Review of Cutting Crew: Live At Full House

Introduction

Full House was a music programme on the German NDR TV channel from 1986-1989, presenting both German and International bands in concert in music clubs in Hamburg and Hanover. Presented by Rockpalast host Alan Bangs, Full House ran for 30 shows in 45 minute segments and although not all these shows survive, some of the original tapes have been rescued and transferred to DVD. Some of these shows can only be seen in their original TV broadcast length, while some can be seen at their original length.

This set by Cutting Crew is one of the former, the concert running at a short 39 minutes. One of the oddities of this release is the group shutting down and then coming back on for an encore at about 24 minutes into the set.

Cutting Crew was formed by Englishman Nick Van Eede and Canadian Kevin Scott MacMichael, releasing massive global hit (I Just) Died In your Arms Tonight in 1986, reaching number 4 in the UK charts. Unfortunately lukewarm response to their following singles ensured the band would be considered a one hit wonder, although the album from which those single were taken, called Broadcast, was surprisingly the first Virgin Records album to hit the US number one spot. The band still lasted for three albums before splitting in 1993, with a budget CD compilation showcasing their best bits.

Tragically lead guitarist MacMichael died from lung cancer in 2002, but a reformed Cutting Crew released an album earlier this year called Grinning Souls and has extensively toured Germany in a bid to capture fans from David Hasselhoff who is currently busy advertising for Pipex.

Video

Nice no-frills visuals for this made-for-TV concert, and it`s well edited as well. The Full House programme used it`s own lighting system with 5 cameras and a camera crane.

Unlike the previous Latin Quarter gig, which felt quite intimate, the stage feels too big and the editing is not as good this time round.

Audio

Choice between Dolby Stereo 2.0 or 5.1. I didn`t bother with the Stereo mix but the 5.1 mix is pretty good with some well done instrument separation, particularly on some of the electric/acoustic guitar parts.

Features

Interview with the principal band members and host Alan Bangs. Mixture of mainly German speaking over English. It`s short but OK if you just use the optional subtitles, although there is a major mistake in the subtitles.

Conclusion

Ah, I just died in your arms tonight, it must have been something I said…

There are many type of bands in the world and a sort of pecking order to it all. You obviously have the mega-bands who sell millions with each release and makes absolutely tons of money. There are some bands who are lucky enough to have a long and steady, if not overwhelming career. Then there are bands who are blessed with a song that captures the imagination of a generation and is played every year and appears on a million compilations; Cutting Crew are one of those bands. (I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight is one of those classic tunes of the 80`s that most people know and is now a staple of Driving and Soft Rock compilations the world over. This is a bit of both a blessing and a curse depending how you look at it. During your career it can become a bit of a millstone, depending on when it happens (in this case the first single - all downhill from here…). After your career is over, if you are lucky enough to be the songwriter(s), then it`s a steady income in royalties.

Cutting Crew were a band I liked due to the first single and I picked up their Broadcast album on cassette, long since lost. I came into this thinking it was going to be very good, but left me with a feeling of anti-climax. It`s not that the band are bad, just that there doesn`t appear to be any `oomph` to the majority of the songs. They`re all well played, the 5.1 mix helps in demonstrating that, but it just seems too much like a bland stadium/soft rock sound that way too many people aspired to in the latter half of the 80`s. I liked it at the time, but looking back now it just seems a bit too…well, dull.

It doesn`t help that Nick Van Eede, a visual cross between Morten Harket and Ricky Martin, comes from a long line of frontmen who can`t dance or express himself confidently on stage. My wife used to constantly berate me for liking bands with this fault - Andy McCluskey of OMD, Roland Olazabal from Tears For Fears were two of her favourites for ripping the michael out of me. With Van Eede we get the full works; the faux dancing, the staged head jerks that are meant to look dramatic but just look silly now. On top of that, he seems to look like a prototype Bruce Willis clone in his white vest, after ditching his leather jacket just one song in. Thankfully this is not as silly as the transparent black vest worn by Tony Moore (keyboards).

Luckily the rest of the band mostly behave quite sensibly, my attention drawn more to guitarist Kevin MacMichael more than anyone, just quietly and confidently going about his business. Overall the performances are good, the elements of the music are mostly good, but just don`t have the impact that they should. Some fairly good songs, but only one really good song. Oh well.

My fellow reviewer summed up the corresponding Style Council release by opining that it would have been better as an extra on a DVD than rating its own release. I`d say that is true of The Style Council as Paul Weller still have a high profile and respect as a musical statesman of sorts (no matter how much I disagree with that), whereas groups like Cutting Crew wouldn`t have that kind of pull or influence to justify it. There has been a surfeit of DVDs documenting bands from past decades unless potentially big sellers, whereas even rejects from the X-Factor get included on DVD releases as standard now. Don`t knock a release when it comes, its always welcome to add more quality releases to the choices out there and give fans the chance to see their old favourites in action. And despite my reservations about the power and variety of the music on offer here, not to say the length, I am still pleased that this is now out there.