"Things Can Only Get Better" is a song by Northern Irish musical group D:Ream, released in 1993 by Magnet and FXU as the second single from the group's debut album, D:Ream On Volume 1 (1993). It took several months to reach the top of the UK Singles Chart. Originally a club hit, pop success took much longer for the song—initially, it reached only number 24 on the chart in January 1993. Band member Al Mackenzie left later that year, and remaining member Peter Cunnah took the band in a more pop-friendly direction.
"Things Can Only Get Better" was remixed and became a bigger hit, spending four weeks at number one in January 1994, after the band had been supporting Take That on their UK tour. In addition, the song managed to reach the top 10 in eight countries. In the US, it peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. The UK Labour Party used the song as a theme during the party's successful campaign in the general election of 1997. Its music video was directed by British director James Lebon.
Background and release
D:Ream's frontman Peter Cunnah used to be in an indie guitar band called Tie the Boy in Derry, Northern Ireland. After a move to London and a deal with the label Mother Records that went cold, the band broke up. Cunnah stayed in London, working three years in clubs. He also had an office job, but all he really wanted was to become a pop star. One day he was a bit teary about it, one of the office girls said, "Don't worry. Things can only get better." Right there he got the idea for the song and some help from Jamie Petrie, who wrote some of the lyrics. However, the song just ended up on Cunnah's stockpile of 300 unrecorded tunes. Two years later, after Cunnah had started the new band D:Ream with Alan Mackenzie, they were working on a track and then "Things Can Only Get Better" came back into Cunnah's head. It took a year to get the song right and producer Tom Frederikse built it up with choirs until it sounded like a stadium full of people singing. This time, the single reached number 24 on the UK Singles Chart. Now they wanted to go in different directions, so Mackenzie left the band.
According to Mackenzie, "Things Can Only Get Better" was first released as a 10-minute instrumental EP with a reggae break. The subsequent single version originally had a gospel-type a cappella intro, but the record company cut it off. Mackenzie objected, saying that it was crucial to the song, so when the song was remixed, it was reinstated in the song. In 1994, the remix sold 600,000 copies and spent four weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart. The single also reached the top 10 in eight other countries. The Labour Party's central use of the song in their successful 1997 campaign led the song to appear on the UK Singles Chart for a third time.
Chart performance
"Things Can Only Get Better" was originally a club hit, reaching number 24 in the UK in January 1993. Eleven months later, in December, the song was re-released in a new remix after a stint supporting Take That on their UK tour significantly raised D:Ream's profile. It then reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on 16 January 1994, spending four weeks at the top and also topped the UK Dance Singles Chart. In Europe, the song entered the top 10 also in Belgium (10), Finland (2), Iceland (4), Ireland (2), and Sweden (7). Additionally, it was a top 20 hit in Denmark (19), Germany (20), the Netherlands (20) and Scotland (17). On the Eurochart Hot 100, "Things Can Only Get Better" reached number five in February 1994.
Outside Europe, the song peaked at number three in Israel, and number nine in Australia. In the US, the 1994 version peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. It was awarded a gold record in Australia after 35,000 units were sold.