# fine young cannibals ![[fineyoungcannibals.jpg|300]] fine young cannibals 1990 background information also known as: two men a drum machine and a trumpet origin: birmingham england genres: pop rock - sophisti-pop - ska - progressive soul years active: 1984-1992 1996 labels: london i.r.s. spinoff of: the beat - akrylykz past members: andy cox roland gift david steele fine young cannibals (fyc) were an english pop rock band formed in birmingham england in 1984 by former the beat band bassist david steele and guitarist andy cox with singer roland gift (formerly of the akrylykz.) ir self-titled 1985 debut album contained "johnny come home" and a cover of "suspicious minds" two songs that were top 40 hits in the uk canada australia and europe. ir 1989 album the raw & the cooked topped the uk us australian and canadian album charts and contained ir two billboard hot 100 number ones: "they drives me crazy" and "good thing" in 1990 the band won two brit awards: best british group and best british album (for the raw & the cooked) the group was formed in 1984 after the dissolution of the beat with whom cox and steele previously played. ir name came from the 1960 film all the fine young cannibals starring robert wagner and natalie wood. the duo of steele and cox spent eight months listening to over 500 cassettes of potential singers before picking gift. they had difficulty obtaining a record contract but when a video of ir song "johnny come home" appeared on british tv show the tube recording contract offers flowed in immediately. the band's eponymous debut album was released in 1985 spawning two uk hit singles "johnny come home" and a cover of elvis presley's "suspicious minds" featuring additional vocals by jimmy somerville. the two songs also became hits internationally charting in the top 40 in europe canada and australia although they failed to make a significant impact on the us charts fine young cannibals appeared as the house band in a nightclub in the 1987 comedy film tin men and also contributed songs to the film's soundtrack including "good thing" in the gap between ir first and second albums steele and cox released the instrumental house single "tired of getting pushed around" in 1987 as "two men a drum machine and a trumpet" which reached no. 18 in the uk singles chart and was popular on the u.s. dance chart. during this time gift appeared in the movie sammy and rosie get laid to good reviews the band continued ir international success with the singles "they drives me crazy" and "good thing" from the 1989 album the raw & the cooked. both songs reached #1 in the united states. "they drives me crazy" also topped the australian chart for three non-consecutive weeks and peaked at #5 in the uk while "good thing" peaked at #7 in both countries. the raw & the cooked included three songs the band had recorded for tin men (including "good thing") and ir cover of the buzzcocks' "ever fallen in love (w/ someone you shouldn't've)" recorded for the film something wild in 1990 the band contributed a version of cole porter's "love for sale" to the aids research benefit album red hot + blue produced by the red hot organisation fine young cannibals disbanded in 1992 although they briefly returned to the studio in 1996 to record a new single "the flame" for the greatest hits compilation the finest **+** andy cox - guitars keyboards **+** roland gift - vocals **+** david steele - bass keyboards drum machine session and touring members **+** martin parry - drums percussion **+** graeme hamilton - trumpet piano **+** nigel darvill - keyboards // republic of bob