Mike & the Mechanics

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Mike & the Mechanics
Mike & the Mechanics (2012)
Mike & the Mechanics (2012)
General information
Genre (s) Rock , pop
founding 1985
Website mikeandthemechanics.com
Founding members
Mike Rutherford
Current occupation
Guitar, bass
Mike Rutherford
Vocals , keyboard
Andrew Roachford (since 2010)
singing
Tim Howar (since 2010)
former members
Vocals, guitar, keyboard
Paul Carrack (1985-2006)
singing
Paul Young (1985-2000, †)
Keyboard
Adrian Lee (1985-1995)
Session and tour members
guitar
Jamie Moses (1999-2004)
Peter Van Hooke (1985-1995, 2004)
Drums
Gary Wallis (since 1995)
guitar
Anthony Drennan (since 2010)
Keyboard, bass, saxophone
Luke Juby (since 2010)

Mike & the Mechanics is a musical project by British songwriter and Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford .

In its first phase, which ran from its founding in 1985 to the death of the singer Paul Young in July 2000, it released five studio albums and achieved considerable commercial success with them.

In the period that followed, the band released another album in mid-2004 and appeared only sporadically. With the resignation of the singer Paul Carrack in autumn 2006, the project seemed to be over. At the end of 2009, however, Rutherford announced that he was working on a new album with a new line-up and had hired singer Andrew Roachford to do so.

history

Foundation and first album (1985–1986)

Mike Rutherford tried, like all other formative members of Genesis, to build up a second mainstay as a musician in his own solo project. His two albums, Smallcreep's Day and Acting Very Strange , recorded with different studio musicians in the early 1980s, were based on the basic ideas he had also introduced into Genesis. On the second album, however, he sometimes played a much more rocking electric guitar than was usual with Genesis, and sang the pieces himself. The result was apparently not satisfactory, which is why Rutherford founded the project "Mike & the Mechanics" in 1985.

At a time when Genesis after the world tour in 1984 following the band's titled album Genesis (1983), on which the entire 1980s continued high points of their commercial success, as well as his bandmate Phil Collins and the former Genesis singer Peter Gabriel appealed to a wide audience with their publications, Rutherford was looking for an artistic niche. He wanted to make more experimental and contemporary publications with talented authors and musicians, without being overly personal.

This can be seen in the cast list for the first album, which was simply called Mike & the Mechanics . The core of the band consisted of Mike Rutherford on guitar and bass , producer Christopher Neil, keyboardist Adrian Lee and drummer Peter Van Hooke. After the rather bad experiences with his own singing, Rutherford invited four vocalists to the recordings, including the later permanent members Paul Carrack and Paul Young (not to be confused with the successful soul singer of the same name). There were also other studio musicians. Rutherford wrote most of the pieces together with Neil or BA Robertson.

The inconspicuous niche existence was already over with the release of the first two single releases Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground) and All I Need Is A Miracle in the summer of 1986, which, like the album, were first in the USA and then in other countries great market success was granted.

From Living Years to Hits (1988–1996)

Mike Rutherford (2007)

The second album Living Years was created in 1988 following the tour for the Genesis album Invisible Touch . The single The Living Years, with its personal theme, became one of the group's best-known pieces, while the album as a whole also met with critical acclaim.

The third album Word Of Mouth brought the first change in the recipe of Mike & the Mechanics in 1991, when Rutherford brought producer Russ Titelman to the otherwise unchanged line-up. The collaboration was problematic, however, and the album also sold less well than the Mechanics works of the 1980s.

During the following four years up to the album Beggar On A Beach Of Gold (1995), Genesis were active for the album We Can't Dance , for the last time in the lineup of their commercial heyday .

Mike and the Mechanics, carried by their two charismatic singers, always shone with convincing live performances. But instead of an industry-standard live album, in the wake of the success, an even more industry-standard Best Of compilation called Hits with a newly recorded version of the piece All I Need Is A Miracle was released in the spring of 1996 .

In the new millennium (since 1999)

Paul Carrack (2009)

The sixth album Mike & the Mechanics (therefore also known as M6 ) from 1999 saw the first profound changes. The core team that had existed until then dissolved; besides Rutherford, Carrack and Young, only Gary Wallis was represented as a permanent musician . Wallis had already played drums on Beggar On A Beach Of Gold and in live performances and has now replaced Peter Van Hooke in the studio. The two singers also played instruments, especially Paul Carrack let his experience and his growing success as a versatile instrumentalist on keyboards, guitar and drums flow into it. Among the various producers who worked with Mike Rutherford were Chris Neil, Genesis co-producer Nick Davis, and external producer couple Mark Taylor and Brian Rawling, who aimed for a contemporary and huge sales hit for the single Now That You've Gone Sounded. The result was a smooth album, floating between casually played semi-acoustic pop songs and electronic sounds, which at times looked like a solo album by Paul Carrack.

In July 2000, Paul Young died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 53. For a long time it was unclear to fans whether this would mean the end of Mike & the Mechanics, as Paul Carrack became more and more successful as a solo artist.

But the opposite was the case, because the record Rewired , released in June 2004 , became a return to the beginning, now under the name Mike & the Mechanics feat. Paul Carrack . Produced by Rutherford and Peter Van Hooke, new musicians such as Rupert Cobb and Will Bates helped create an album that was characterized by experimental pieces and accompanied by visuals on an accompanying DVD. On the following promotional tour, the group appeared in support of Phil Collins, among others.

In November 2006, Paul Carrack stated in an interview with Radio Jade that he did not want to record another album with the band after he had been refused to use some Mike - & - the Mechanics songs for his best of album. Mike Rutherford also said in an interview that the band's time was over.

In mid-2009, Carrack announced that Mike Rutherford was working on a new album for the Mechanics. Rutherford himself confirmed this in December and announced that Andrew Roachford would become the group's new singer. The new album The Road was then released in April 2011, but only just made it into the top 50.

The newly formed band has enjoyed great live successes since the release of this album and is particularly noticeable as a strong festival band.

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1985 Mike + The Mechanics DE26 (22 weeks)
DE
- - UK78 (3 weeks)
UK
US26th
gold
gold

(53 weeks)US
First published: October 21, 1985
1988 Living Years DE16 (13 weeks)
DE
- CH19 (7 weeks)
CH
UK2
gold
gold

(23 weeks)UK
US13
gold
gold

(37 weeks)US
First published: October 28, 1988
1991 Word of Mouth DE22 (20 weeks)
DE
AT22 (7 weeks)
AT
CH19 (8 weeks)
CH
UK11
silver
silver

(7 weeks)UK
US107 (5 weeks)
US
First published: April 2, 1991
1995 Beggar on a Beach of Gold DE21 (28 weeks)
DE
AT25 (5 weeks)
AT
CH16 (22 weeks)
CH
UK9
gold
gold

(34 weeks)UK
-
First published: March 6, 1995
1999 Mike & The Mechanics (M6) DE9 (10 weeks)
DE
- CH17 (9 weeks)
CH
UK14 (5 weeks)
UK
-
First published: May 31, 1999
2004 Rewired DE39 (3 weeks)
DE
- CH50 (2 weeks)
CH
UK42 (2 weeks)
UK
-
First published: June 7, 2004
2011 The Road DE41 (1 week)
DE
- CH64 (1 week)
CH
UK42 (2 weeks)
UK
-
First published: April 18, 2011
2017 Let me fly DE51 (2 weeks)
DE
- CH20 (3 weeks)
CH
UK9 (3 weeks)
UK
-
First published: April 7, 2017
2019 Out of the blue DE40 (2 weeks)
DE
- CH35 (1 week)
CH
UK7 (2 weeks)
UK
-
First published: April 5, 2019

Compilations

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1996 Hits DE6th
gold
gold

(24 weeks)DE
AT41 (4 weeks)
AT
CH11 (15 weeks)
CH
UK3
Double platinum
× 2
Double platinum

(31 weeks)UK
-
First published: March 2, 1996
2014 The Singles 1985-2014 DE80 (1 week)
DE
- - UK18 (4 weeks)
UK
-
First published: January 20, 2014

Singles

year Title
album
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1985 Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)
Mike + The Mechanics
DE8 (14 weeks)
DE
- - UK21 (12 weeks)
UK
US6 (24 weeks)
US
First published: November 4, 1985
1986 All I Need Is a Miracle
Mike + The Mechanics
DE26 (16 weeks)
DE
- - UK27 (10 weeks)
UK
US5 (19 weeks)
US
First published: February 3, 1986
Taken In
Mike + The Mechanics
- - - - US32 (15 weeks)
US
First published: June 30, 1986
1988 Nobody's Perfect
The Living Years
- - - UK80 (3 weeks)
UK
US63 (11 weeks)
US
First published: October 1988
1989 The Living Years
The Living Years
DE13 (10 weeks)
DE
AT18 (6 weeks)
AT
- UK2
gold
gold

(11 weeks)UK
US1 (20 weeks)
US
First published: December 27, 1988
Seeing is Believing
The Living Years
- - - - US62 (6 weeks)
US
First published: April 1989
Nobody Knows
The Living Years
- - - UK81 (3 weeks)
UK
-
First published: April 1989
1991 Word of Mouth
Word of Mouth
DE27 (18 weeks)
DE
- - UK13 (10 weeks)
UK
US78 (6 weeks)
US
First published: March 1991
A Time and Place
Word of Mouth
- - - UK58 (3 weeks)
UK
-
First published: June 1991
Everybody Gets a Second Chance
Word of Mouth
DE51 (14 weeks)
DE
- - UK56 (4 weeks)
UK
-
First published: October 1991
1995 Over My Shoulder
Beggar on a Beach of Gold
DE44 (23 weeks)
DE
- CH30 (14 weeks)
CH
UK12
silver
silver

(9 weeks)UK
-
First published: February 13, 1995
A Beggar on a Beach of Gold
Beggar on a Beach of Gold
DE64 (11 weeks)
DE
- - UK33 (5 weeks)
UK
-
First published: June 1995
Another Cup of Coffee
Beggar on a Beach of Gold
DE61 (10 weeks)
DE
- - UK51 (4 weeks)
UK
-
First published: August 1995
1999 Now That You've Gone
Mike & The Mechanics (M6)
DE64 (9 weeks)
DE
- - UK35 (2 weeks)
UK
-
First published: May 1999
Whenever I Stop
Mike & The Mechanics (M6)
DE76 (9 weeks)
DE
- - UK73 (1 week)
UK
-
First published: August 1999

literature

  • Dave Bowler, Bryan Dray: Genesis. The biography . Goldmann, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-442-42246-9 .

swell

  1. ^ Anil Prasad: Turning it on again. In: Innerviews. August 2007, accessed December 26, 2008 .
  2. Ralf Koch: I know that name. In: Empire. 2009, accessed December 21, 2009 .
  3. ^ Andy Greene: Genesis' Rutherford and Banks Reflect on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction. In: Rolling Stone magazine. December 2009, accessed December 21, 2009 .
  4. a b c Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
  5. Awards: DE UK US

Web links

Commons : Mike & the Mechanics  - collection of images, videos and audio files