Song:Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)
Album:Hits
Mike + The Mechanics was a side project for Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford that turned out to be surprisingly successful. They had three top ten hits in the 80s including the 1989 number one hit The Living Years. Silent Running was their first top ten hit in 1985. Rutherford recorded a couple of solo albums in the early 80s. But he preferred being part of a group and decided to form a band. He brought in songwriter B.A. Robertson and producer Christopher Neil and the plan was to use studio musicians similar to Steely Dan. But Rutherford was so happy with the 1985 debut album Mike + The Mechanics, he turned them into a real band. Robertson and Neil were not part of the band. They continued to write with Rutherford. There were two singers. Paul Carrack was lead singer of Ace and had a successful solo career. The other singer was Paul Young. There are two singers named Paul Young in England. This is the lesser known of the two. He was a member of Sad Cafe. Keyboard player Adrian Lee toured with Cliff Richard in the 70s and drummer Peter Van Hooke toured with Van Morrison. Silent Running was the first single and it reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Rutherford and Robertson wrote the song and it appeared in the 1986 film Choke Canyon starring Stephen Collins. Choke Canyon was the US title. It was called On Dangerous Ground in the rest of the world. The song was a lot more successful than the movie. All I Need Is A Miracle was also a top ten hit. And in 1989 The Living Years became their only number one hit. You can get all the band's hits on this budget comp. Rutherford recorded with Mike + The Mechanics when Genesis was on hiatus. So there was an album in 1991 and another in 1995. Lee, Van Hooke and Neil all left at that point. Rutherford recorded an album in 1999. Then Paul Young died. After a 2004 album, Rutherford disbanded Mike + The Mechanics. But he formed a new version of the band in 2010 featuring British R & B singer Andrew Roachford and Canadian singer Tim Howar. Christopher Neil returned to write and produce. The Road was released in 2011 and Mike + The Mechanics are currently on tour in England. Here's the video for Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground) by Mike + The Mechanics.
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