Fine Young Cannibals

Fine Young Cannibals (FYC) were an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham, West Midlands, in 1984 by former The Beat band bassist David Steele and guitarist Andy Cox<ref name="trib">Template:Cite news</ref> with singer Roland Gift (formerly of the Akrylykz). Their 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. Their 1989 album, The Raw & the Cooked, topped the UK, US, Australian and Canadian album charts, and contained their two Billboard Hot 100 number ones: "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing".<ref name="The Great Rock Discography">Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1990, the band won two Brit Awards: Best British Group and Best British Album (for The Raw & the Cooked).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

The group was formed in 1984 after the dissolution of The Beat, with whom Cox and Steele previously played.<ref name="trib" /> Their name came from the 1960 film All the Fine Young Cannibals starring Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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 their song "Johnny Come Home" appeared on British TV show The Tube, recording contract offers flowed in immediately.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/> 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".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Template:AnchorIn the gap between their 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<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and was popular on the U.S. dance chart. During this time, Gift appeared in the movie Sammy and Rosie Get Laid.

The band continued their international success with the singles "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing", from the 1989 album The Raw & the Cooked. Both songs reached No. 1 in the United States.<ref name="billboard.com">Template:Cite magazine</ref> "She Drives Me Crazy" also topped the Australian chart for three non-consecutive weeks and peaked at No. 5 in the UK, while "Good Thing" peaked at No. 7 in both countries.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">Template:Cite book</ref> The Raw & the Cooked included three songs the band had recorded for Tin Men (including "Good Thing"), and their cover of the Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" recorded for the film Something Wild.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/>

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 Organization.

Fine Young Cannibals disbanded in 1992, although they briefly returned to the studio in 1996 to record a new single, "Flame", for the greatest hits compilation The Finest.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/> In 2025, Gift announced a two-show tour in 2025 billed as "Roland Gift Presents Fine Young Cannibals", with an unknown line-up as of July 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Band members

• 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

Awards and nominations

Year	Awards	Work	Category	Result	Ref.
1989	MTV Video Music Awards	"She Drives Me Crazy"	Video of the Year	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
			Best Group Video	Template:Nom
			Breakthrough Video	Template:Nom
			Viewer's Choice	Template:Nom
1990	Brit Awards	Themselves	British Group	Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
		The Raw & the Cooked	British Album of the Year	Template:Won
	Grammy Awards	"She Drives Me Crazy"	Record of the Year	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
			Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals	Template:Nom
		The Raw & the Cooked	Album of the Year	Template:Nom
	Juno Awards		International Album of the Year	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
		"She Drives Me Crazy"	International Single of the Year	Template:Nom
	Ivor Novello Awards		Best Contemporary Song	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
			International Hit of the Year	Template:Won
	Pollstar Concert Industry Awards	Tour	Best Debut Tour	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	D&AD Awards	"Don't Look Back"	Individual Video	Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	ASCAP Pop Music Awards	"Good Thing"	Most Performed Songs	Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
		"She Drives Me Crazy"		Template:Won
1991				Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Discography Studio albums Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications (sales threshold) UK <ref name=occ>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> AUS <ref name="Australia">Peak chart positions in Australia: Top 100 (Kent Music Report) peaks to 12 June 1988: Template:Cite book N.B. The Kent Music Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid-1983 and 12 June 1988. Top 50 (ARIA) peaks from 13 June 1988: Template:Cite web Top 100 (ARIA) peaks from January 1990 to December 2010: Template:Cite book "I'm Not the Man I Used to Be" (ARIA) peak: Template:Cite web "I'm Not Satisfied" and "It's OK (It's Alright)" (ARIA) peaks: Template:Cite web All ARIA-era chart peaks to 18 August 2018: Template:Cite web N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column indicates the release's peak on the national chart.</ref> AUT <ref name="Austria">Template:Cite web</ref> CAN <ref name="RPM">Template:Cite web</ref> GER <ref name=ger>Template:Cite web N.B. Select the Album tab to display albums chart peaks.</ref> NL <ref name=ned>Template:Cite web</ref> NZ <ref name=nz>Template:Cite web</ref> SWE <ref name="Sweden">Template:Cite web</ref> SWI <ref name="Switzerland">Template:Cite web</ref> US <ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> 1985 Fine Young Cannibals Release date: 9 December 1985 Label: London, I.R.S. 11 2 — 21 42 21 11 — 17 49 BPI: Gold<ref name="BPI">Template:Cite certification</ref> MC: Platinum<ref name="CRIA">Template:Cite web</ref> 1989 The Raw & the Cooked Release date: 6 February 1989 Label: London, I.R.S. 1 1 1 1 3 10 2 5 2 1 BPI: 3× Platinum<ref name="BPI" /> ARIA: 3× Platinum<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> MC: 6× Platinum<ref name="CRIA" /> RIAA: 2× Platinum<ref name="RIAA">Template:Cite web</ref> "—" denotes releases that did not chart Compilation albums Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications (sales threshold) UK <ref name=occ/> AUS <ref name="Australia" /> AUT <ref name="Austria" /> BEL (Fl) <ref name=bel>Template:Cite web</ref> GER <ref name=ger/> NZ <ref name=nz/> 1996 The Finest Release date: 11 November 1996<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Label: London 10 56 22 39 47 21 BPI: Platinum<ref name="BPI" /> 2006 The Platinum Collection Release date: 21 March 2006 Label: Warner Deluxe — — — — — — 2009 She Drives Me Crazy Release date: 23 February 2009 Label: MC Deluxe — — — — — — 2012 The Collection — — — — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart Remix albums Year Album details Peak chart positions UK <ref name=occ/> AUS <ref name="Australia"/> GER <ref name=ger/> 1990 The Raw & the Remix Release date: 11 December 1990 Label: I.R.S. 61 114 38 Singles Year Single Peak chart positions Certifications Album UK <ref name=occ/> AUS <ref name="Australia"/> BEL (Fl) <ref name=bel/> CAN <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> GER <ref name=ger/> IRE <ref name="irish">Template:Cite web</ref> NL <ref name=ned/> NZ <ref name=nz/> US <ref name=hot100>Template:Cite magazine</ref> US Dance <ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> 1985 "Johnny Come Home" 8 14 8 16 16 10 10 13 76 9 Fine Young Cannibals "Blue" 41 13 34 — — — — 45 — 1986 "Suspicious Minds" 8 6 22 21 37 9 21 14 — 23 "Funny How Love Is" 58 97 — — — 27 — — — — 1987 "Ever Fallen in Love" 9 20 28 — 19 10 34 23 — 11 Something Wild (soundtrack) 1988 "She Drives Me Crazy" 5 1 2 1 2 2 5 1 1 1 BPI: Platinum<ref name=BPI/> The Raw & the Cooked 1989 "Good Thing" 7 7 13 1 8 4 36 4 1 20 "Don't Look Back" 34 38 38 10 29 10 — 23 11 — "I'm Not the Man I Used to Be" 20 109 — 35 33 8 29 — 54 8 1990 "I'm Not Satisfied" 46 145 — 83 66 19 — — 90 — "It's OK (It's Alright)" — 169 — — 44 — — — — 1996 "The Flame" 17 85 65 — 65 — — 36 — — The Finest 1997 "She Drives Me Crazy 1997" 36 — — — — — — — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart See also List of Billboard number-one singles List of artists who reached number one in the United States List of Billboard number-one dance club songs List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance Club Songs chart References External links Template:Discogs artist