Fine Young Cannibals - The Raw & The Cooked

Fine Young Cannibals disappeared at the height of their popularity ... or at least that's how it seemed. It's a blur now as to when this actually came out. My record and CD both say 1988 — I got the CD first, and just recently found a copy of the album and couldn't help myself, although I probably should have. But the songs were on the radio and MuchMusic in 1989. I don't think it matters, but in my mind's eye I think of sunny days and blue skies when I think of "She Drives Me Crazy," so it probably was in the spring of '89. It doesn't matter ... but this is the stuff that rolls around in my brain and kinda bugs me. Now you know.

I do remember seeing the video for "Johnny Come Home" back in '85, and it was intriguing enough that I almost bought the album ... didn't, but almost. That album also had a cover of Elvis' "Suspicious Minds" that had a quirky, cool vibe. Still wasn't enough to entice me to part with my cash.

So when a few years later "She Drives Me Crazy" hit, and boy did it hit. Those fat, and I mean FAT guitars that start the song were a thing of beauty. It was the '80s wrapped up in a bow. I snapped up the album, and again almost snagged the debut (still don't have it) but settled on just getting The Raw & The Cooked.

The album rather unwisely opens with "She Drives Me Crazy," and it's a wicked start. I mean, it's hard to overstate how great this song was. It wasn't a rock song, but it appealed to my rock sensibilities. Roland Gift just exuded cool.

For me, this is where the album started and ended. One and done. Turn the lights out and close the door.

Back in the day I played the album a couple of times listening for something to stand out, and when nothing else hit me in the feels I wrote the rest off as filler. It didn't help that "Good Thing" felt flat to me - despite it being a pretty solid hit, I put it on the shelf and there it remained.

When I found the record I thought, "I have it on CD, I don't need this." Then a little voice said, "You should get it, just because. Besides, it's on sale for 50% off." Being a sucker for a deal, I bought it. I've honestly not listened to this in over thirty years, and I was tempted to skip the first two "hits" and start at what I was thinking of as the filler.

I didn't. I dropped the needle on the first track, and cranked it. The flat splat gated drums filled the basement, and then the guitars kicked in. "Oooh, this is still so good." Then came "Good Thing," which was enjoyable, though not my favourite song, but it's held up and with nostalgia as a safety net it was just fine.

However, as I moved into uncharted territory, I started paying more attention. I could see why the younger version of me didn't stay with the album, but older me was enjoying this. Heck, "I'm Not Satisfied" is a scorcher. The next song, "Tell Me What," feels like an old R&B standard, and while this isn't my genre of choice, it is so well done that I found myself tapping my foot. Too fast for a slow dance, too slow to be anything but a mid-tempo slow burn.

Flipping the album over, it was basically a greenfield. I couldn't remember anything about it. It was a surprise when the jingle jangle guitars propelled "Don't Look Back" into what I always thought of as The Pretenders' wheelhouse, except it was Roland singing and not Chrissie Hynde. Now, I don't know a lot about The Pretenders other than the songs I heard on the radio, so I may be off the mark. I'm just trying to say it was a pretty infectious pop song.

From what I've read, the album was supposedly split into two sections: the raw and the cooked. The band apparently wanted to blend the past and the future together, and this meshing of styles and eras actually worked seamlessly. "As Hard as It Is" is a great example of this musical alchemy - it's a raw song. Again, this isn't my wheelhouse, but it's a really great song. The album closes with the cooked mid-tempo "Ever Fallen in Love," which really isn't anything outstanding, but it's a decent way to wind up the album.

The rock and roller in me is still thrilled by "She Drives Me Crazy" while the older me found a lot more to appreciate here, a lot more. There were a lot of really good songs here that failed to hit my radar and likely should have.

As an aside, I always found the graphics on this one perplexing to decipher. I suspect it took a long time to put together and work out with the design folks ... it was too much work.

I'm kinda lazy.

It's weird to think that this would be the end of the band's run. While this may not have been entirely my cup of tea, this was really good stuff and given the sales of the record you'd have thought this was going to be the start of something ... which always struck me as odd. Especially given the pedigree of the band. The Beat (or as we knew them, The English Beat) seemed like an incubator for pop success. Whereas Ranking Roger and Dave Wakeling would go on to form General Public, David Steele (keyboards, bass) and Andy Cox (guitar) would team up with Roland Gift for Fine Young Cannibals.

Now as fate would have it, neither band would have any longevity in the business. The music business does tend to eat itself, maybe serving up The Raw & the Cooked was too tempting to resist.

It was tasty while it lasted.