The Living Years
Encyclopedia
Living Years is the second album by Mike + The Mechanics, released in 1988. The album reached number 13 on the Billboard 200
and number 2 on the UK Albums Chart
.
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 the complications with his wife's current pregnancy
, which nearly ended in the death of the child. 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 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," peaked at number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100
. The next single off the album, "The Living Years
", was a worldwide number one hit, reaching that mark on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week ending 25 March 1989. The song also reached number one on the Australian ARIA
singles chart the week ending 13 May 1989. In the United Kingdom, it spent three weeks at number 2 in January and February 1989, behind Marc Almond
and Gene Pitney
's reworking of "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart."
The song was co-written by Rutherford and B. A. 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 was only eleven years old.
A third single off the album, "Seeing is Believing", reached number 62 on the Billboard chart.
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 the Invisible Touch
sessions).
and Christopher Neil
, except where noted.
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
and number 2 on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
.
History
Mike RutherfordMike Rutherford
Michael John Cleote Crawford Rutherford is an English musician. He is a founding member of Genesis, initially as a bassist and backup vocalist. In later incarnations of Genesis, he assumed the role of lead guitarist. He is one of only two constant members in Genesis . He also fronts Mike + The...
began writing songs for the album in September 1987, shortly after the conclusion of Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
's Invisible Touch
Invisible Touch
Invisible Touch is the 13th studio album by the band Genesis, released in 1986. It reached No.1 in the UK where it remained in the charts for 96 weeks, making it by far the most commercially successful album of their career, eventually selling over 15 million copies worldwide...
tour. However, he found himself immediately stricken with writer's block
Writer's block
Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at hand. At the other extreme, some "blocked"...
, a circumstance he attributes to stress over the complications with his wife's current pregnancy
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
, which nearly ended in the death of the child. 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
Christopher Neil
Christopher Neil is a British record producer, songwriter, singer and actor.He has worked with Celine Dion, a-ha, Dollar, Paul Nicholas, Kim Criswell, Morten Harket, Mike + The Mechanics, Johnny Logan, Marillion, The Moody Blues, The Other Ones, Paul Carrack, Rod Stewart, Gerry Rafferty, Cher,...
felt was a good album's worth of material. In light of this, Neil wanted to move up 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," peaked at number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. The next single off the album, "The Living Years
The Living Years (song)
"The Living Years" was written by Mike Rutherford and B. A. Robertson, and recorded by Rutherford's English rock band Mike + The Mechanics. It was released in January 1989 as the second single from their album, Living Years. The song was a top ten chart hit around the world. It peaked at number one...
", was a worldwide number one hit, reaching that mark on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week ending 25 March 1989. The song also reached number one on the Australian ARIA
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
singles chart the week ending 13 May 1989. In the United Kingdom, it spent three weeks at number 2 in January and February 1989, behind Marc Almond
Marc Almond
Marc Almond is an English singer-songwriter and musician, who originally found fame as half of the seminal synthpop/New Wave duo Soft Cell...
and Gene Pitney
Gene Pitney
Eugene Francis Alan Pitney, known as Gene Pitney , was an American singer-songwriter, musician and sound engineer. Through the mid-1960s, he enjoyed success as a recording artist on both sides of the Atlantic and was among the group of early 1960s American acts who continued to enjoy hits after the...
's reworking of "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart."
The song was co-written by Rutherford and B. A. Robertson
B. A. Robertson
B. A. Robertson is a Scottish musician, actor, composer and songwriter.-Career:...
, 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
Paul Carrack
Paul Carrack is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Carrack has been a member of several bands including Ace, Squeeze, Mike + The Mechanics, and Roxy Music, been a session and touring musician for several others including Nick Lowe, and has enjoyed success as a solo artist as well...
, who would sing lead on the recording, had himself lost his father when he was only eleven years old.
A third single off the album, "Seeing is Believing", reached number 62 on the Billboard chart.
Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
and Tony Banks
Tony Banks (musician)
This article is about the musician. For other people named Tony Banks, see Tony BanksAnthony George "Tony" Banks is a British composer, and multi-instrumentalist, who performs as a keyboardist and a guitarist...
, Rutherford's Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
bandmates, made a guest appearance playing the riff on "Black & Blue" (a sample by Banks of Collins and Rutherford playing a riff during the Invisible Touch
Invisible Touch
Invisible Touch is the 13th studio album by the band Genesis, released in 1986. It reached No.1 in the UK where it remained in the charts for 96 weeks, making it by far the most commercially successful album of their career, eventually selling over 15 million copies worldwide...
sessions).
Reception
Allmusic's retrospective review summarized 'Slickly produced with rich vocals from Paul Carrack and Paul Young, The Living Years moves smoothly between anthemic ballads such as 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.Track listing
All songs by Mike RutherfordMike Rutherford
Michael John Cleote Crawford Rutherford is an English musician. He is a founding member of Genesis, initially as a bassist and backup vocalist. In later incarnations of Genesis, he assumed the role of lead guitarist. He is one of only two constant members in Genesis . He also fronts Mike + The...
and Christopher Neil
Christopher Neil
Christopher Neil is a British record producer, songwriter, singer and actor.He has worked with Celine Dion, a-ha, Dollar, Paul Nicholas, Kim Criswell, Morten Harket, Mike + The Mechanics, Johnny Logan, Marillion, The Moody Blues, The Other Ones, Paul Carrack, Rod Stewart, Gerry Rafferty, Cher,...
, except where noted.
- "Nobody's Perfect" (Rutherford, B. A. RobertsonB. A. RobertsonB. A. Robertson is a Scottish musician, actor, composer and songwriter.-Career:...
) – 4:48 - "The Living YearsThe Living Years (song)"The Living Years" was written by Mike Rutherford and B. A. Robertson, and recorded by Rutherford's English rock band Mike + The Mechanics. It was released in January 1989 as the second single from their album, Living Years. The song was a top ten chart hit around the world. It peaked at number one...
" (Rutherford, Robertson) – 5:32 - "Seeing Is Believing" (Rutherford, Robertson) – 3:13
- "Nobody Knows" – 4:24
- "Poor Boy Down" – 4:33
- "Blame" – 5:24
- "Don't" – 5:45
- "Black & Blue" (Robertson, Rutherford, Paul YoungPaul Young (Sad Café)Paul Young was an English singer and percussionist who worked with several successful bands. He initially came to prominence as the lead singer of chart band Sad Café, and later enjoyed further chart success sharing lead vocal duties with Paul Carrack in Mike + The Mechanics.-Career:Young was born...
) – 3:27 - "Beautiful Day" (Neil, Rutherford, Young) – 3:39
- "Why Me?" (Rutherford, Robertson) – 6:26
Mike + The Mechanics
- Mike RutherfordMike RutherfordMichael John Cleote Crawford Rutherford is an English musician. He is a founding member of Genesis, initially as a bassist and backup vocalist. In later incarnations of Genesis, he assumed the role of lead guitarist. He is one of only two constant members in Genesis . He also fronts Mike + The...
– guitar, bass, vocals, producer - Paul YoungPaul Young (Sad Café)Paul Young was an English singer and percussionist who worked with several successful bands. He initially came to prominence as the lead singer of chart band Sad Café, and later enjoyed further chart success sharing lead vocal duties with Paul Carrack in Mike + The Mechanics.-Career:Young was born...
– vocals (lead on 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9) - Paul CarrackPaul CarrackPaul Carrack is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Carrack has been a member of several bands including Ace, Squeeze, Mike + The Mechanics, and Roxy Music, been a session and touring musician for several others including Nick Lowe, and has enjoyed success as a solo artist as well...
– vocals (lead on 2, 4, 7, 10) - Adrian LeeAdrian LeeAdrian Lee is an English musician, known especially for his brass instrumentation work with several well-known acts of the 1980s.-Career:...
– keyboards - Peter Van HookePeter Van HookePeter Van Hooke was drummer in the English band Mike + The Mechanics as well as having drummed for Cliff Richard, Van Morrison's band, Headstone, and Ezio. During the 1980s he successfully co-produced many of Tanita Tikaram's hits.Van Hooke grew up in Stanmore, Middlesex and attended Mill Hill...
– drums
Additional Personnel
- Alan MurphyAlan MurphyAlan Murphy was an English rock session guitarist, best remembered for his collaborations with Kate Bush and Go West. In 1988 he joined the group Level 42 as a full time band member, and played with them until his death in 1989...
– guitar - Sal Gallina – keyboards
- B.A. Robertson – keyboards
- Martin Ditcham – percussion
- Luis JardimLuís JardimLuís Alberto Figueira Gonçalves Jardim is a Portuguese percussionist, born in the Madeira Island, best known for his work with producer Trevor Horn.-Family:Jardim is a cousin of Alberto João Jardim...
– percussion - Christopher NeilChristopher NeilChristopher Neil is a British record producer, songwriter, singer and actor.He has worked with Celine Dion, a-ha, Dollar, Paul Nicholas, Kim Criswell, Morten Harket, Mike + The Mechanics, Johnny Logan, Marillion, The Moody Blues, The Other Ones, Paul Carrack, Rod Stewart, Gerry Rafferty, Cher,...
– backing vocals, producer - Alan Carvell – backing vocals
- Michael Stuckey – choir master
Production
- Nick Davis – engineer
- Paul Gumersall – assistant engineer
- Terry Irwin – assistant engineer
- Halpin Grey Vermeir – cover design
- Geoff Halpin – photography
- John SwannellJohn SwannellJohn Swannell, born 1946, is an English photographer.After leaving school at 16, he worked first as an assistant at Vogue Studios and then assisted David Bailey for four years before setting up his own studio....
– photography