Fine Young Cannibals formed in 1984 after bassist David Steele and guitarist Andy Cox - both former members of The Beat - advertised for a vocalist. Following eight months spent sifting through more than 500 audition tapes, they settled on 23-year-old Roland Gift, a uniquely handsome Brummie (in 1990, he was named by People magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world) with a killer voice who’d previously supported The Beat as part of his old band Akrylykz. Together, Fine Young Cannibals would win a BRIT award for Best British Group and enjoy five Top 10 hits. Their two albums, an eponymous debut and its follow-up, The Raw & The Cooked, are now getting an expanded and remastered release on CD and vinyl, courtesy of London Records.
Have you had the chance to relisten to those two Cannibals albums ahead of London’s reissue?