English man Nick Van Eede was the vocalist of the interesting UK band The Drives.
In the early eighties, they took off for Canada, to a new life and a promising deal.
On tour, Van Eede meets Kevin Scott MacMichael. A few AOR collectors knows that MacMichael was the original guitarist of FAST FORWARD, the legendary canadian AOR act.
By 1984, The Drives disbanded and MacMichael left FF, then Kevin and Nick began writing songs and working on demos in Toronto.
Bass player Colin Farley joins the project, and introduced drummer Martin Beedle to the leaders.
Cutting Crew was completed, and soon after, at the end of 1985, signed to a UK major label.
The album debut was released in Europe with different packaging 8 months before it was released in America. For the American version, 4 tracks were slightly remixed.
Sure, you should've listened the hit "(I Just) Died In Your Arms" (the first U.S. #1 hit for their label) at least once but... what about the rest of the album?
"Broadcast" spanned 4 succesful singles, but the whole album is a really good piece, and remains unheard by the majority.
Unlike 'one hit wonder' bands, Cutting Crew was a superb team, based on Van Eede's velvet voice and MacMichael's great guitar sounds, but also on their skillful songwriting abilities.
I can't find a weak song here, ALL are terrific.
First class production, recording, mixing, mastering... this album is a true statement of the eighites.
Power Pop? New Romantic? Synth Pop? Lite AOR?... who cares.
Just great music, that's all.
Don't miss this one. Listen to it entirely.
Recommended.
01 - Any Colour
02 - One For The Mocking-bird
03 - I've Been In Love Before
04 - Life In A Dangerous Time
05 - Fear Of Falling
06 - (I Just) Died In Your Arms
07 - Don't Look Back
08 - Sahara
09 - It Shouldn't Take Too Long
10 - The Broadcast
Nick Van Eede: Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Additional Keys
Kevin MacMichael: Guitars, Roland, Emulator, Bkg. Vocals
Colin Farley: Bass, Piano, Bkg. Vocals
Martin Beedle: Drums & Percussion, Bkg. Vocals
With:
Pete Adams - Sequencer (2, 9)
Gary Barnacle - Sax (7, 8)
Pete Birch - Background vocals (6)
David Le Boult - Keys (3)
Jimmy Maelen - Percussion (3)
Chris Townsend - Bass (4)
Peter-John Vetesse - Keyboards
Peter Woodroffe - Fairlight (9, 10)
BROADCAST
Hi!
ReplyDeleteGreat album! More interesting than the different artwork is the fact, that the US booklet announces remixed versions for tracks 1,2 and 6. I have both the European release (on Vinyl) and a US CD, but there is no difference. Someone told me, that maybe these mixes only were used on the initial US pressing, but I don't know, if this is true. Those US mixes finally can be found on the 2009 release on Cherry Red (which I don't have):
http://cherryred.co.uk/cherrypop/product.php?display=cuttingcrew
From which source is your rip? It seems to be the original mix.
Best wishes
1980-F
@ 1980-F, Germany:
ReplyDeleteHow are You?
The original US pressing features those tracks slightly remixed.
By the nineties, both (UK & US) editions were out of print.
Then, the label re-released the CD, to make it more confusing, with the original UK mix but with the american artwork. Stupid isn't it?
My file is the original european mix.
It seems that everybody on the internet has the same mp3 album that is badly ripped: some tracks end up ahead of time, like 2-3 seconds or so were cut-off. I thought your copy would be a fresh new rip. Pity, cause i love this album and i've downloaded it more than six times.
ReplyDeleteThanks anyway.
This is exactly how the CD mastering was done by the label.
ReplyDeleteBlame them... or get a vinyl (which sounds excellent btw)
thank you so much
ReplyDeleteGreat album. I'm glad somebody else is lauding this under-appreciated gem.
ReplyDelete