Fine Young Cannibals

This article is about the band. For their debut album, see Fine Young Cannibals (album). For the song by Wolf Parade, see At Mount Zoomer.
Fine Young Cannibals

Fine Young Cannibals, 1990
Background information
Origin Birmingham, England
Genres New Wave, College Rock
Years active 1984–1992, 1996
Labels London, I.R.S.
Associated acts The Beat
Two Men a Drum Machine and a Trumpet
Past members David Steele
Andy Cox
Roland Gift

Fine Young Cannibals were a British band formed in Birmingham, England in 1984, by bassist David Steele, guitarist Andy Cox (both formerly of The Beat),[1] and singer Roland Gift (formerly of the Akrylykz). Their self-titled 1985 debut album contained "Johnny Come Home" and a cover of "Suspicious Minds", two songs that were top 40 hits in the UK, Canada, Australia and many European countries. Their 1989 album, The Raw and the Cooked, topped the UK and US Album charts, and contained their two Billboard Hot 100 number ones: "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing".[2]

In 1990 the band won two Brit Awards: Best British Group, and Best British Album (for The Raw and the Cooked).[3] Their name came from the 1960 film All the Fine Young Cannibals starring Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood.[4]

History

The group was formed in 1984 in Hull after the dissolution of The Beat, with whom Cox and Steele previously played.[1] The duo of Steele and Cox spent eight months listening to over 500 cassettes of potential singers before settling on Gift. They had difficulty obtaining a record contract but when a video of their song "Johnny Come Home" appeared on British TV show The Tube, recording contract offers flowed in immediately.[5] The band's eponymous debut album was released in 1985, spawning two UK hit singles, "Johnny Come Home" and a cover of Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds" featuring additional vocals by Jimmy Somerville.[2] These two songs also became hits internationally, charting in the top 40 in Europe, Canada and Australia, although they failed to make a significant impact on the US charts.

Fine Young Cannibals appeared as the house band in a nightclub in the 1987 comedy film Tin Men, set in Baltimore, Maryland, USA in 1963. In the long gap between their first and second albums, Steele and Cox released an instrumental house single under the moniker Two Men, a Drum Machine and a Trumpet in 1988, called "Tired Of Getting Pushed Around", which reached No. 18 in the UK Singles Chart and was popular on the U.S. dance chart. During this time, Gift appeared in the movie Sammy and Rosie Get Laid.

The band continued their international success with the singles "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing", from the 1989 album The Raw and the Cooked. Both reached number one in the U.S. singles charts, marking their breakthrough in that territory. The Raw and the Cooked included three songs the band had recorded for Tin Men (including "Good Thing"), and their cover of the Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" recorded for the film Something Wild.[2]

In 1990, the band contributed a cover version of Cole Porter's song "Love for Sale" for the album Red Hot + Blue produced by the Red Hot Organization, a collection of 20 Cole Porter songs recorded by various artists as a benefit for AIDS research.

Fine Young Cannibals broke up in 1992, although they briefly returned to the studio in 1996 to record a new single, "The Flame", which would complement their greatest hits compilation The Finest released that year.[2] In the early 2000s, Gift (without Steele or Cox) reactivated the band name and toured as Roland Gift and the Fine Young Cannibals.

Band members

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales threshold)
UK
[6]		 US
[7]		 CAN
[8]		 AUS
[9]		 NZ
[10]		 NOR
[11]		 SWE
[12]		 AUT
[13]		 SWI
[14]
1985 Fine Young Cannibals
  • First studio album
  • Release date: 10 December 1985
    •
  • Label: I.R.S. Records
 11 49 21 — 11 — — — 17
1988 The Raw & the Cooked
  • Second studio album
  • Release date: February 1989
    •
  • Label: I.R.S. Records
 1 1 1 1 2 19 5 1 2
  • UK: 3 × Platinum[15]
  • CAN: 6 × Platinum[16]
    •
  • US: 2 × Platinum[17]
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Compilation albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales threshold)
UK
[6]		 NZ
[10]		 BEL
[18]		 AUT
[13]
1996 The Finest 10 21 39 22
2006 The Platinum Collection
  • Release date: 21 March 2006
    •
  • Label: Warner Deluxe
 — — — —
2009 She Drives Me Crazy
  • Release date: 23 February 2009
    •
  • Label: MC Deluxe
 — — — — 2012 The Collection
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Remix albums

Year Album details
1990 The Raw & the Remix
  • Release date: 11 December 1990
    •
  • Label: I.R.S. Records

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions Album
UK
[19]		 AUS
[20]		 BEL
(Vl)
[21]		 CAN
[22]		 GER
[23]		 IRE
[24]		 NL
[25]		 NZ
[26]		 US
[27]		 US Dance
[27]
1985 "Johnny Come Home" 8 14 8 16 16 8 10 13 76 9 Fine Young Cannibals
"Blue" 41 13 34 — — — — 45 — —
"Suspicious Minds" 8 6 22 21 37 9 21 14 — 23
1986 "Funny How Love Is" 58 97 — — — 27 — — — —
1986 "Ever Fallen in Love" 9 20 28 — 19 10 34 23 — 11 Something Wild (soundtrack)
1988 "Tired of Getting Pushed Around" † 18 — — — — 20 — — — 3 Non-album song
1989 "She Drives Me Crazy" 5 1 2 1 2 2 5 1 1 1 The Raw and the Cooked
"Good Thing" 7 7 13 1 8 4 36 4 1 20
"Don't Look Back" 34 38 38 10 29 10 — 23 11 —
"I'm Not the Man I Used to Be" 20 — — 35 33 8 29 — 54 8
1990 "I'm Not Satisfied" 46 — — 83 66 19 — — 90 —
1991 "It's O.K." — — — — 44 — — — —
1996 "The Flame" 17 85 65 — 65 — — 36 — — The Finest
1997 "She Drives Me Crazy 1997" 36 — — — — — — — — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

† – Two Men, A Drum Machine and a Trumpet release

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Fine Young Cannibals and Cherry are success stories; [NORTH SPORTS FINAL, CN Edition] Chris Heim.. Chicago Tribune (pre-1997 Fulltext). Chicago, Ill.: 8 Sep 1989. pg. 6
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. pp. 343–344. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
  3. ↑ "BRITs Profile: Fine Young Cannibals" Brits.co.uk. Retrieved 7 November 2012
  4. ↑ Jessica Berens (April 1986). "Fine Young Cannibals – They're England's latest sultans of soul. Soon they'll be bringing it on home to America, where at least a band can get a decent meal". Spin Magazine. p. 73. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
  5. ↑ Kentucky New Era – Google News Archive Search
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 everyHit.com search results
  7. ↑ Nimmervoll, Ed (13 July 2001). "Fine Young Cannibals". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  8. ↑ "Results – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  9. ↑ Steffen Hung (26 March 1989). "Australian charts portal". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Steffen Hung. "New Zealand charts portal". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  11. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Norwegian charts portal". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  12. ↑ Steffen Hung (22 February 1989). "Swedish Charts Portal". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Steffen Hung. "Austria Top 40 – Hitparade Österreich". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  14. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade und Music Community". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Certified Awards Search
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA): Gold & Platinum". Cria.ca. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  17. ↑ "Recording Industry Association of America". RIAA. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  18. ↑ "Ultratop Belgian Charts". ultratop.be. 24 October 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  19. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 200. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  20. ↑ Australian peaks
  21. ↑ Flanders peaks
  22. ↑ Canadian peaks
  23. ↑ German peaks
  24. ↑ "Irish chart positions". irishcharts.ie.
  25. ↑ Dutch peaks
  26. ↑ New Zealand peaks
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Allmusic peaks

External links