Second Disc HQ is always fascinated by British acts - and there were a few of these in the '80s - whose commercial success is far greater outside their home country. Cutting Crew, the rock combo led by singer/songwriter Nick Van Eede, were a classic example of this phenomenon, scoring a U.S. chart-topper with the emotional "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" and the Top 10 ballad "I've Been in Love Before"; next month, Cherry Red will expand the group's first three albums in a new 3CD package.

All for You: The Virgin Years 1986-1992 will bring together newly remastered and expanded editions of the group's Broadcast (1986), The Scattering (1989) and Compus Mentus (1992), each featuring 18 bonus tracks between them, including original B-sides and 12" mixes. Frontman Van Eede has approved the project, sitting for a new interview in the liner notes and contributing five of his original demos to the extra material. (Two from the Compus Mentus sessions are previously unreleased, while three from The Scattering were included on a reissue of that album by Cherry Red back in 2010.)

Van Eede, who'd been the frontman for the group The Drivers, formed Cutting Crew a year after that group's split in 1984, recruiting guitarist Kevin MacMichael from a band that opened for The Drivers while on tour in Canada. Bassist Colin Farley and drummer Martin Beedle joined the line-up in time for recording Broadcast, which spun off "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" (outcharted in America - it peaked at No. 4 in England) and the tender "I've Been in Love Before" (which reached the U.S. Top 10 only after its modest Top 30 placement back home). Broadcast didn't even reach the U.K. Top 40, but made the Top 20 of the Billboard album chart and earned a gold record from the Recording Industry Association of America; the band themselves were also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1988.

Follow-up The Scattering experimented with an expanded sonic palette (co-produced by the band, American producer Don Gehman and keyboardist Peter-John Vettesse, then wrapping up a tenure with Jethro Tull) and deeply felt lyrics, like the small-town strife of the title track (augmented by Scottish folk musicians). But label meddling and tinkering delayed the album significantly, and when it finally was released, the LP struggled to find an audience anywhere. By 1992's Compus Mentus, Cutting Crew were pared down to its original duo of Van Eede and MacMichael; after the album came and went, the band called it a day. A year after MacMichael's 2002 death from cancer, Van Eede founded a new group named Grinning Souls; within a few years, the singer redubbed the group Cutting Crew and has recorded and toured as such ever since, releasing albums in 2015 and 2020.

All for You: The Virgin Years 1986-1992 is available February 16; the full track list and pre-order links are below.

All for You: The Virgin Years 1986-1992 (Cherry Pop CRPOP3BOX275 (U.K.), 2024) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Cherry Red (U.K. with signed print)

Disc 1: Broadcast (Expanded Edition)

1. Any Colour
2. One for the Mockingbird
3. I've Been in Love Before
4. Life in a Dangerous Time
5. Fear of Falling
6. (I Just) Died In Your Arms
7. Don't Look Back
8. Sahara
9. It Shouldn't Take Too Long
10. The Broadcast
11. For the Longest Time
12. I Just Died in Your Arms (12" Remix)
13. I've Been in Love Before (Extended)
14. One for the Mockingbird (Extended Remix)
15. Any Colour (Arthur Baker Remix)

Tracks 1-10 released as Siren/Virgin 7 (U.K.), 1986/Virgin 90573 (U.S.), 1987
Tracks 11-12 released on Siren/Virgin U.K. 12" 21-12, 1986
Track 13 released on Siren/Virgin U.K. 12" 19-12, 1987
Track 14 released on Siren/Virgin U.K. 12" 40-12, 1987
Track 15 released on Siren/Virgin U.K. 12" SRN 47-12, 1987

Disc 2: The Scattering (Expanded Edition)

1. Year in the Wilderness
2. The Scattering
3. Big Noise
4. Everything But My Pride
5. Handcuffs for Houdini
6. (Between a) Rock and a Hard Place
7. Tip of Your Tongue
8. Reach for the Sky
9. The Last Thing
10. Feel the Wedge
11. Binkies Return (Instrumental)
12. Brag
13. Christians
14. Card House (Live)
15. Contact High
16. More Than a Dream (Demo)
17. Into the Night (Demo)
18. No Secrets (Demo)

Tracks 1-12 released as Siren/Virgin 25 (U.K.)/Virgin 91239 (U.S.), 1989
Track 13 released on "The Scattering" U.K. single - Siren/Virgin SRN 118, 1989
Track 14 released on "(Between a) Rock and a Hard Place" U.K. single - Siren/Virgin SRN 108, 1989
Track 15 released on "Everything But My Pride" U.K. single - Siren/Virgin SRN 122, 1990
Tracks 16-18 released on Cherry Pop CRPOP49 (U.K.), 2010

Disc 3: Compus Mentus (Expanded Edition)

1. No Bad Thing
2. (Another One of My) Big Ideas
3. Frigid As England
4. Julie Don't Dance
5. If That's The Way You Want It
6. Need Someone
7. Your Guess is As Good As Mine
8. Ricochet
9. Sweet Auburn
10. Crooked Mile
11. Don't Let It Bring You Down
12. All the Way In
13. Been in Luv (92)
14. Everything But My Pride (92 Remix)
15. Open Up Your Window (Demo) *
16. Mirror and a Blade (Live)
17. One for the Mockingbird (Shelly Yakus U.S. Remix)
18. Any Colour (Dub)
19. Kites (Demo) *

Tracks 1-12 released as Virgin International CRWCD 1 (U.K.), 1992
Tracks 13-14 released on "If That's the Way You Want It" U.K. CD single - Virgin International REWD 1, 1992
Tracks 15 and 19 previously unreleased
Track 16 released on "One for the Mockingbird" U.K. single - Siren/Virgin 40, 1987
Track 17 released on "One for the Mockingbird" U.S. single - Virgin 7-99464, 1987
Track 18 released on "Any Colour" U.K. 12" - Siren/Virgin U.K. 12" SRN 47-12, 1987

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