NICK VAN EEDE
Nick Van Eede was discovered in the late 1970s by ex-Animals bassist and Jimi Hendrix producer Chas Chandler
Stirring 80s power ballads (I Just) Died In Your Arms and I’ve Been In Love Before have been given a new lease of life, along with eight other tracks, for Ransomed Healed Restored Forgiven, Cutting Crew’s new orchestral reboot of their back catalogue. As Classic Pop catches up with band mainstay and songwriter Nick Van Eede, he’s preparing to film two new videos for the LP: “My brief from the director was to find anything from my last 30 years that was old and funky looking for props. I’ve been digging out reel-to-reel projector screens and the like. I feel like I’m at an antiques fair...”
Tell us about Cutting Crew’s new orchestral album and how it took shape…
It started about a year ago. We do a lot of gigs with Wang Chung and Nick [Feldman] told us about his band making an orchestral album [2019’s Orchesography] – then he introduced me to the label, August Day Recordings. Our album’s a very multi-national affair and features The Prague Philharmonic Orchestra as well as The Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra; my guitarist is in Manchester, the string arranger, Pete Whitworth, is in Yorkshire and I’m in Sussex. Pete did the arrangements then we recorded the orchestra first. We had to put the guitars, drums, bass and vocals on afterwards. It was one of the most bizarre albums I’ve ever made in my life – and it sounds bloody marvellous.