In their original incarnation, Daniel Takes A Train never had the thrill of making a hit single. After four years of slogging it out on London’s live club scene, gatecrashing the Brit Awards in 1987 and eventually going their separate ways in 1988, they didn’t even have a record contract let alone release any singles!
But nearly four decades later and with a newly honed power pop sound, the reformed 1980s band have now written a song singing the praises of The Hit Parade? What’s that, you may well ask?
Older readers might remember the term used by transatlantic voiced radio jocks when referring to the Top 40 singles charts. You know, the weekly run down of those 45rpm discs that teenagers would stack up on their portable players. Anyway, back to 2025 and it seems that there’s a revived interest in both vinyl
record collecting and all things chart-related. And having recently scored a handful of hits on Mike Read’s Heritage Chart plus a number one on the FAB Chart,
the band have been inspired by all this activity to write a tribute to the classic chart shows of yesteryear. And, who knows, maybe this time around they’ll make it into the Official Top 40 (they did briefly hold the #43 spot in 2008 with One Last Dream).
An accompanying video was shot at Perry Vale Studios, London and captures the raw excitement of the real recording process. Proper old skool, and a
refreshing change from singing into the iPhone!
The Hit Parade is out on Friday March 21
Available on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music and other leading platforms