Mike The Mechanics

Formation and commercial breakthrough

During hiatuses from Genesis, Mike Rutherford had been pursuing a solo career, releasing Smallcreep's Day in 1980 and Acting Very Strange in 1982. However, he found the process of recording a solo album excessively difficult, and the results artistically unsatisfying. He recalled, "I had a revelation, too, in this time period... that I'm not complete on my own. ...I'm much more creative and inspired when there are other people around me and I'm bouncing ideas off." However, he still felt that working only with Genesis would leave him unfulfilled, and to satisfy both his desire to create music outside the format of Genesis and his desire to collaborate with other musicians, he set about forming his own band.

Rutherford had already started a songwriting partnership with Scottish singer/writer/composer B. A. Robertson, and for the band's self-titled debut album he enlisted the services of producer Christopher Neil. Besides producing, Neil co-wrote most of the songs, selected the material for inclusion, and performed backing vocals. He would continue to play a key role in the band's albums for their first decade of existence.

Similarly to Steely Dan, in the studio Mike + the Mechanics were not a tight-knit band but a vehicle for the songwriting of Rutherford, Robertson, and Neil, and session keyboardists, drummers, guitarists, and even lead vocalists often performed on the songs in place of the official band members. Indeed, the line-up of Mike + the Mechanics only came together over the course of recording their first album; Paul Young, who was recommended for the group by Neil and his manager, said that by the time he joined, all the backing tracks for the album had been recorded.

Rutherford was more than satisfied with the resulting album and decided to continue the band indefinitely, rather than leaving it as a one-off project. When the album was released in 1985, his decision was further bolstered by its immense commercial success. While Rutherford's solo albums had been moderately successful, he had never managed a Top 40 hit (except in Canada, where "Maxine" from Acting Very Strange sneaked in at No. 39); Mike + the Mechanics scored three of them, including two US Top 10s, "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)" and "All I Need is a Miracle". "Silent Running" was featured in the movie On Dangerous Ground, released in North American cinemas in 1986 as Choke Canyon.

Glory years

The song "The Living Years" (US No.1 single) featured on the band's second album Living Years. The song was written by Rutherford and Robertson after both of their fathers had recently died, but the lyrics were written by Robertson and centered on the unresolved dissension between Robertson and his father. The song was sung by Carrack, who had lost his own father when he was only eleven years old. The album also featured the song "Nobody's Perfect", which was sung by Young and which had received considerable airtime as the music to a successful television advertising campaign for Tennent's bitter.

At this point Carrack began to take a much larger role in the band, joining their stable of songwriters and adding keyboards to his repertoire. The group's third album, Word of Mouth, followed in 1991 and scored another trio of hits, with the lead single becoming one of their most popular songs yet. Despite long hiatuses due to Rutherford's work with Genesis, there seemed no end to the band's success.

Their fourth album, Beggar on a Beach of Gold, did not appear until 1995. When it did, however, it was met with critical acclaim and yielded both the hit title track and single "Over My Shoulder".

Their run of successes was capped with 1996's Hits, which compiled most of their hit singles with a new reworking of "All I Need is a Miracle" that hit number 27 in the UK. The album was certified platinum in the UK within two months of its release.

Dissolution

In 1995, the band began to fall apart: Adrian Lee and Peter Van Hooke left (before and after Beggar on a Beach of Gold, respectively), and Christopher Neil's long tenure as songwriter/producer for the group ended. However, Rutherford opted to continue Mike + the Mechanics as a singer/songwriter trio. The group's fifth studio album was released in 1999, Mike & The Mechanics. It is generally known as M6, the Hits album being their fifth release. As the band no longer had a distribution deal with an American record label, M6 was available to the American market as an import only. Moreover, its only hit, "Now That You've Gone", barely cracked the UK Top 40.

Another blow struck the following year: On 15 July 2000, Paul Young died from a heart attack. The band regrouped in 2004 as "Mike + The Mechanics featuring Paul Carrack". As implied by the new name, Carrack played a larger role than before, performing all the band's lead vocals and keyboards and co-writing all the songs. They released the album Rewired, which became their first album to lack a hit. Van Hooke briefly worked with the band again during this time, not as an official member but as a co-producer of Rewired. He also performed drums and percussion on the album and its tour.

Shortly after, Carrack became too involved with solo work to devote time to the group. In a 2007 interview Rutherford stated that Mike + The Mechanics had "run its course."

Second incarnation

Over several months of 2009 and 2010, Rutherford formed a new band. Since there was no hope of the original group ever reforming, he opted to again use the Mike + the Mechanics name. In a December 2009 interview, Rutherford stated that "I'm actually doing a new Mike and the Mechanics album. I kind of thought I had put it to bed, but I still enjoy songwriting. Working with a few new co-writers and a couple of new faces for the band. Paul Carrack is doing some solo stuff, so we have a guy called Andrew Roachford, an R&B kind of singer. It's a little different, but the soul seems to be there."

A new album, The Road, and the 'Hit the Road Tour 2011' were announced in November 2010. The album was released in April 2011 featured both Roachford and Tim Howar on vocals, Luke Juby on keyboards, Gary Wallis on drums, and Anthony Drennan on guitar and bass. Though Rutherford's songwriting partnership with B.A. Robertson had since ended, the album marked the return of Christopher Neil as songwriter/producer. The tour included performances across the UK, Germany, and various other European cities.

This incarnation of the band continues to tour, and has announced a series of UK dates for 2017.

Discography

Members