Fine Young Cannibals

Fine Young Cannibals

Company type	Band
Industry	Music
Predecessor	The Beat
Founded	1984 in Birmingham, West Midlands, England
Founder	David Steele, Andy Cox, Roland Gift
Defunct	1992 (disbanded), briefly reunited in 1996
Fate	Disbanded
Successor	None
Headquarters	Birmingham , England, United Kingdom
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	David Steele, Andy Cox, Roland Gift
Products	Music albums and singles
Number of employees	3 (core members) (1984–1992)

Fine Young Cannibals (abbreviated as FYC) was a British pop rock ensemble established in 1984 in Birmingham, West Midlands. The band was founded by ex-The Beat members, bassist David Steele and guitarist Andy Cox, alongside vocalist Roland Gift, previously associated with the Akrylykz. Their inaugural album, released in 1985, included the top 40 hits "Johnny Come Home" and a rendition of "Suspicious Minds" that charted across the UK, Canada, Australia, and Europe. Their follow-up record in 1989, The Raw & the Cooked, achieved number one status in the UK, US, Australia, and Canada, featuring two chart-topping singles on the Billboard Hot 100: "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing".

In 1990, Fine Young Cannibals received two Brit Awards honors: Best British Group and Best British Album for The Raw & the Cooked.

History

Following the breakup of The Beat, where Cox and Steele had played, Fine Young Cannibals was formed in 1984. The band's name was inspired by the 1960 movie All the Fine Young Cannibals. After an extensive audition process lasting eight months and involving over 500 vocalists, Gift was chosen as lead singer. Initially facing difficulty securing a recording contract, their appearance with "Johnny Come Home" on the British television program The Tube quickly led to multiple offers from record labels. Their self-titled debut album from 1985 produced UK charting singles such as "Johnny Come Home" and a cover of Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds" featuring Jimmy Somerville. These tracks found success in Europe, Canada, and Australia but had limited traction in the United States.

In 1987, Fine Young Cannibals appeared as the resident band in the film Tin Men, contributing songs including "Good Thing" to its soundtrack.

During the interval between albums, Steele and Cox released an instrumental house track titled "Tired of Getting Pushed Around" under the name "Two Men, a Drum Machine and a Trumpet" in 1987. This single reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart and gained popularity on American dance charts. Concurrently, Gift pursued acting with a role in Sammy and Rosie Get Laid.

The band's 1989 release The Raw & the Cooked marked their international breakthrough, propelled by singles "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing," both achieving number one spots in the US. "She Drives Me Crazy" also topped Australian charts for three consecutive weeks and peaked at number five in the UK; meanwhile, "Good Thing" attained number seven positions in both countries. This album incorporated three tracks featured in Tin Men (including "Good Thing") as well as their cover of the Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" from the film Something Wild.

In 1990, Fine Young Cannibals contributed Cole Porter's "Love for Sale" to Red Hot + Blue, an AIDS awareness compilation produced by the Red Hot Organization.

The group disbanded in 1992 but briefly reunited four years later to record "Flame" for their greatest hits album The Finest. In 2025, Roland Gift announced a limited two-show tour under the title "Roland Gift Presents Fine Young Cannibals," with further details about participating members yet to be disclosed.

Band lineup

• Andy Cox – guitar, keyboards
• Roland Gift – lead vocals
• David Steele – bass guitar, keyboards, drum programming

Additional session and live performers

• Martin Parry – drums, percussion instruments
• Graeme Hamilton – trumpet, piano
• Nigel Darvill – keyboards

Honors and accolades

Year	Award event	Work	Category	Outcome
1989	MTV Video Music Awards	"She Drives Me Crazy"	Video of the Year	Template:Nom
			Best Group Video	Template:Nom
			Breakthrough Video	Template:Nom
			Viewer's Choice	Template:Nom
1990	Brit Awards	The band themselves	British Group	Template:Won
		The Raw & the Cooked	British Album of the Year	Template:Won
	Grammy Awards	"She Drives Me Crazy"	Record of the Year	Template:Nom
			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
		"She Drives Me Crazy"	International Single of the Year	Template:Nom
	Ivor Novello Awards		Best Contemporary Song	Template:Nom
			International Hit of the Year	Template:Won
	Pollstar Concert Industry Awards	Tour	Best Debut Tour	Template:Nom

Studio releases

Release year	Album information	Highest chart rankings										Certifications (sales level)
		UK	AUS	AUT	CAN	GER	NL	NZ	SWE	SWI	US
1985	Fine Young Cannibals Released: 9 December 1985 Labels: London, I.R.S.	11	2	—	21	42	21	11
—	17	49	BPI: Gold MC: Platinum	-	1989	The Raw & the Cooked Released: 6 February 1989 Labels: London, I.R.S.	1	1	1	1	3	10	2	5	2	1	BPI: Triple Platinum ARIA: Triple Platinum MC: Sixfold Platinum RIAA: Double Platinum	-	"—" indicates albums that did not enter charts

Compilation Albums

Year	Album Information	Highest Chart Rankings						Certifications (sales criteria)
		UK	AUS	AUT	BEL (Fl)	GER	NZ
1996	The Finest Release date: 11 November 1996 Record label: London	10	56	22	39	47	21	BPI: Platinum
2006	The Platinum Collection Released on: 21 March 2006 Label: Warner Deluxe	—	—	—	—	—	—
2009	She Drives Me Crazy Release date: 23 February 2009 Issued by: MC Deluxe	—	—	—	—	—	—
2012	The Collection	—	—	—	—	—	—
"—" indicates albums that did not enter the charts

Remix Albums

Year	Album Information	Highest Chart Positions
		UK	AUS	GER
1990	The Raw & the Remix Released on: 11 December 1990 Label: I.R.S.	61	114	38

Singles

1987 1988 rowspan=3 1989 rowspan=2 1990 1996 1997

Year	Single Title	Highest Chart Rankings										Certifications	Associated Album
		UK	AUS	BEL (Fl)	CAN	GER	IRE	NL	NZ	US Hot 100	US Dance Club Songs
1985	"Johnny Come Home"	14 | 8 | 16 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 76 | rowspan=2 |9 |	Fine Young Cannibals
	"Blue"	13 |34 | — | — | — | — |45 | — |
1986	"Suspicious Minds"	"8" "6" "22" "21" "37" "9" "21" "14" " — " "23"
	"Funny How Love Is"	"58" "97" " — " " — " " — " "27" " — " " — " " — " " — "
"Ever Fallen in Love"	"9" "20" "28" "—" "19" "10" "34" "23" "—" "11"	"Something Wild (1986 film)" soundtrack
"She Drives Me Crazy"	"5" "1" "2" "1" "2" "2" "5" "1" "1" "1" BPI: Platinum	"The Raw & the Cooked"
"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"
"I'm Not Satisfied"	"46"  "145  —  83  66  19  —  —  90  —"
"It's OK (It's Alright)"	"— 169 — — 44 — — — — —"
"The Flame"	"17 85 65 — 65 — — 36 — —"	"The Finest"
"She Drives Me Crazy 1997"	— "| — "| — "| — "| — "| — "| — "| — "| — "

See also

• Compilation of Billboard chart-topping singles
• Artists achieving number one status in the U.S.
• Catalog of Billboard number-one dance club tracks
• Performers with U.S. Dance Club Songs chart-topping hits