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Tuesday, December 11, 2018


Nope didn't buy this one but . . . . . .wish I had  . . . a kind of classic pop song and Roland has THAT voice!
On this day in music history: December 10, 1985 - “Fine Young Cannibals”, the debut album by Fine Young Cannibals is released. Produced by Robin Millar, it is recorded at The Power Plant Studios in Willesden, North London and Sound Suite Studios in Camden, London, UK from May - August 1985. Following the break up of The (English) Beat in 1983, co-founding members David Steele and Andy Cox set about forming a new band. Going through more than five hundred demo tapes and spending eight months looking for a lead singer to front their band, Steele and Cox find singer Roland Gift, originally a member of the Hull based ska band The Akrylykz. Blessed with a uniquely soulful and distinctive voice, natural charisma and stage presence, Gift proves to be the perfect front man. The trio name themselves Fine Young Cannibals after the 1960 film “All The Fine Young Cannibals” starring Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner. Writing more than enough material to a record a full album, FYC go in search of a record deal. Surprisingly, in spite of Steele and Cox’s past track record of success with The Beat, they have great difficulty in getting a record company interested in signing the new unproven band. While still unsigned, Fine Young Cannibals make an appearance on the long running music show “The Tube” in late 1984, performing three original songs. Almost immediately, offers from the very record labels that had previously rejected FYC come pouring in, following the positive response to their debut television performance. Signing with London Records in the UK and IRS Records in the US, the band enter the studio with producer Robin Millar, fresh off of having produced Sade’s hugely successful debut album “Diamond Life”. Featuring nearly all original material, Fine Young Cannibals’ unique blend of ska, new wave, pop and R&B does take long to find favor with the public. Their debut single “Johnny Come Home” (#8 UK Pop, #76 US Pop, #8 US Club Play), quickly becomes a hit in the UK and gains the band a foothold in the US. It spins off three singles including a cover of Elvis Presley’s classic “Suspicious Minds” (#8 UK Pop), featuring Jimmy Somerville (Bronski Beat, The Communards) on backing vocals. The album is reissued on CD in 1999, and then remastered and reissued again in 2013 as two CD deluxe edition. The first disc features the original ten track album with three additional bonus tracks. The second disc contains the 12" dance mixes of “Johnny” and “Suspicious”. “Fine Young Cannibals” peaks number eleven on the UK album chart and number forty nine on the Billboard Top 200.

thanks to Jeff Harris' wonderful blog

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