The Fine Young Cannibals
#1
DVD Talk Legend
Thread Starter
The Fine Young Cannibals
They were big in the 80's and I saw them on Tin Men a 1987 Danny Devito Richard Dreyfuss flick.
What happened to them?
I remember this song was played nonstop and I would always changed the station back in 1989 whenever it came on.
Roland Gifts voice sounded like Jimmy Fallons SNL Barry Gibb impression.
<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XSCJJkFgt_w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TrBYsPJ0rkA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
What happened to them?
I remember this song was played nonstop and I would always changed the station back in 1989 whenever it came on.
Roland Gifts voice sounded like Jimmy Fallons SNL Barry Gibb impression.
<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XSCJJkFgt_w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TrBYsPJ0rkA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
#2
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The Fine Young Cannibals
Most annoying singing voice ever. I still change the station when it comes on the radio.
#3
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Re: The Fine Young Cannibals
when i was a teen and my dad couldnt get me to wake up he would put their cd on full blast. "good thing" and "she drives me crazy" would have me running for the stereo to turn that shit off. such an awful band.
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Re: The Fine Young Cannibals
Oh man, couldn't disagree more---I think Roland Gift's voice is totally unique and fantastic. I haven't explored their/his catalog as much as I'd like to, but they did some REALLY great tunes:
<iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XMpjWxsPXOE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XMpjWxsPXOE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
#6
DVD Talk Hero
Re: The Fine Young Cannibals
The funny thing is that their debut album is great, but their second one is their big breakthrough album and those singles do really bite.
The good stuff:
And their excellent Buzzcocks cover from Something Wild:
The good stuff:
And their excellent Buzzcocks cover from Something Wild:
#7
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Re: The Fine Young Cannibals
Yes--love that Buzzcock's cover. I forgot about that one. I didn't think their big hits album sucked, but I would agree it was a bit more bland, and it got overplayed at the time.
#8
Re: The Fine Young Cannibals
It's kind of strange that they never recorded a follow-up to "Raw and the Cooked" though. After seeing this thread, I looked them up on wiki fully expecting to see them suffer the same fate as many other "flash in the pan" 80s groups - the follow-up tanking because the fickle audience moved on. But they just kind of stopped (except for a couple of new songs for a 1996 "Best of" release).
#9
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Re: The Fine Young Cannibals
First album is great. The Raw and the Cooked is great, but the songs that were pushed as singles, Good Thing and She Drives Me Crazy, aren't that great. I always thought Don't Look Back was the best single on the album.
I dug this album out about 2 years ago, I hadn't listened to it since it was new, and I was blown away by As Hard As It Gets. What a great song! His vocals are perfectly suited to the song it.
Also the Buzzcocks cover is better than the original version of that song.
I dug this album out about 2 years ago, I hadn't listened to it since it was new, and I was blown away by As Hard As It Gets. What a great song! His vocals are perfectly suited to the song it.
Also the Buzzcocks cover is better than the original version of that song.
#10
Re: The Fine Young Cannibals
Didn't Roland Gift have a cameo appearance in "Scandal" or some other British film from around that time period? Also, I see he did eventually release a solo album. I always enjoyed them at the time and was eagerly wondering what FYC would put out after "Raw and the Cooked", but looks like they went their separate ways.
#11
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: The Fine Young Cannibals
The Jimmy Fallon comparison is a pretty good one. For all the hate for the She Drives Me Crazy song, I remember it was a big hit. I'm sure much of the hate is because they played that song into the ground.
#13
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Re: The Fine Young Cannibals
I liked the band, but yeah, that song. I remember trying to sleep in a Vancouver BC hotel as the bar below kept playing it over and over.
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Re: The Fine Young Cannibals
Absolutely not a sucky band. As others stated, they were more than just the hits. You get massive bonus points from time spent in English Beat as well.
#17
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: The Fine Young Cannibals
Good gawd, She Drives Me Crazy is the single worst song of the 80's which is not an easy title to wrangle from Tom's Diner a year prior.
It was horrendous the first time I heard it and only got incredibly worse by the one millionth time.
It was horrendous the first time I heard it and only got incredibly worse by the one millionth time.