. Mike and the Mechanics - The Living Years
Mike and the Mechanics - The Living Years.
Mike + The Mechanics are an English rock/pop band formed in 1985 as a side project of Mike Rutherford, a founding member of Genesis, who became a successful band in their own right. They are widely known for their hit singles "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)", "All I Need Is a Miracle", "Word of Mouth", "Over My Shoulder", and "The Living Years".
The main lineup for the band were Rutherford, vocalists Paul Carrack and Paul Young (formerly of chart band Sad Cafe), keydoardist Adrian Lee and drummer Peter van Hooke. Carrack's pure, soulful voice was generally assigned to ballads and more pop-oriented numbers, while Young's powerful rock voice and wide vocal range was assigned to the band's heavier work. From their 1995 album Beggar on a Beach of Gold until Young's death in 2000, only Rutherford, Carrack and Young were permanent members of the line-up.
Mike + The Mechanics debuted with a self-titled album in 1985.
Initially, the group's albums were released between Genesis albums. This ended with the temporary disbanding of Genesis in 1998.
Printed on the single "Silent Running" was a notation that it was from the movie On Dangerous Ground. The movie was released in North American cinemas in 1986 as Choke Canyon, and in the UK as On Dangerous Ground. The music video, however, features different actors portraying different characters with at least one different name.
The song "The Living Years" (US #1 single) was written by Rutherford and Scottish singer/writer/composer B.A. Robertson about the deaths of both their fathers. It was written about the dissension between Rutherford and his father, a situation that was never rectified prior to the death of his father. The lyrics also allude to the death of Robertson's father just 12 weeks before the birth of his son. The song was sung by Carrack, who had lost his own father when he was only eleven years old. The album also featured the song "Nobody's Perfect" sung by Young which received considerable airtime as the music to a successful television advertising campaign for Tennent's bitter.
The group's third album, Word of Mouth
, followed in 1991 with less commercial and critical success, although the lead single with vocals by Paul Young reached #13 in the UK.For the fourth album, Beggar on a Beach of Gold, both the album and first single "Over My Shoulder" charted well and received critical praise.
Their fifth studio album was released in 1999 and was the band's second eponymous album, Mike + The Mechanics. It is generally known as the M6 album, the "Hits" album being their fifth release. As the band no longer had a distribution deal with an American record label, M6 was available to the American market as an import only.
After a hiatus following Young's death from a heart attack on July 15, 2000, the band reformed in 2004 as Mike + The Mechanics featuring Paul Carrack, releasing the album Rewired.
In 2007, interviewed during the Genesis reunion tour, Rutherford stated that Mike + The Mechanics had "run its course". In his December 2009 Rolling Stone interview for Genesis' induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Mike stated that he was currently working on new material for Mike + The Mechanics. "I'm actually doing a new Mike and the Mechanics album. I kind of thought I had put it to bed, but I still enjoy songwriting. Working with a few new co-writers and a couple of new faces for the band. Paul Carrack is doing some solo stuff, so we have a guy called Andrew Roachford, an R&B kind of singer. It's a little different, but the soul seems to be there. We'll see. I'm enjoying it."
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Zie ook: Mike and the Mechanics on Wikipedia.
Zie ook: The Living Years on Wikipedia.
Last updated on 18 oktober 2010.
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