Pop or rock? Cutting Crew have been described as both.
Either way, the group formed Nick van Eede and Kevin Michael in 1985 achieved international stardom just one year later. The pair had met in Nova Scotia while on tour with their respective bands and hit it off. When McMichael moved to England shortly afterwards they worked together and signed a record deal.
Their debut album, Broadcast, included “(I just) Died in Your Arms”, a song that became a smash hit in the US, where it hit number one on the Billboard singles chart, and was top ten in many other countries including the UK (no. 4) and Ireland (no. 2).
Their follow-up ‘I’ve Been in Love Before’ was a slower tempo and slower to ignite. Though the single initially snuck into the US Hot 100 at 38, the band took a chance and re-released it, this time reaching no. 9 on the Hot 100 and no. 2 on the US Adult Contemporary chart. The band received a Grammy nomination as Best New Artist in 1987.
Though their second album didn’t do as well, nevertheless the single “Everything But My Pride” peaked at no 4 and stayed in the US Adult Contemporary Top 50 for 22 weeks.
The band’s third album couldn’t revive their popularity and they decided to call it quits not long afterwards in 1993.
Tragically, McMichael died of lung cancer in 2003.
Van Eede reformed Cutting Crew with a different lineup and they toured with ABC, Berlin, Wang Chung, Supertramp, Level 42 and Midge Ure amongst others before signing a new record deal in 2008 with Spectra Records and releasing a new album “Add to Favourites” in 2015.
Cutting Crew play the ‘Forever Young’ festival in Palmerstown House Estate on Sunday July 16th, 2023. ‘Forever Young’ is a 3-day celebration of the music of the 1980s featuring artists such as Bananarama, BIlly Ocean, Tony Hadley, Andy Bell (Erasure), Tom Bailey (Thompson Twins), ABC and many more.
Full line-up and tickets are available here