hypersongs

Fine Young Cannibals

A Birmingham trio of Roland Gift, Andy Cox and David Steele, formed from the ashes of The Beat, who reached number one in the UK and the US in 1989 with The Raw and the Cooked.

From The Beat to a debut

When The Beat split in 1983, Andy Cox and David Steele formed a new band with the drummer Everett Morton, who left before the first single. Their name comes from the 1960 film All the Fine Young Cannibals. The search for a singer reportedly took eight months and more than 500 cassettes, and Roland Gift, who had fronted the Hull ska band Akrylykz, which supported The Beat, was chosen at 23; the Super Deluxe Edition interview says Cox's wife phoned him and he met them in Birmingham, while International Musician in February 1986 says they found him singing in a north London pub. Gift's birth year is given as 1961 by Wikipedia and 1962 by Encyclopedia.com.

The demo of "Johnny Come Home" was turned down by more or less everybody until a video on Channel 4's The Tube, filmed by its director Geoff Wonfor in a Birmingham rehearsal studio, brought contract offers; London first offered only a singles deal, and the band wanted an albums deal. The single reached number eight in the UK in July 1985, the debut album followed on December 9, 1985, and "Suspicious Minds" reached number eight in 1986. In 1987 they were the house band in the film Tin Men, "Ever Fallen in Love" featured in Something Wild, and "Tired of Getting Pushed Around", billed as Two Men, a Drum Machine and a Trumpet, reached number 18.

The Raw and the Cooked

The Raw and the Cooked (January 13, 1989, 35:49) was recorded from 1986 to 1988 at AIR in Oxford Circus and at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota, produced by the band with Jerry Harrison and David Z. The band wanted Prince, and the label offered his engineer David Z, who recorded three tracks at Paisley Park, among them "She Drives Me Crazy" and "I'm Not Satisfied". "I'm Not the Man I Used to Be" samples James Brown's "Funky Drummer". It reached number one in the UK, the US, Australia, Austria and Canada, with "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing" both number one in the US. They won two Brit Awards in 1990, for British group and British album of the year, with three Grammy nominations, and "She Drives Me Crazy" won an Ivor Novello award. The Raw and the Remix followed on December 11, 1990.

After the second album their manager John Mostyn resigned, the band moved to New York and tried a third album with Lamont Dozier and Teddy Riley, but none was finished. They disbanded in 1992 and reunited in 1996 for "The Flame" (UK number 17) on the compilation The Finest (November 11, 1996, UK number 10). Gift made a solo album in 2002 and acted in Scandal (1989), Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1987) and Highlander: The Series; Cox made Volume (2002) as Cribabi and Steele a 2004 album as Fried. A 40th anniversary box, FYC40, came out in 2025, with a DVD of a 1989 Seattle concert and BBC performances. Setlist.fm lists 96 setlists, most in the US (44) and the UK (29), with "She Drives Me Crazy" (14) and "Johnny Come Home" (13) the most played. Asked about a reunion, Gift said he is open-minded but does not think it likely.

Albums

  • Fine Young Cannibals 1985 · London

    Their debut album of ten songs, including "Johnny Come Home" and a version of "Suspicious Minds" with Jimmy Somerville on backing vocals.

Songs

  • Johnny Come Home Fine Young Cannibals · 1985

    Their first single, a ska-flavored song about a runaway, made from a demo cut in one afternoon.

Sources

  1. Fine Young Cannibals, Wikipedia
  2. The Raw and the Cooked, Wikipedia
  3. Q&A: Roland Gift, Classic Pop (2025-03-27)
  4. Fine Young Cannibals 40th anniversary collection, The Second Disc (2025-09-30)