Rapture Records

Song: Dream / Tabby the Cat

Artist: The Pied Pipers with Paul Weston and His Orchestra

Record Label: Capitol Records 185

Released: February 1945

Location: “Sea of Dreams” teaser trailer, opening cinematic

You’ll hear this song in two places.

The teaser trailer originally had BioShock 2 with the tagline of “Sea of Dreams”. Very early in its development, the game was originally more focused on reliving Rapture in its prime through the memories of others.

This idea still echoes slightly when you step into the diving boots of Subject Delta while wandering around with Eleanor on the fateful New Years Eve night. For a second, you seem to faintly remember the shadows of a crowd of masked partygoers slowing dancing to “Dream” at an extravagant ball. Probably a result of the massive forced infusion of ADAM intertwined with the victims’ former memories.

The Pied Pipers originally were an octet vocal group in the 1930s. Their numbers held steady as a quartet throughout the years. By 1945 as they recorded this song, the group consisted of June Hutton, Clark Yocum, Chuck Lowry, and Hal Hopper.

See here for a list of the various Pied Pipers lineups.

Originally composed by Johnny Mercer in 1944, “Dream” has become a jazz standard which popular versions by Frank Sinatra and Roy Orbison.

The Pied Pipers had just moved from RCA and signed on with Capitol Records when they charted #1 with “Dream” in March of 1945. Their rendition of “Dream” eventually became the closing theme of Johnny Mercer’s own radio show. They eventually had twelve hit singles in total.

Paul Weston, often called the “Master of Mood Music” composed and conducted songs such as “I Should Care”, “Day by Day” and “Crescent City City Suite”. He toured with Tommy Dorsey and also managed to persuade him to take on The Pied Pipers.

He also worked with Dinah Shore and Johnny Mercer at Capitol Records where he became music director and founded the Mood Music genre.

He’s also well-known for his comedy routine with Jo Stafford, whom he married after her work on The Pied Pipers, as Jonathan and Darlene Edwards. He would play the piano badly while Stafford sang off-key. They won a Grammy in 1960 for Best Comedy Album.

Listen to the flip side “Tabby the Cat” here