Mike Rutherford (b. 2 October 1950, Guildford, Surrey, England; bass) formed Mike And The Mechanics in 1985, during a pause in the career of Genesis while vocalist Phil Collins was engrossed in his solo career. The original line-up comprised Paul Carrack (b. 22 April 1951, Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England; vocals/keyboards, ex-Ace) and Paul Young (b. 17 June 1947, Wythenshawe, Lancashire, England, d. 17 July 2000, Altrincham, Cheshire, England; vocals, ex-Sad Café), with additional help from Peter Van Hooke (drums) and Adrian Lee (keyboards). Van Hooke was already an accomplished session musician, having played or toured with many singers, from Van Morrison to Rod Argent. The band’s first UK Top 30 hit came with ‘Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)’ in 1986, which was used as the theme to the movie On Dangerous Ground. They enjoyed greater success in the USA where the single reached number 6, and its follow-up, ‘All I Need Is A Miracle’, climbed one place higher. In early 1989, the band reached US number 1 and UK number 2 with the Rutherford/ B.A. Robertson -penned ‘The Living Years’, an personal song expressing Rutherford’s regret at the lack of communication he had with his father while he was alive. The attendant album reached number 2 on the UK charts and number 13 in America.
With the exception of the UK number 13 single ‘Word Of Mouth’, further chart success eluded the band. Quality singles such as the highly emotive ‘A Time And Place’, and ‘Everybody Gets A Second Chance’, failed to make the UK Top 50, a sobering thought for future songwriters with high hopes of chart success. 1995’s Beggar On A Beach Of Gold was preceded by the lively UK Top 20 single ‘Over My Shoulder’; unfortunately this proved to be the album’s only ingot. The title track was written by B.A. Robertson and was a Top 40 hit in the UK in 1995. Pedestrian cover versions of the Miracles’ ‘You Really Got A Hold On Me’ and Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)’ added nothing and the album, although competent, did not break any new ground. The band continues to be as fluid as possible, with a new studio album appearing in summer 1999, although the death of Young the following year was a great shock. In 2004, Rutherford and Carrack returned to the music scene with a new studio album, ReWired.
