Nick Van Eede

Nick Van Eede

Nick Van Eede 2006
Birth Name
Nicholas Van Eede
Other Information
Birthdate	(1958-06-14) June 14, 1958
Years Active	1978 - present
Birthplace	East Grinstead, Sussex, England
Occupation	Musician, Songwriter, Producer
Website	http://www.cuttingcrew.biz
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Nick Van Eede (born Nicholas Van Eede on 14 June 1958) is an English musician, producer & song writer. He is best remembered for writing the number 1 power ballad hit (I Just) Died in Your Arms for his band Cutting Crew.

Youth

Born in East Grinstead, Sussex, England, Nick was known for playing at an early age in numerous bands.

Career (1978 / 81)

While working as an Hospital Orderly in the late 1970s, Nick was discovered playing by ex-Animal Chas Chandler, who sent him on a tour of Poland as support for Slade. Nick was only 18 when sent on the road. He recalls "I went with a kazoo and an acoustic guitar and opened for Slade in amphitheatres in front of 18,000 people. I went down as a storm and had the loudest kazoo in Europe, because Slade took their own PA on the road!" His career continued with tours supporting headliners like David Essex, Hot Chocolate and Alan Price...

During that time, Nick released 3 solo singles between 1978/79 which none of them charted in the UK. Rock 'n' Roll Fool b/w Ounce Of Sense All Or Nothing b/w Hold On To Your Heart I Only Want To Be Number One b/w Dicing All were issued by Barn records and are pretty hard to find these days.

The Drivers (1981 / 83)

However there was always the desire for his own band. he formed The Drivers with friends Mac Norman & Steve Boorer. The Drivers seemed for a while to be that band, and in the early eighties, they signed with a record label in Canada. Things were looking good for The Drivers as they had a couple of hits in Canada (Tears On Your Anorak, Talk All Night), an album (Short Cuts) and were very popular on tour in Canada & the UK (Despite not getting a UK Deal). So much so that they had a support band of their own, Fast Forward who's line up included guitarist Kevin MacMichael. Nick was so impressed with Kevin's guitar playing that he asked him to form a new band with him however he could not commit at that time due to being in his current band. After a final single release with The Drivers (Things, a Bobby Darin cover version), The Drivers split in 1983.

Cutting Crew (1985 / 1992)

A twist of fate would strike as Kevin Macmichael whilst with Fast Forward were involved in an auto accident which left all of the members except Kevin MacMichael unable to continue touring. Ready to begin working together, Kevin moved to London with Nick as their home base, Van Eede and Macmichael gave themselves one year to sign a recording contract, and recruited drummer Martin "Frosty" Beedle, previously a member of the cabaret band on the QE2, and bass player Colin Farley, a session musician living in Spain. Van Eede came up with the band's name after reading an article in the British rock publication Sounds, which described the band Queen as a "cutting crew," which means when the band didn't gig & instead stayed in the studio recording new songs.

In 1985, Cutting Crew staged a showcase at a London recording studio for representatives from numerous labels, and won a contract with Siren Records, part of Virgin Records.

The first single to be released by the band was (I Just) Died In Your Arms b/w For The Longest Time released in the UK in August 1986. After an apperance on Top Of The Pops & the song being regularly played on the radio & music video shown on TV, the single shot up to number 4 in the UK charts (Number 1 in most other European Countries). This would be their biggest hit single. Nick came up with the title and concept for "(I Just) Died In Your Arms" after making love with his (at the time)girlfriend. "I actually remember saying that," he admitted, and promptly jotted a note on a pad he always kept close at hand.

The next single, I've Been In Love Before b/w Life In A Dangerous Time failed to break into the Top 75 in the UK on its first release in November 1986 but was quickly released again to reach 50 in the charts. This was manly down to the fact that radio stations were not playing the song. The album Broadcast was released shortly after which reached 41 in the UK Album charts.

After successful touring across Europe, the band were ready for new success. Virgin Records decided to release (I Just) Died In Your Arms in America under the Virgin Records label instead of Siren Records. (I Just) Died In Your Arms became Virgin's first Number 1 single in America; it reached the top spot on 2 May 1987, and remained there for two weeks. This now meant that the song went to Number 1 in 19 Countries.

One For The Mocking-Bird b/w Mirror & A Blade was the next single released from Broadcast which reached Number 52 in the UK & Number 38 in America. The music video for the song caused controversy as due to its very fast flashing images which could cause epilepsy, MTV USA would not show the video till after 10PM.

I've Been In Love Before was finally re-released again for a third time in the UK which finally peaked at Number 24 & in America for the first time where it reached an impressive Number 9 & stayed in the charts for 3 months.

The final single to be released from Broadcast was Any Colour b/w Fear Of Falling which failed to set the chart alight reaching Number 83 in the UK Charts.

Also in 1987, Cutting Crew were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Newcomer (which they lost to Jodi Whatley). Two of their songs were used in movies, One For The Mocking-Bird (Can't Buy Me Love) & Life In A Dangerous Time (White Water Summer).

After being delayed by their record label to release their next album, The Scattering was finally released in 1989 where it reached a disapointing 150 in the US Album charts. This was manly down to Virgin's lack of promotion for the band due to the album not having "Any AOR hits". The band released the first single from the album, (Between A) Rock & A Hard Place b/w Card House (Number 66, UK & Number 77, US) which the band wrote & made fun about the record company due to their disappointment in the way they were treated. 2 more singles were released from the album, The Scattering b/w Christians (Number 96, UK) & Everything But My Pride b/w Contact High (Number 4, US AOR Charts.

At this point in time, the band were most successful in America & Germany, not the UK.

After the release of The Scattering album, Colin Farley & Martin Beedle left the group which left Nick & Kevin as a duo. The final album to be released by Virgin was Compus Mentus, which was released in 1992. One single was released from it, If That's The Way You Want It b/w Been In Luv 92, which failed to chart. The album & single were released the day that EMI brought Virgin & the album was only available roughly for a week in the UK & many other countries. Because of this, Nick & Kevin decided to call it a day with Cutting Crew.

Genesis Audition (1996)

During the time after Cutting Crew ended, Nick went on to write & produce for other artists including the original demo of Cher's monster hit Believe. In 1996, he auditioned for the job as the new lead singer of progessive rock band Genesis. After Phil Collins departure, Nick auditioned along with numeous other vocalists. After impressing both Tony Banks & Mike Rutherford in earlier auditions, it came down to the last two vocalists. One was Nick Van Eede & the other was former Stiltskin singer Ray Wilson. Eventually the job went to Ray Wilson.

The Return Of Cutting Crew (2005)

In 2002, Kevin MacMichael died of cancer.

Three years later, Nick writes & records a new album originally titled Capture by Grinning Souls but later re-issued as Grinning Souls by Cutting Crew. He also appears on ITV show Hit Me Baby One More Time in which he performed (I Just) Died In Your Arms & a cover of Macy Gray's hit I Try.

He then embarked on tour with his new lineup, Gareth Moulton on Guitar, Sam Flynn on Keyboards, Dominic Finley on Bass & Tom Arnold on Drums.

They have toured in the UK (which included the successful Here & Now 2008 Tour), Germany, Trinidad & will be touring in America in the next few months.

Other Information

(I Just) Died In Your Arms has been used in lots of things in the last 10 years. The films Never Been Kissed & Hot Rod The video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City & elements of the song were used by Mika in the song Relax, Take It Easy.

The NSPCC will be using Cutting Crew's new song Mother's Little Angel in future advertisments.

References

AMG.com

British Hit Singles 19 ISBN-13: 978-1904994107

Allmusic.com