Mike + the Mechanics Living Years released

Living Years Mike + the Mechanics

Released: October 28, 1988 Peak: 13 US, 2 UK, 12 CN, 10 AU Sales (in millions): .05 US, 0.1 UK Genre: mainstream rock

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Nobody’s Perfect (Rutherford, B.A. Robertson) [4:48] v: Young (11/5/88, 63 US, 58 CB, 3 AR, 29 AU) The Living Years (Rutherford, Robertson) [5:32] v: Carrack (12/31/88, 1 US, 1 CB, 2 RR, 1 AC, 5 AR, 2 UK, 1 CN, 1 AU) Seeing Is Believing (Rutherford, Robertson) [3:13] v: Young (4/8/89, 62 US, 53 CB, 18 AR, 46 CN, 91 AU) Nobody Knows [4:24] v: Carrack (7/22/89, 41 AC) Poor Boy Down [4:33] v: Young Blame [5:24] v: Young Don’t [5:45] v: Carrack Black & Blue (Rutherford, Robertson, Young) [3:27] v: Young Beautiful Day (Rutherford, Neil, Young) [3:39] v: Young Why Me? (Rutherford, Robertson) [6:26] v: Carrack Songs are written by Mike Rutherford and Christopher Neil unless noted otherwise. V indicates who sang lead vocals. Total Running Time: 47:11 The Players: Mike Rutherford (guitar, bass) Paul Carrack (vocals) Paul Young (vocals) Adrian Lee (keyboards) Peter Van Hooke (drums)

Rating: 3.730 out of 5.00 (average of 12 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: After the enormous success of Genesis’ Invisible Touch in 1986, Mike Rutherford returned to his side project, Mike + the Mechanics, for a second album. It didn’t seem likely that he’d find the same magic again. After all, that first album surprised people by landing two top-10 hits. Instead, Rutherford and crew topped themselves, going all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the title cut. Rutherford and co-writer B.A. Robertson had both lost their fathers recently. However, the lyrics were solely by Robinson, whose son was born three months after his death. Paul Carrack, who tackled lead vocals on the track, lost his father when he was eleven years old. WK The song was Carrack’s fourth trip to the top 10. He’d previously been there with Mike + the Mechanics when he sang lead on “Silent Running” and had also hit the top 10 back in 1974 with Ace and the song “How Long.” After his profile was upped with “Silent Running,” he also found top-10 success with his own solo hit “Don’t Shed a Tear” in early 1988. “On mid-tempo tracks with Rutherford’s trademark bubbly bass such as Nobody’s Perfect and Beautiful Day and on the infectious Poor Boy Down the group display a soulfulness that many in the genre lack even while there is a distinct lack of individuality present in their musicianship.” AMG Overall, the album “moves smoothly between anthemic ballads such as the title track and more up-beat numbers such as Seeing Is Believing. The band even shows a trace of Mike Rutherford’s prog rock roots with Genesis on the epic-like Why Me?” AMG It didn’t find quite the success of its predecessor, though. “Nobody’s Perfect” and “Seeing Is Believing” both fell far short of the top 40, although the former reached #3 on the album rock chart and the latter got to #18. “When the group try their hands at funk, as on Don’t, or harder rock, as on Black and Blue, they sound quite out of their element.” AMG The latter did have the credentials of Rutherford’s Genesis bandmates Phil Collins and Tony Banks behind it, though. It used a sample from a riff they played during sessions for the Invisible Touch album. WK

Resources and Related Links: AMG All Music Guide review by Geoff Orens WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 1/17/2009; last updated 9/1/2021.

Steve, Bob & Rich’s Balls released this year

Balls Steve, Bob & Rich

Released: 1984 Peak: -- Sales (in millions): -- Genre: roots rock

Tracks: Let My People Go-Go Nobody Knows EGBDF Kissin’ Time A Only Chile Big Fat Blonde Makes No Sense Christine Information Roll On Songs written by Bob Walkenhorst. The Players: Bob Walkenhorst (vocals, guitar, drums) Rich Ruth (bass, vocals) Steve Phillips (guitar, vocals, lead vocal on “Nobody Knows”)

Rating: 4.200 out of 5.00 (average of 3 ratings)

About the Album: The three-piece bar band Steve, Bob & Rich formed in 1983. “These Kansas City rockers became an instant favorite throughout the Midwest. Soon fans stood in line to see this trio they described as ‘energetic,’ ‘intense,’ but most importantly ‘fun.’” AZ They self-produced their one and only album, Balls, in 1984. Within months, the trio signed a multi-album contract with Polygram, added drummer Pat Tomek, and became the Rainmakers, who would be hailed by Newdsay as “America’s Great Next Band.” AZ Amazon.com said this about the Rainmakers: “Missouri has long boasted of being the home of two of America’s greatest artists, Mark Twain and Chuck Berry. However, it wasn’t until The Rainmakers thundered into the national music spotlight in 1986, had anyone combined the guitar power of Berry with the social wit of Twain to form a unique brand of Missouri rock n’ roll.” AZ Let My People Go-Go, Nobody Knows, Big Fat Blonde, and Information would all resurface on the Rainmakers’ self-titled debut in 1986, but appear here first in stripped-down versions. Those songs “plus other strong originals capture the band lean, hungry and in all their 3-piece glory.” AZ “The remix and remastering makes it sound as if you are sitting in the room with the band, as most cuts were recorded completely live in the studio…No Rainmakers fan can be without this one!” AZ Notes: A CD reissue added seven live cuts from 1985: “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” “Tough Boys,” “Hanging Around,” “Nasty Man,” “Rockin’ All Over the World,” “Let My People Go-Go,” and “Switchblade.”

Resources and Related Links: AZ Amazon.com First posted 2/4/2009 updated 6/2/2021.