For a period in the mid-to-late-80s, British trio Fine Young Cannibals were not only among the best groups on the planet, but they were also one of the biggest.
The group formed from the ashes of popular ska-punk outfit The Beat. When they split in 1983, guitarist Andy Cox and bassist David Steele resolved to carry on working together. After a long recruitment process that involved auditioning over 500 singers, they hit upon the charismatic Roland Gift, whose former band The Akrylykz had once The Beat.
After signing with London Records, the band’s debut single Johnny Come Home broke into the Top Ten, and their self-titled debut album followed soon after, featuring a cover of Suspicious Minds, first made popular by Elvis Presley.
After a performance on The Tube in 1985 – singing their debut single Johnny Come Home – the band signed to London Records. Their self-titled debut album was released at the end of that year and also contained their sophisticated reworking of Elvis Presley’s Suspicious Minds. Another inspired cover, this time of Buzzcocks’ Ever Fallen in Love, would be another hit in 1986, appearing in the film Something Wild.
It would be two years before the next music appeared. Their next single, the inspired She Drives Me Crazy, was recorded with David Z at Paisley Park and with its signature snare sound and a video directed by Philippe Decouflé saw the band reach number one on the US Billboard Charts, with album The Raw & The Cooked and next single Good Thing also topping the charts Stateside.
The Raw & The Cooked also hit #1 in the UK and with it accolades two Brit Awards – for best group and album of the year – in 1990 as well as nominations for four MTV Video Music Awards. Post 1990, the band entered an extended hiatus, returning one final time with The Finest (1996), a greatest hits collection featured three new songs including the single The Flame, their final UK top 20 single.
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