Mike and the Mechanics | |
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![]() Mike + The Mechanics in concert in July 2012 L-R: Ben Stone, Andrew Roachford, Tim Howar, Luke Juby, Mike Rutherford and Anthony Drennan | |
Background information | |
Origin | Dover, Kent, England |
Genres | |
Years active | 1985–2004, 2010–present |
Labels | |
Spinoff of | |
Members | Mike Rutherford Anthony Drennan Tim Howar Luke Juby Andrew Roachford Gary Wallis |
Past members | Paul Carrack Adrian Lee Peter Van Hooke Paul Young |
Website | mikeandthemechanics |
Mike and the Mechanics (stylised as Mike + The Mechanics) are an English rock supergroup formed in Dover in 1985 by Mike Rutherford, initially as a side project during a hiatus period for his other group Genesis. The band are known for the hit singles "Silent Running", "All I Need Is a Miracle", "Taken In", "The Living Years", "Word of Mouth", and "Over My Shoulder".
Initially, the band included Rutherford (the only constant member), vocalists Paul Carrack and Paul Young, keyboardist Adrian Lee, and drummer Peter Van Hooke. After a decade together, Lee and Van Hooke dropped out in 1995 and were not replaced. Following Young's death in 2000, Carrack became the band's sole lead vocalist until 2004 when the band (essentially a duo at this point) dissolved, with Rutherford and Carrack both agreeing the band had "run its course". [1] In 2010, the band was revived with Rutherford headlining a completely new set of musicians, including vocalists Andrew Roachford and Tim Howar.
During hiatuses from Genesis, Mike Rutherford had been pursuing a solo career, releasing Smallcreep's Day in 1980 and Acting Very Strange in 1982. He found the process of recording a solo album excessively difficult, however, and the results artistically unsatisfying, particularly in regards to singing lead vocals on the latter album. He recalled, "I had a revelation, too, in this time period ... that I'm not complete on my own. ... I'm much more creative and inspired when there are other people around me and I'm bouncing ideas off." [2] He still felt that working only with Genesis would leave him unfulfilled, however, and to satisfy both his desire to create music outside the format of Genesis and his desire to collaborate with other musicians, he set about forming his own band. [2]
Rutherford had already started a songwriting partnership with Scottish singer/writer/composer B. A. Robertson, and for the band's self-titled debut album he enlisted the services of producer Christopher Neil. Besides producing, Neil co-wrote most of the songs, selected the material for inclusion, and performed backing vocals. He would continue to play a key role in the band's albums for their first decade of existence.
Similarly to Steely Dan, in the studio Mike and the Mechanics were not a tight-knit band but a vehicle for the songwriting of Rutherford, Robertson, and Neil, and session keyboardists, drummers, guitarists, and even lead vocalists often performed on the songs in place of the official band members. Indeed, the line-up of Mike and the Mechanics came together gradually over the course of recording their first album; Paul Young, who was recommended for the group by Neil and his manager, said that by the time he joined, all the backing tracks for the album had been recorded. [2]
Rutherford was more than satisfied with the resulting album and decided to continue the band indefinitely, rather than leaving it as a one-off project. [2] When the album was released in 1985, his decision was further bolstered by its immense commercial success. While Rutherford's solo albums had been moderately successful, he had never managed a Top 40 hit (except in Canada, where "Maxine" from Acting Very Strange reached No. 39); Mike + the Mechanics scored three of them, including two US Top 10s, "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)", "All I Need is a Miracle" and an additional No. 32 hit with "Taken In". [3] "Silent Running" was featured in the movie On Dangerous Ground, released in North American cinemas in 1986 as Choke Canyon . [4]
The single "The Living Years" (US#1, UK#2) became the band's biggest hit, and featured on the band's second album Living Years . The song was written by Rutherford and Robertson after both of their fathers had recently died, but the lyrics were written solely by Robertson and centred on the unresolved dissension between Robertson and his father. The song was sung by Carrack, who also had an emotional attachment to the song, having lost his own father when he was 11 years old. The album also featured the song "Nobody's Perfect", sung by Young; it served as the background music to a television advertising campaign for Tennent's bitter.
At this point Carrack began to take a much larger role in the band, joining their stable of songwriters and adding keyboards. The group's third album, Word of Mouth , followed in 1991. It was less successful than its predecessors, particularly in the US, but scored another trio of charting singles in the UK, with the lead single becoming one of their most popular songs yet.
Their fourth album, Beggar on a Beach of Gold , appeared in 1995. It yielded a UK top 40 hit in the title track, and a number 12 hit in "Over My Shoulder". The latter, which was their first hit to be co-written by Carrack, became arguably their most aired song on British radio.
Their run of successes was capped with 1996's Hits , which compiled most of their hit singles with a new reworking of "All I Need is a Miracle" that reached number 27 in the UK, a higher placing than that of the original version. The album was certified platinum in the UK within two months of its release. [5]
In 1995, the band began to fall apart: Adrian Lee and Peter Van Hooke left (before and after Beggar on a Beach of Gold, respectively), and Christopher Neil's long tenure as songwriter/producer for the group ended. Rutherford opted to continue Mike and the Mechanics as a singer/songwriter trio. The group's fifth studio album was released in 1999, Mike & The Mechanics . It is generally known as M6, 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. Its only hit, "Now That You've Gone", peaked at No. 35 in the UK. [6]
Another blow struck the following year: On 15 July 2000, Paul Young died from a heart attack. [7] The band regrouped in 2004 as Mike and the Mechanics featuring Paul Carrack. As implied by the new name, Carrack played a larger role than before, performing all the band's lead vocals and keyboards and co-writing all the songs. They released the album Rewired , which became their first album to lack a hit. Van Hooke briefly worked with the band again during this time, not as an official member but as a co-producer of Rewired. He also performed drums and percussion on the album and its tour.
Shortly after, Carrack became too involved with solo work to devote time to the group. In a 2007 interview Rutherford stated that Mike and the Mechanics had "run its course."
Over several months of 2009 and 2010, Rutherford formed a new band. Despite there being no hope of the original group ever reforming, he opted to again use the Mike and the Mechanics name. In a December 2009 interview, Rutherford stated that "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." [8]
A new album, The Road , and the 'Hit the Road Tour 2011' were announced in November 2010. The album was released in April 2011. It featured both Roachford and Tim Howar on vocals, Luke Juby on keyboards, Gary Wallis on drums, and Anthony Drennan on guitar and bass. Though it became the first album not to feature B. A. Robertson as a co-writer, the album also marked the return of Christopher Neil as songwriter/producer. The tour included performances across the UK, Germany, and various other European cities. [9]
In April 2017, this incarnation of the band released another album, Let Me Fly . It continues to tour. [10]
In April 2019, Mike and the Mechanics released their ninth studio album Out of the Blue , [11] via BMG.
In a 1996 article for Q magazine, critic Peter Kane said that while the band 'fly in the face of fashion', their music has a 'basic decency' and 'unquestionably speaks to more people than many of us are sometimes prepared to accept'. He stressed, 'Mike and the Mechanics: they're quite good, really.' [12]
Year Awarded | Nominee/work | Category | Result | Ref. |
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1987 | "All I Need Is a Miracle" | Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals | Nominated | [13] [14] |
1990 | "The Living Years" | Record of the Year (shared with Christopher Neil) | Nominated | [15] [16] [17] |
Song of the Year (for B. A. Robertson & Mike Rutherford) | Nominated | |||
Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals | Nominated | |||
Best Music Video, Short Form | Nominated |
Year Awarded | Nominee/work | Category | Result | Ref. |
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1990 | "The Living Years" | Best Song Musically and Lyrically (for B. A. Robertson & Mike Rutherford) | Won | [18] |
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Paul Melvyn Carrack is an English singer, musician, songwriter and composer who has recorded as both a solo artist and as a member of several popular bands. The BBC dubbed Carrack "The Man with the Golden Voice", while Record Collector remarked: "If vocal talent equalled financial success, Paul Carrack would be a bigger name than legends such as Phil Collins or Elton John."
Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford is an English guitarist, bassist and songwriter, best known as co-founder and lead guitarist/bassist of the rock band Genesis. He and keyboardist Tony Banks are the group's two continuous members.
Andrew Roachford is a British singer-songwriter and the main force behind the band Roachford, who scored their first success in 1989 with the hits "Cuddly Toy" and "Family Man". He has also had a successful solo career.
Beggar on a Beach of Gold is the fourth album by Mike + the Mechanics, released on 6 March 1995. This album contains three singles: the No. 12 hit "Over My Shoulder", the No. 33 hit "A Beggar on a Beach of Gold", and the No. 51 single "Another Cup of Coffee". All three songs charted in Germany as well, and "Another Cup of Coffee" was also popular in Russia; "Over My Shoulder" was particularly successful in France, reaching No.9. The album was certified Gold by the BPI for sales of 100,000 copies. Adrian Lee performed on this album as a session musician following his departure from the band, and this was drummer Peter Van Hooke's last album as an official member of the band as he left the band shortly after the album's release.
Mike + The Mechanics is the debut album by the Genesis bassist and guitarist Mike Rutherford's band Mike + The Mechanics in 1985. The album reached number 26 on the Billboard 200 album charts and had three hit singles. "Silent Running", featuring lead vocals by Paul Carrack, and the uptempo "All I Need Is a Miracle", featuring lead vocals by Paul Young, both reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at numbers 6 and 5 respectively, with the former also peaking at number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The third single off the album, "Taken In", was a lesser hit, reaching No. 32 on the Hot 100 and No. 7 on the Adult Contemporary chart. "Silent Running" and "All I Need is a Miracle" were also hits in the UK, reaching numbers 21 and 53 in the UK Singles Chart respectively.
Living Years is the second album by Mike + The Mechanics, released in 1988. The album reached number 13 on the US Billboard 200 and number 2 on the UK Albums Chart.
Gary Wallis is a British drummer, percussionist, drum programmer, producer and musical director. He has worked with a wide range of artists and bands, including Nik Kershaw, Pink Floyd, 10cc, Il Divo, Westlife, Girls Aloud, Atomic Kitten, Paul Carrack, Dusty Springfield, Bonnie Tyler, Mike Rutherford, Mike + The Mechanics, Spice Girls, All Saints, Tom Jones, Jean-Michel Jarre, Helene Fischer and Schiller.
Brian Alexander Robertson is a Scottish musician, composer and songwriter. He had a string of hits in the late 1970s and early 1980s characterised by catchy pop tunes and jaunty humorous lyrics, including "Kool in the Kaftan", Knocked It Off", "To Be or Not to Be" and "Bang Bang", a tongue-in-cheek commentary on famous historical and fictional couples. He wrote with Mike Rutherford of Genesis the Grammy-nominated and Ivor Novello Award-winning "The Living Years". It was a number one hit in the US, Canada, Australia and Ireland and reached number 2 in his native UK. He has also written music for films and been a television presenter.
Paul Young was a British singer and songwriter. He achieved success in the bands Sad Café and Mike + the Mechanics.
"The Living Years" is a soft rock ballad written by B. A. Robertson and Mike Rutherford, and recorded by Rutherford's British rock band Mike + The Mechanics. It was released in December 1988 in the United Kingdom and in the United States as the second single from their album Living Years. The song was a chart hit around the world, topping the US Billboard Hot 100 on 25 March 1989, the band's only number one and last top ten hit on that chart, and reaching number-one in Australia, Canada and Ireland and number 2 in the UK. It spent four weeks at number-one on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Paul Carrack sings lead vocals on the track.
Peter Van Hooke is an English rock drummer and producer with over 350 credits to his name. He was the drummer for the English band Mike + The Mechanics and also drummed for Van Morrison's band, Headstone, and Ezio. During the 1980s, he co-produced many of Tanita Tikaram's hits.
Word of Mouth is the third album by Mike + The Mechanics, released in 1991.
Rewired is the sixth studio album by Mike + The Mechanics, released in 2004. This was the first album released by the band following the death of the co-lead singer Paul Young. Partly because of this, the album was credited to "Mike + The Mechanics + Paul Carrack". It is the only Mike + The Mechanics album to date with only one lead vocalist and the last to feature Paul Carrack.
One Good Reason is the third solo studio album by the English singer-songwriter Paul Carrack, then a member of the rock supergroup Mike + The Mechanics. It was released in November 1987 by Chrysalis Records, five years after his previous studio album, Suburban Voodoo (1982). In the interim between solo albums, Carrack had been a member of Nick Lowe and his Cowboy Outfit, which released two studio albums in 1984 and 1985, and joined Mike + The Mechanics for their 1985 self-titled debut.
"All I Need Is a Miracle" is a song performed by English pop rock band Mike + The Mechanics. Written by guitarist Mike Rutherford and producer Christopher Neil, it was first included on their 1985 self-titled debut album, and later released as a single in early 1986 in the USA, where it reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was sung by Paul Young on both the original recording and the 1996 re-recording for the band's Hits compilation album.
"Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)" is a song performed by Mike + The Mechanics. Written by Mike Rutherford and B. A. Robertson, it was the first track on the 1985 self-titled debut album of Mike + the Mechanics. It was also released as the band's first single, peaking at number 6 on 8 March 1986 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and number 1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, where it stayed for five weeks.
The Road is the seventh studio album by Mike + The Mechanics, released in 2011 by Sony Music. This was their first album to feature an entirely new lineup, retaining only Mike Rutherford.
Let Me Fly is the eighth studio album by Mike + The Mechanics, released in 2017 by BMG.
Blue Views is the fifth solo studio album by the English singer-songwriter Paul Carrack, then a member of the supergroup Mike + The Mechanics. It was Carrack's first solo album in seven years; in the interim period between solo albums, he had recorded one album as a member of Squeeze, one album as a member of Spin 1ne 2wo, and two albums as a member of Mike + The Mechanics. Blue Views was originally released in 1995 on I.R.S. Records in the UK and most other territories. In the US, it appeared on the Ark 21 label.
Groovin' is the eighth solo studio album by the English singer-songwriter Paul Carrack, then a member of the supergroup Mike + The Mechanics. It was originally released in 2001 on Carrack's own Carrack-UK label.
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