Fronted by vocalist/guitarist Nick Van Eede (b. Nicholas Van Eede, 14 June 1958, East Grinstead, West Sussex, England), Cutting Crew was formed when he began working with Canadian guitarist Kevin Scott MacMichael (b. 7 November 1951, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, d. 31 December 2002, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada). The duo came together when MacMichael’s group Fast Forward were supporting Eede’s unit the Drivers on a Canadian tour. The two subsequently recorded some demos in Toronto and during 1986 added Colin Farley (b. 24 February 1959, England; bass) and Martin Beedle (b. 18 September 1961, Hull, North Humberside, England; drums) to form Cutting Crew. The title of their debut single ‘(I Just) Died In Your Arms’ was a phrase Van Eede coined after making love to his girlfriend. This memorable song reached number 4 in the UK but surpassed expectations by climbing to number 1 in the USA in the spring of 1987. A further US Top 40 hit followed with the frantic ‘One For The Mockingbird’, backed with the anti-cocaine ‘Mirror And A Blade’. The plaintive ‘I’ve Been In Love Before’ returned them to the US Top 10 later that year, yet the single struggled to reach the UK Top 30 the following year after its third chart entry. Cutting Crew never regained their commercial impetus, and disbanded following the release of a third album, 1992’s Compus Mentus, which was recorded by the core duo of Van Eede and MacMichael. The latter, who went on to write and perform with Robert Plant, succumbed to lung cancer in December 2002.
