Fine Young Cannibals Explained

Fine Young Cannibals
Background:	group_or_band
Alias:	Two Men, a Drum Machine and a Trumpet
Origin:	Birmingham, England, UK
Years Active:	1984–1992, 1996
Label:	London, I.R.S.
Past Members:	Andy Cox Roland Gift David Steele

Fine Young Cannibals (FYC) were an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham, England, in 1984 by former The Beat band bassist David Steele and guitarist Andy Cox^[1] with 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 Europe. Their 1989 album, The Raw & the Cooked, topped the UK, US, Australian and Canadian 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 & the Cooked).^[3]

History

The group was formed in 1984 after the dissolution of The Beat, with whom Cox and Steele previously played. Their name came from the 1960 film All the Fine Young Cannibals starring Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood.^[4] The duo of Steele and Cox spent eight months listening to over 500 cassettes of potential singers before picking 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] The 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 and also contributed songs to the film's soundtrack, including "Good Thing".^[6]

In the gap between their first and second albums, Steele and Cox released the instrumental house single "Tired of Getting Pushed Around" in 1987 as "Two Men, a Drum Machine and a Trumpet", which reached No. 18 in the UK Singles Chart^[7] 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 & the Cooked. Both songs reached #1 in the United States.^[8] "She Drives Me Crazy" also topped the Australian chart for three non-consecutive weeks and peaked at #5 in the UK, while "Good Thing" peaked at #7 in both countries.^[9] The Raw & 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 version of Cole Porter's "Love for Sale" to the AIDS research benefit album Red Hot + Blue, produced by the Red Hot Organization.

Fine Young Cannibals disbanded in 1992, although they briefly returned to the studio in 1996 to record a new single, "The Flame", for the greatest hits compilation The Finest.^[2]

Band members

• Andy Cox – guitars, keyboards
• Roland Gift – vocals
• David Steele – bass, keyboards, drum machine

Session and touring members

• Martin Parry – drums, percussion
• Graeme Hamilton – trumpet, piano
• Nigel Darvill - Keyboards

Awards and nominations

Year	Awards	Work	Category	Result	Ref.
1989	MTV Video Music Awards	"She Drives Me Crazy"	Video of the Year		^[10]
			Best Group Video
			Breakthrough Video
			Viewer's Choice
1990	Brit Awards	Themselves	British Group		^[11]
		The Raw & the Cooked	British Album of the Year
	Grammy Awards	"She Drives Me Crazy"	Record of the Year		^[12]
			Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals
		The Raw & the Cooked	Album of the Year
	Juno Awards		International Album of the Year		^[13]
		"She Drives Me Crazy"	International Single of the Year
	Ivor Novello Awards		Best Contemporary Song		^[14]
			International Hit of the Year
	Pollstar Concert Industry Awards	Tour	Best Debut Tour		^[15]
	D&AD Awards	"Don't Look Back"	Individual Video		^[16]
	ASCAP Pop Music Awards	"Good Thing"	Most Performed Songs		^[17]
		"She Drives Me Crazy"
1991					^[18] Discography Studio albums Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications (sales threshold) UK ^[19] AUS ^[20] AUT ^[21] CAN ^[22] GER ^[23] NL ^[24] NZ ^[25] SWE ^[26] SWI ^[27] US ^[28] 1985 Fine Young Cannibals Release date: 10 December 1985 Label: I.R.S. 11 2 — 21 42 21 11 — 17 49 BPI: Gold^[29] MC: Platinum^[30] 1989 The Raw & the Cooked Release date: 13 January 1989 Label: I.R.S. 1 1 1 1 3 10 2 5 2 1 BPI: 3× Platinum ARIA: 3× Platinum^[31] MC: 6× Platinum RIAA: 2× Platinum^[32] "—" denotes releases that did not chart Compilation albums Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications (sales threshold) UK AUS AUT BEL (Fl) ^[33] GER NZ 1996 The Finest Release date: 26 November 1996 Label: London 10 56 22 39 47 21 BPI: Platinum 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 Singles Year Single Peak chart positions Certifications Album UK AUS BEL (Fl) CAN ^[34] GER IRE ^[35] NL NZ US ^[36] US Dance ^[37] 1985 "Johnny Come Home" 8 14 8 16 16 10 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 — — — — 1987 "Ever Fallen in Love" 9 20 28 — 19 10 34 23 — 11 Something Wild (soundtrack) 1988 "She Drives Me Crazy" 5 1 2 1 2 2 5 1 1 1 BPI: Platinum The Raw & the Cooked 1989 "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" 20 109 — 35 33 8 29 — 54 8 1990 "I'm Not Satisfied" 46 145 — 83 66 19 — — 90 — "It's OK (It's Alright)" — 169 — — 44 — — — — 1996 "The Flame" 17 85 65 — 65 — — 36 — — The Finest 1997 "She Drives Me Crazy 1997" 36 — — — — — — — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart See also List of Billboard number-one singles List of artists who reached number one in the United States List of Billboard number-one dance club songs List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance Club Songs chart External links

Notes and References

1. News: Fine Young Cannibals and Cherry are success stories. NORTH SPORTS FINAL, CN. Chris Heim. Chicago Tribune. 8 September 1989. 6.
2. Book: Strong, Martin C.. 2000. The Great Rock Discography. 5th. Mojo Books. Edinburgh. 343–344. 1-84195-017-3.
3. Web site: Brits.co.uk. https://web.archive.org/web/20120530134341/http://www.brits.co.uk/artist/fine-young-cannibals. dead. 30 May 2012. 18 June 2021.
4. Web site: 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. Jessica Berens. April 1986. 73. Spin Magazine. 11 September 2010.
5. News: O'Callaghan. Mary Anne. Cannibals has single cooking. 10 January 2018. Kentucky New Era. 6 March 1989. 7B.
6. Web site: Classic album revisited: Fine Young Cannibals "The Raw and The Cooked". Metro Weekly. Gerard, Chris. 11 February 2014.
7. Web site: Official Charts > Two Men, a Drum Machine & a Trumpet. The Official UK Charts Company. 27 July 2018.
8. Fine Young Cannibals > Chart History > Hot 100. Billboard. 27 July 2018.
9. Book: Roberts , David . 2006. British Hit Singles & Albums. 19th. Guinness World Records Limited . London. 1-904994-10-5. 200.
10. Web site: Rock On The Net: 1989 MTV Video Music Awards. Rockonthenet.com. 18 June 2021.
11. Web site: History. Brits.co.uk. 18 June 2021.
12. Web site: Fine Young Cannibals. 23 November 2020. Grammy.com. 18 June 2021.
13. Web site: Past Nominees + Winners. Junoawards.ca. 18 June 2021.
14. Web site: Archive | The Ivors | The Ivors Academy | Champions of Music Creators. Ivorsacademy.com. 18 June 2021.
15. Web site: Pollstar Awards Archive – 1989. 9 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170309062200/http://www.pollstarpro.com/PCIA-Static/awards1989.htm. 18 June 2021. 9 March 2017.
16. Web site: Fine Young Cannibals - Don't Look Back | London Records | D&AD Awards 1990 Pencil Winner | individual Video | D&AD .
17. Web site: Cash Box. 1990-06-23. Worldradiohistory.com. 20 March 2022.
18. Web site: Billboard. 1991-05-25. 113. Worldradiohistory.com. 20 March 2022.
19. Web site: Official Charts > Fine Young Cannibals. Official Charts Company. 27 July 2018.
20. Peak chart positions in Australia:
    • Top 100 (Kent Music Report) peaks to 12 June 1988: Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. 1993. Illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, NSW, Australia. 0-646-11917-6. 111. N.B. The Kent Music Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid-1983 and 12 June 1988.
    • Top 50 (ARIA) peaks from 13 June 1988: Web site: australian-charts.com > Fine Young Cannibals in Australian Charts. Hung Medien. 27 July 2018.
    • Top 100 (ARIA) peaks from January 1990 to December 2010: Book: Ryan, Gavin. Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. 2011. Moonlight Publishing. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia. PDF. 103.
    • "I'm Not the Man I Used to Be" (ARIA) peak: Web site: Gavin. Scott. This Week In 1990: February 4, 1990. Chart Beats: A Journey Through Pop.. 30 September 2020.
    • "I'm Not Satisfied" and "It's OK (It's Alright)" (ARIA) peaks: Web site: Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 5 June 2015. 16 June 2015. Imgur.com. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150605213523/http://i.imgur.com/DkGCr8v.jpg. 5 June 2015.
    • All ARIA-era chart peaks to 18 August 2018: Web site: Response from ARIA re: Fine Young Cannibals ARIA chart history, received 18 August 2018. Imgur.com. 2 February 2019. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column indicates the release's peak on the national chart.
21. Web site: austriancharts.at > Fine Young Cannibals in der Österreich Hitparade. de. Hung Medien. 28 November 2019.
22. Web site: Results – RPM – Library and Archives Canada . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 30 October 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121011205412/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=m7ct4rbjujb1eb957il9bl9567&q1=Fine+Young+Cannibals . 11 October 2012 . dead .
23. Web site: Offizielle Deutsche Charts > Suchen nach "Fine Young Cannibals". de. GfK Entertainment. 28 November 2019. N.B. Select the Album tab to display albums chart peaks.
24. Web site: dutchcharts.nl > Fine Young Cannibals in Dutch Charts. nl. Hung Medien. 28 November 2019.
25. Web site: charts.nz > Fine Young Cannibals in New Zealand Charts. Hung Medien. 27 July 2018.
26. Web site: swedishcharts.com > Fine Young Cannibals in Swedish Charts. Hung Medien. 28 November 2019.
27. Web site: hitparade.ch > Suche nach: Fine Young Cannibals (Alben). de. Hung Medien. 28 November 2019.
28. Fine Young Cannibals Chart History: Billboard 200. Billboard. 28 November 2019.
29. United Kingdom. Fine Young Cannibals. 29 June 2023.
30. Web site: Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA): Gold & Platinum . Cria.ca . 30 October 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100501065534/http://www.cria.ca/cert_db_search.php . 1 May 2010 .
31. Web site: Response from ARIA re: Fine Young Cannibals ARIA chart history, received 18 August 2018. Imgur.com. 2 February 2019.
32. Web site: Recording Industry Association of America . RIAA . 17 August 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130225031458/http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS . 25 February 2013 .
33. Web site: Ultratop > Fine Young Cannibals in Ultratop Vlaanderen. nl. Hung Medien. 28 November 2019.
34. Web site: Results – RPM – Library and Archives Canada . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 2015-12-28.
35. Web site: The Irish Singles Charts – All there is to know > Search results for Fine Young Cannibals (from irishcharts.ie). Fireball Media, via Imgur.com. 28 November 2019.
36. Fine Young Cannibals Chart History: Hot 100. Billboard. 28 November 2019.
37. Fine Young Cannibals Chart History: Dance Club Songs. Billboard. 28 November 2019.