Cutting Crew
(Read all about Cutting Crew after the video)
Cutting Crew are an English rock band formed in London in 1985. They are best remembered for their debut album Broadcast and hit singles, "(I Just) Died in Your Arms", "I've Been in Love Before", "One for the Mockingbird", and "Everything But My Pride".
Career
1985–1986: Formation
While still in his teens, Nick Van Eede (born Nicholas Eede) recorded a few UK solo singles in the late 1970s, and later was in the band The Drivers,
which found success in Canada, particularly with their 1982 single
"Tears On Your Anorak". While touring Canada, The Drivers had a support
band called Fast Forward, whose line up included guitarist Kevin Macmichael.
Van Eede was so impressed with Macmichael's guitar playing that he
asked him to form a new band with him. The Drivers split in 1983, but
Van Eede and Macmichael joined forces in 1985 by relocating to London,
England. Initially, the two made demos that led to a recording contract, before bassist Colin Farley and drummer Martin Beedle joined in 1986.[2]
1986–1988: Broadcast and breakthrough
Their first album, Broadcast, was released on Virgin Records in 1986. Although Virgin Records was already a major label in the UK, their debut song, "(I Just) Died in Your Arms",
provided the first US hit for Virgin as a full-fledged label. This song
release quickly helped the band gain popularity. Virgin flew the band
to New York City for initial recordings of the album, then to Australia to shoot music videos. The unknown band shot to No. 1 in the major US market, as well as smaller markets such as Canada and Norway, with their debut single. Their most popular single, it was a multiformat success in the US, where it also reached number four on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, No. 24 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart and —in an extended remix version— No. 37 on the Hot Dance/Club Play chart. The song peaked at No. 4 in another major market, the UK Singles Chart, as well as becoming a hit in the smaller Switzerland and South Africa markets. It went to No. 2 in Sweden and Ireland, and No. 9 in Austria.[3]
The choice for follow-up single in the UK had been "I've Been In Love
Before", but that song spent only three weeks in the UK Top 40, peaking
at No. 31. Their choice for follow-up single in the US was their third
UK release, "One for the Mockingbird", but the song was a relative
commercial disappointment on both sides of the Atlantic, just cracking
the Top 40 of the Hot 100 at No. 38 and hitting No. 29 on the Mainstream
Rock chart in the US, No. 47 in Canada and No. 52 in the UK Singles
Chart.
The band took a chance on "I've Been in Love Before" again, this time
with greater success. The song became Cutting Crew's second US Top 10
on the Hot 100, peaking at No. 9, and was their first major hit on the
US Adult Contemporary chart, where it peaked at No. 2. This success
prompted a UK re-release, and this time it spent five weeks in the UK
Singles Chart Top 40, peaking at No. 24. The song failed to chart
throughout most of Europe, but it peaked at No. 8 in Canada. Despite an
unflattering review by Rolling Stone magazine, Cutting Crew received a Grammy nomination as the Best New Artist of 1987.
1988–1990: The Scattering
Disputes with management led to a long recording hiatus, which stalled the band's career momentum. Cutting Crew's second album, The Scattering,[4]
was finally released in early 1989. Its lead single, "(Between a) Rock
and a Hard Place", (CA 54, UK 66, U.S. 77) failed to reach the Top 40.
Van Eede's vocal style, however, did score a sizable US Adult
Contemporary hit with "Everything But My Pride." That song peaked at
No. 4 and stayed in the top 50 for 22 weeks. It climbed to No. 72 on the
Canadian pop charts, though it failed to hit the US Hot 100. The
prophetically named "The Last Thing" scaled the AC charts as high as
No. 17 in early 1990 and went to No. 90 on the Canadian chart, and has
been their final chart hit to date. Although a video for the title track
did air briefly in the UK and North America, The Scattering failed to chart.
1992: Compus Mentus
Recorded
at The Mill Studios in Cookham, Berkshire on the Thames and produced by
Chris Neil. Farley and Beedle left the group in 1991 with no
replacement, leaving only Eede and Macmichael on the group. Eede sang
and played keys and Macmichael played all guitars (lead and bass).
Standout tracks are Frigid as England written by Jeff Lowe, the
plaintive Sweet Auburn and the darkly comic, Don't Let It Bring You
Down.
The album spawned one single, If That's The Way You Want It. Neither
the single nor the album itself charted. Within weeks of its release,
Virgin Records was bought by EMI and the album became obsolete. A rare
find these days and showcasing Nick and Kevin at their wry, ironic,
tuneful best.[2]
1993–2005: Break-up and Macmichael's death
The band broke up in 1993; shortly after the release of their Compus Mentus album. After the break-up, Macmichael joined forces with Robert Plant and played on his Fate of Nations album. On 31 December 2002, Macmichael died of lung cancer at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, at the age of 51.
2005–2010: Reformation
In 2003, Van Eede formed the group Grinning Souls. This group independently released the album Capture in 2005. The following year, Van Eede took the decision to re-release the album under the title Grinning Souls,
this time crediting the work to Cutting Crew. Grinning Souls (the band)
became Cutting Crew for all subsequent live work: Van Eede was the only
original Cutting Crew member in the group.
The new band toured in Germany and Norway and UK and Canada and
Hungary and Switzerland and USA with amongst others, ABC/BERLIN/Wang
Chung/Supertramp/Level 42/Midge Ure. In 2008, Cutting Crew signed a US
deal with label Spectra Records.
2015–present: Add To Favourites
In October 2015, Add To Favourites
was the fifth studio album released by Cutting Crew. It features "Till
The Money Run$ Out" which was released as the first single on 4th
September 2015. The band line up now includes guitarists Gareth Moulton
and Joolz Dunkley, bassist Nick Kay, keyboardist Jono Harrison, drummer
Martyn Barker and the Blackjack Horns. The band embarked on a UK tour
shortly after its release.[needs update]
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