Let's discuss the Fine Young Cannibals

I read the first 10 words and that’s already more than I ever wanted to know about this group

Radler_the_weinerdog stop

Overrated one hit wonder.

That 80's music, and John Hughes movies are a big part of why this country has become so soft. Thank God Grunge came along to get the music back on track.

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"She Drives Me Crazy" is a fire track.

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One of the best choruses of the 80s

Not one of Natalie Wood's best movies, but she was at her finest in it --

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Whatever happened to… Fine Young Cannibals' Roland Gift
LEAD singer of Fine Young Cannibals, Roland Gift opens up about his childhood, living on benefits, career and becoming a father
By DANNY SCOTT
PUBLISHED: 00:01, Sat, Jun 14, 2014





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singer, Fine Young Cannibals, Roland Gift, interview, Danny ScottRoland Gift opens up about his childhood, living on benefits, career and becoming a father[SAT MAG]

Roland Gift, 53, was the lead singer of Fine Young Cannibals. The Birmingham trio were one of the biggest bands of the late 80s and scored a number one album with 1989’s The Raw And The Cooked, which included hit singles She Drives Me Crazy and Good Thing. After a lengthy break from music, Roland is again writing songs and touring, and plays three Rewind Festival dates this summer. He lives in north London.

“I didn’t actually grow up in what you’d call a musical household, but I remember there was always music playing. We had an old radiogram in the corner of the living room at our house in Birmingham and I would put on stuff like The Beatles and Otis Redding. My dad was from the West Indies, so there were lots of calypso records, too.

Money was scarce when I was growing up. My dad went to prison and we were on benefits

Roland Gift

“Money was scarce when I was growing up. My dad went to prison and we were on benefits. Like most kids, I dreamed of being on Top Of The Pops and joined a band who happened to support The Beat (Birmingham band whose top 10 hits include Mirror In The Bathroom), which is where I met guitarist Andy Cox and bass player David Steele.

“After The Beat split, Andy and Dave asked me to join their new band, which became Fine Young Cannibals. At first, we found it difficult to get a record deal – I was told that a black guy fronting a band wouldn’t go down well in America – but we played on a TV show called The Tube and that seemed to get everybody interested.

“We released our first album in 1985, which did OK, but we followed that up with The Raw And The Cooked in 1989, which is when it all went a bit mad. The album went to number one here and in America and the singles She Drives Me Crazy and Good Thing both reached number one in America, too. It’s weird to be in the middle of something like that because you still feel like the same person, but everything around you totally changes. I couldn’t understand why so many people were staring at me in the street.

singer, Fine Young Cannibals, Roland Gift, interview, Danny ScottI have been playing some new tracks, but people want to hear the Fine Young Cannibals hits [SAT MAG]

“I fully expected the band to carry on and make a few more albums, but to be honest, I’m not sure what happened. We just stopped functioning as a band. It was sad, really. There was a lot of pressure from people around us to sell more and more records, but music doesn’t work like that.

It has to evolve naturally.

“When I became a dad in 1991, I just thought to myself, ‘Can I be bothered with all this?’ Financially I was OK, so I decided to take a couple of years off and that turned into 20 years! I don’t regret that because I had my life back. Me and the missus are still together and I got to see my kids grow up. That’s worth more than anything.

“The band made a couple of singles here and there, but musically I didn’t really get my act together until a couple of years ago. I was writing songs again and with the help of Channel 4 I also started working on a script for a new British crime drama. Last year I toured with Jools Holland.

“I have been playing some new tracks at my solo shows, but people obviously want to hear the Fine Young Cannibals hits. That’s great, really, because it proves that songs like Good Thing and She Drives Me Crazy had real quality. Good Thing was on a TV ad last year, almost a quarter of a century after it was released – I guess we must have been doing something right.”

a-ha shits on the Fine Young Cannibals but it is a good song

Birmingham went from Black Sabath to FYC in 15 years. Crazy.

I want to believe it was the video directed by Philippe Decoufle that propelled the song.