34-593: Living Years is the second album by Mike + The Mechanics , released in 1988. The album reached number 13 on the US Billboard 200 and number 2 on the UK Albums Chart . Mike Rutherford began writing songs for the album in September 1987, shortly after the conclusion of Genesis 's Invisible Touch Tour . However, he found himself immediately stricken with writer's block , a circumstance he attributes to stress over
68-415: A side project during a hiatus period for his other group Genesis . The band are known for the hit singles " Silent Running ", " All I Need Is a Miracle ", " Taken In ", " The Living Years ", " Word of Mouth ", and " Over My Shoulder ". Initially, the band included Rutherford (the only constant member), vocalists Paul Carrack and Paul Young , keyboardist Adrian Lee , and drummer Peter Van Hooke . After
102-461: A UK top 40 hit in the title track, and a number 12 hit in " Over My Shoulder ". The latter, which was their first hit to be co-written by Carrack, became arguably their most aired song on British radio. Their run of successes was capped with 1996's Hits , which compiled most of their hit singles with a new reworking of "All I Need is a Miracle" that reached number 27 in the UK, a higher placing than that of
136-474: A clean, lively sound reminiscent of Alan Parsons ." Billboard said it is "upbeat and danceable." The music video for " Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground) " ends with footage of Mike + The Mechanics performing the song at a restaurant, and segues into the video for "Miracle". In the video, "All I Need is a Miracle" is the final song in the band's fictional set, so Mike + The Mechanics' tour manager, Roy (played by Roy Kinnear ), attempts to settle up with
170-480: A co-producer of Rewired . He also performed drums and percussion on the album and its tour. Shortly after, Carrack became too involved with solo work to devote time to the group. In a 2007 interview Rutherford stated that Mike and the Mechanics had "run its course." Over several months of 2009 and 2010, Rutherford formed a new band. Despite there being no hope of the original group ever reforming, he opted to again use
204-515: A decade together, Lee and Van Hooke dropped out in 1995 and were not replaced. Following Young's death in 2000, Carrack became the band's sole lead vocalist until 2004 when the band (essentially a duo at this point) dissolved, with Rutherford and Carrack both agreeing the band had "run its course". In 2010, the band was revived with Rutherford headlining a completely new set of musicians, including vocalists Andrew Roachford and Tim Howar . During hiatuses from Genesis, Mike Rutherford had been pursuing
238-424: A heart attack. The band regrouped in 2004 as Mike and the Mechanics featuring Paul Carrack. As implied by the new name, Carrack played a larger role than before, performing all the band's lead vocals and keyboards and co-writing all the songs. They released the album Rewired , which became their first album to lack a hit. Van Hooke briefly worked with the band again during this time, not as an official member but as
272-403: A key role in the band's albums for their first decade of existence. Similarly to Steely Dan , in the studio Mike and the Mechanics were not a tight-knit band but a vehicle for the songwriting of Rutherford, Robertson, and Neil, and session keyboardists, drummers, guitarists, and even lead vocalists often performed on the songs in place of the official band members. Indeed, the line-up of Mike and
306-561: A little different, but the soul seems to be there." A new album, The Road , and the 'Hit the Road Tour 2011' were announced in November 2010. The album was released in April 2011. It featured both Roachford and Tim Howar on vocals, Luke Juby on keyboards, Gary Wallis on drums, and Anthony Drennan on guitar and bass. Though it became the first album not to feature B. A. Robertson as a co-writer,
340-472: A much larger role in the band, joining their stable of songwriters and adding keyboards. The group's third album, Word of Mouth , followed in 1991. It was less successful than its predecessors, particularly in the US, but scored another trio of charting singles in the UK, with the lead single becoming one of their most popular songs yet. Their fourth album, Beggar on a Beach of Gold , appeared in 1995. It yielded
374-627: A solo career, releasing Smallcreep's Day in 1980 and Acting Very Strange in 1982. He found the process of recording a solo album excessively difficult, however, and the results artistically unsatisfying, particularly in regards to singing lead vocals on the latter album. He recalled, "I had a revelation, too, in this time period ... that I'm not complete on my own. ... I'm much more creative and inspired when there are other people around me and I'm bouncing ideas off." He still felt that working only with Genesis would leave him unfulfilled, however, and to satisfy both his desire to create music outside
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#1733084976781408-504: Is a Miracle " and an additional No. 32 hit with " Taken In ". "Silent Running" was featured in the movie On Dangerous Ground , released in North American cinemas in 1986 as Choke Canyon . The single "The Living Years" (US#1, UK#2), released in 1988, became the band's biggest hit, and featured on the band's second album Living Years . The song was written by Rutherford and Robertson after both of their fathers had recently died, but
442-448: Is that it's a happy song – or it's primarily a happy song. It's 'up'. And I don't do that very often. ...It may not be optimistic, but it's a positive attitude to life." "All I Need Is a Miracle" was the second single released by Mike + The Mechanics, following " Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground) ", which also reached the top 10. "All I Need Is a Miracle" featured lead vocals by former Sad Café vocalist Paul Young . The cover of
476-406: Is winning, the thief and his cronies kick him out of the building. As he sits in despair, he is consoled by a stray dog, which is soon whisked away by its owner. His luck changes when the grateful Rolls-Royce -driving owner hands him a large amount of money for "finding" the dog. Roy returns to the restaurant, pays the owner the £500, and gives the change to Rutherford, telling him to split it amongst
510-511: The Invisible Touch sessions). The Living Years Deluxe Edition was released on 20 January 2014, featuring extensive liner notes by journalist Mario Giammetti, a new recording of the hit song with Andrew Roachford on vocals and a bonus CD of live and rare tracks. AllMusic 's retrospective review summarised 'Slickly produced with rich vocals from Paul Carrack and Paul Young, The Living Years moves smoothly between anthemic ballads such as
544-502: The Australian ARIA singles chart the week ending 13 May 1989. The title song was co-written by Rutherford and BA Robertson , both of whose fathers had recently died. However, the lyrics were written solely by Robertson, and dealt with Robertson's strained relationship with his father and the birth of his son three months after his father's death. Paul Carrack , who would sing lead on the recording, had himself lost his father when he
578-406: The Mechanics came together gradually over the course of recording their first album; Paul Young, who was recommended for the group by Neil and his manager, said that by the time he joined, all the backing tracks for the album had been recorded. Rutherford was more than satisfied with the resulting album and decided to continue the band indefinitely, rather than leaving it as a one-off project. When
612-447: The Mike and the Mechanics name. In a December 2009 interview, Rutherford stated that "I'm actually doing a new Mike and the Mechanics album. I kind of thought I had put it to bed, but I still enjoy songwriting. Working with a few new co-writers and a couple of new faces for the band. Paul Carrack is doing some solo stuff, so we have a guy called Andrew Roachford , an R&B kind of singer. It's
646-627: The UK, despite being used in a major advertising campaign in the latter territory. However, things changed dramatically with the next single off the album, " The Living Years ", which was a worldwide hit, reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week ending 25 March 1989 and number two in the United Kingdom, held off the top for three weeks over January and February 1989 by Marc Almond and Gene Pitney 's reworking of " Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart .". The song also reached number one on
680-502: The album also marked the return of Christopher Neil as songwriter/producer. The tour included performances across the UK, Germany, and various other European cities. In April 2017, this incarnation of the band released another album, Let Me Fly . It continues to tour. In April 2019, Mike and the Mechanics released their ninth studio album Out of the Blue , via BMG. In a 1996 article for Q magazine, critic Peter Kane said that while
714-451: The album was released in 1985, his decision was further bolstered by its immense commercial success. While Rutherford's solo albums had been moderately successful, he had never managed a Top 40 hit (except in Canada, where "Maxine" from Acting Very Strange reached No. 39); Mike + the Mechanics scored three of them, including two US Top 10s, " Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground) ", " All I Need
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#1733084976781748-492: The band 'fly in the face of fashion', their music has a 'basic decency' and 'unquestionably speaks to more people than many of us are sometimes prepared to accept'. He stressed, 'Mike and the Mechanics: they're quite good, really.' All I Need Is a Miracle " All I Need Is a Miracle " is a song performed by English pop rock band Mike + The Mechanics . Written by guitarist Mike Rutherford and producer Christopher Neil , it
782-471: The band's performance (with Paul Carrack acting as the bassist) and Roy's adventures in trying to acquire the necessary £500. Roy conflicts get worse when a Chinese hoodlum swipes his money while riding a bike. Roy runs after the thief and follows him to the basement of a restaurant in Chinatown where his money is being gambled away. There he attempts to gamble his money back by playing mah-jong . However, as he
816-446: The complications with his wife's pregnancy, which endangered their child's life. The baby (Rutherford's third) was safely delivered in November, and Rutherford said that the relief made him feel "like a new man". In January he entered an extremely prolific songwriting period, and by the end of the month he had what he and producer/co-writer Christopher Neil felt was a good album's worth of material. In light of this, Neil wanted to move up
850-471: The format of Genesis and his desire to collaborate with other musicians, he set about forming his own band. Rutherford had already started a songwriting partnership with Scottish singer/writer/composer B. A. Robertson , and for the band's self-titled debut album he enlisted the services of producer Christopher Neil . Besides producing, Neil co-wrote most of the songs, selected the material for inclusion, and performed backing vocals. He would continue to play
884-454: The lyrics were written solely by Robertson and centred on the unresolved dissension between Robertson and his father. The song was sung by Carrack, who also had an emotional attachment to the song, having lost his own father when he was 11 years old. The album also featured the song "Nobody's Perfect", sung by Young; it served as the background music to a television advertising campaign for Tennent's bitter . At this point Carrack began to take
918-429: The original version. The album was certified platinum in the UK within two months of its release. In 1995, the band began to fall apart: Adrian Lee and Peter Van Hooke left (before and after Beggar on a Beach of Gold , respectively), and Christopher Neil's long tenure as songwriter/producer for the group ended. Rutherford opted to continue Mike and the Mechanics as a singer/songwriter trio. The group's fifth studio album
952-453: The recording sessions, which had been scheduled for April. Rutherford vetoed the idea, however, and with his burst of inspiration still running, most of the songs that eventually appeared on the album were written over the next two months. The first single taken off the album, "Nobody's Perfect", did not perform as expected, peaking at number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number 80 in
986-416: The restaurant owner (played by Victor Spinetti ) for the agreed sum of £250. However, the owner points out that due to the gig being arranged at the last minute, the restaurant is more than half empty, and refuses to pay. Moreover, he threatens to hold all the band's equipment (and "the guitarist's right arm" the early airings) as collateral until he is paid £500. The bulk of the video then alternates between
1020-416: The single was twice recycled for Mike + The Mechanics albums, first for their greatest hits package Hits in 1996, and then for Mike & the Mechanics in 1999. A new version of the song, titled "All I Need Is a Miracle '96", was included on Hits . In 1987, the song was nominated for "Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group" at the 29th Annual Grammy Awards Ceremony. Cash Box said that "it has
1054-607: The title track and more up-beat numbers such as "Seeing Is Believing."' They commented that the album was inconsistent, however, at times venturing into genres that the group could not handle convincingly. Mike + The Mechanics Additional personnel Shipments figures based on certification alone. Mike and the Mechanics Mike and the Mechanics (stylised as Mike + The Mechanics ) are an English rock supergroup formed in Dover in 1985 by Mike Rutherford , initially as
Living Years - Misplaced Pages Continue
1088-485: Was first included on their 1985 self-titled debut album , and later released as a single in early 1986 in the USA, where it reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 . The song was sung by Paul Young on both the original recording and the 1996 re-recording for the band's Hits compilation album. In an interview prior to the song's release as a single, Rutherford commented, "The thing that makes 'Miracle' different, to me,
1122-399: Was only eleven years old, and he continues to feature the song regularly in his solo performances. A third single off the album, "Seeing is Believing", reached number 62 on the Billboard Hot 100. Phil Collins and Tony Banks , Rutherford's Genesis bandmates, made a guest appearance playing the riff on "Black & Blue" (a sample by Banks of Collins and Rutherford playing a riff during
1156-508: Was released in 1999, Mike & The Mechanics . It is generally known as M6 , the Hits album being their fifth release. As the band no longer had a distribution deal with an American record label, M6 was available to the American market as an import only. Its only hit, "Now That You've Gone", peaked at No. 35 in the UK. Another blow struck the following year: On 15 July 2000, Paul Young died from
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