45 and knew the flip side, "Put the Bone In." ["A bit rubbish that one," with which opinion I concur]. I sure wish I had been there for that conversation!
In other words, there was a lot of stuff in here I did not know. For instance, how did I not know that Nirvana played Berlin two days after the wall came down? However, I would have rather had it in a more straightforward rock bio format from a brit who knew the band.
July 17, 2024
Benjamin Berton's "Dreamworld" is a factual yet fantastical biography of Daniel Treacy and his band. While I am a fan of Television Personalities, I didn't realize how much of their catalog I don't own. I picked up this book because I wanted to know more, and I got that. What I didn't quite expect, or understand, was the interjection of fictional characters and bits of magical realism to help illustrate Daniel's point of view. The straight-ahead history of the man and his band is interesting enough without such embellishments. Still, I learned a lot and have a better understanding of where they fit in the timeline of British pop music. Now I just have to get ahold of about three more albums worth of their music.
January 6, 2024
Une belle histoire du meilleur groupe de rock ever
November 27, 2025
In 2002, my friend and I were obsessed with the TVPS. We had a band called Honey for the Bears named after one of their songs and we wrote Daniel Treacy in boat prison…and he wrote back! My friend still has the letter. I began this book a while ago and set it down after reading about the album The Painted Word, my favorite album of theirs. I finally picked it up a couple years later and finished it just now and texted that friend this, which works as good a review as any:
“I finished the TVP book right now. Dude, it made me cry. I understand the criticisms: those that wanted a matter-of-fact history (wrote this then, did this etc) are no doubt frustrated: it’s imbibed with a sense of magical realism, and it’s clumsy magical realism at that. A dedication to a memory, infused with some facts and narratives. But to some extant it has more of the spirit of the band and the songs as a result. It’s like a poem to Daniel Treacy that surrenders itself. I think too much of the music bios try to catch and put the person under glass. They’re so professional. And so I found this much more touching. And sure, I learned a few things. Maybe added to the legend. And, you know, I hardly listen to the TVPs now. It’s less a part of my life as when it was invaluable and I was at my height of obsessing over it. But what it meant and still means to me hasn’t left, and I think this clumsy book full of love and ambition captures that.”
“I finished the TVP book right now. Dude, it made me cry. I understand the criticisms: those that wanted a matter-of-fact history (wrote this then, did this etc) are no doubt frustrated: it’s imbibed with a sense of magical realism, and it’s clumsy magical realism at that. A dedication to a memory, infused with some facts and narratives. But to some extant it has more of the spirit of the band and the songs as a result. It’s like a poem to Daniel Treacy that surrenders itself. I think too much of the music bios try to catch and put the person under glass. They’re so professional. And so I found this much more touching. And sure, I learned a few things. Maybe added to the legend. And, you know, I hardly listen to the TVPs now. It’s less a part of my life as when it was invaluable and I was at my height of obsessing over it. But what it meant and still means to me hasn’t left, and I think this clumsy book full of love and ambition captures that.”
November 25, 2022
No es la cumbre de la vergüenza ajena a la que apuntaba en una primera lectura en diagonal comenzando por el final (para ver cómo iba Dan de lo suyo) pero tampoco ese libro definitivo sobre el mejor autor de música pop de los últimos 50 años. Ese libro definitivo que algún día hará David Feck u, ojalá, Iker Casillas.
Cosas buenas: Dan haciendo un Albert Serra (mucho antes que el afamado director y aquello ya legendario de "pues que me paguen para que no haga cine") gracias a disolver Wham Records a resultas de un acuerdo extrajudicial con los letrados de George Michael y Andrew Ridgeley; la aclaración sobre el concepto "buque prisión" que nos tenía fascinados a los fans desde que Dan volviese con My Dark Places y en todas las notas de prensa se hablase de ese extraño lugar; Ed Ball, siempre Ed Ball.
Cosas inexplicablemente omitidas: todos los rants de Dan en su blog de myspace circa 2004, oro puro aquello.
Cosas malas: la omisión de toda la etapa de singles alemanes en Little Teddy, quizá la más arisca y complicada de Dan y de lejos a la que más cariño se le coge.
Cosas pésimas: Rigoberta Bandini
Cosas buenas: Dan haciendo un Albert Serra (mucho antes que el afamado director y aquello ya legendario de "pues que me paguen para que no haga cine") gracias a disolver Wham Records a resultas de un acuerdo extrajudicial con los letrados de George Michael y Andrew Ridgeley; la aclaración sobre el concepto "buque prisión" que nos tenía fascinados a los fans desde que Dan volviese con My Dark Places y en todas las notas de prensa se hablase de ese extraño lugar; Ed Ball, siempre Ed Ball.
Cosas inexplicablemente omitidas: todos los rants de Dan en su blog de myspace circa 2004, oro puro aquello.
Cosas malas: la omisión de toda la etapa de singles alemanes en Little Teddy, quizá la más arisca y complicada de Dan y de lejos a la que más cariño se le coge.
Cosas pésimas: Rigoberta Bandini
October 7, 2024
Oh to be a heroin addicted indie pop starlet 💝
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews