Mike and the Mechanics

is an English pop rock band which was formed in 1985. Mike Rutherford formed the group as a side project and his other group was Genisis. Genisis was a successful band which Mike had also founded. Genisis was best known for their hits, Silent Running, All I Need Is A Miracle, Over MY Shoulder, and The Living Years. The members of the band consists of Paul Carrack (vocalist), and Paul Young (vocalist from the band, Sad Café). Adrian Lee (keyboard player), and Peter Van Hooke (drum player). Mike & The Mechanics released their debut album in 1985. The album consisted of Mike’s guitar talent and the vocal talent of the two Paul’s, and other guest vocalists. The band released albums in between albums released by Genisis until Genisis had a temporary split up in 1998. The song, The Living Years, from the album of the same name, was the height of the group’s career. The song hit number 1 in the U. S.. The song was written by B. A. Robertson. The song was sung by Paul Carrack who had lost his father when he was 11 years old so he sung the song from the heart and was sang with great passion. Also from the album was the song called, Nobody’s Perfect, and this song received a lot of airtime because it was used on the television commercial for Tennent’s Bitter. The group released their third album in 1991 and it was called, Word of Mouth. This album received much less attention and was less commercially successful than those previous to it. The lead single from the album did make it to the Top 20 charts in the U. K..

Mike & The Mechanics released their fourth album called, Beggar On A Beach of Gold, along with the single from the album called, Over My Shoulder, were both considered to be the group’s best work. Their fifth album was released in 1999 and was called, Mike & The Mechanics, which was their second self- titled album. The album is often considered as the M6 album. M6 was available only as an import because they did not have a record company to release it in the U. S.

Paul Young died of a heart attack on July 15, 2000, and the band took a leave of absence for a while. The band reunited in 2004 and released the album called, Rewired. This album featured Paul Carrack as the lead singer. The band has released a total of 9 albums and 19 singles during their musical career. They have many fans and will be remembered by many. They may yet release more music. Time will tell if they are through or not.