Formation and commercial breakthrough During hiatuses from Genesis, Mike Rutherford had been pursuing a solo career, releasing ''
Smallcreep's Day in 1980 and Acting Very Strange'' in 1982. He found the process of recording a solo album excessively difficult and the results artistically unsatisfying, particularly in regards to singing lead vocals on the latter album. He recalled, "I had a revelation, too, in this time period ... that I'm not complete on my own. ... I'm much more creative and inspired when there are other people around me and I'm bouncing ideas off." He still felt that working only with Genesis would leave him unfulfilled, and to satisfy both his desire to create music outside the format of Genesis and his desire to collaborate with other musicians, he set about forming his own band. "Silent Running" was featured in the movie
On Dangerous Ground, released in North American cinemas in 1986 as
Choke Canyon.
Peak The single "The Living Years" (US number one, UK number two), released in 1988, became the band's biggest hit, and featured on the band's second album
Living Years. The song was written by Rutherford and Robertson after both of their fathers had recently died, but the lyrics were written solely by Robertson and centred on the unresolved dissension between Robertson and his father. The song was sung by Carrack, who also had an emotional attachment to the song, having lost his own father when he was 11 years old. The album also featured the song "Nobody's Perfect", sung by Young; it served as the background music to a television advertising campaign for
Tennent's bitter. At this point Carrack began to take a much larger role in the band, joining their stable of songwriters and adding keyboards. The group's third album,
Word of Mouth, followed in 1991. It was less successful than its predecessors, particularly in the US, but scored another trio of charting singles in the UK, with
the lead single becoming one of their most popular songs yet. Their fourth album,
Beggar on a Beach of Gold, appeared in 1995. It yielded a UK top 40 hit in the title track, and a number 12 hit in "
Over My Shoulder", their first hit to be co-written by Carrack. Their run of successes was capped with 1996's
Hits, which compiled most of their hit singles with a new reworking of "All I Need is a Miracle" that reached number 27 in the UK, a higher placing than that of the original version. The album was certified platinum in the UK within two months of its release.
Dissolution In 1995, the band began to dissolve: Adrian Lee and Peter Van Hooke left (before and after
Beggar on a Beach of Gold, respectively), and Christopher Neil's long tenure as songwriter/producer for the group ended. Rutherford opted to continue Mike and the Mechanics as a singer/songwriter trio. The group's fifth studio album was released in 1999,
Mike & The Mechanics. It is generally known as
M6, the
Hits album being their fifth release. As the band no longer had a distribution deal with an American record label,
M6 was available to the American market as an import only. Its only hit, "
Now That You've Gone", peaked at No. 35 in the UK. Another blow struck the following year: On 15 July 2000, Paul Young died from a heart attack. The band regrouped in 2004 as Mike and the Mechanics featuring Paul Carrack. As implied by the new name, Carrack played a larger role than before, performing all the band's lead vocals and keyboards and co-writing all the songs. They released the album
Rewired, which became their first album to lack a hit. Van Hooke briefly worked with the band again during this time, not as an official member but as a co-producer of
Rewired. He also performed drums and percussion on the album and its tour. Shortly after, Carrack became too involved with solo work to devote time to the group. In a 2007 interview Rutherford stated that Mike and the Mechanics had "run its course."
Second incarnation Over several months of 2009 and 2010, Rutherford formed a new band. Despite there being no hope of the original group ever reforming, he opted to again use the Mike and the Mechanics name. In a December 2009 interview, Rutherford stated that "I'm actually doing a new Mike and the Mechanics album. I kind of thought I had put it to bed, but I still enjoy songwriting. Working with a few new co-writers and a couple of new faces for the band. Paul Carrack is doing some solo stuff, so we have a guy called
Andrew Roachford, an R&B kind of singer. It's a little different, but the soul seems to be there." A new album,
The Road, and the 'Hit the Road Tour 2011' were announced in November 2010. The album was released in April 2011. It featured both Roachford and
Tim Howar on vocals, Luke Juby on keyboards,
Gary Wallis on drums, and
Anthony Drennan on guitar and bass. Though it became the first album not to feature B. A. Robertson as a co-writer, the album also marked the return of Christopher Neil as songwriter/producer. The tour included performances across the UK, Germany, and various other European cities. The band continued to tour throughout February and March 2017 before the release of their eighth studio album,
Let Me Fly, in April. In April 2019, Mike and the Mechanics released their ninth studio album,
Out of the Blue, via BMG. They performed along 2023 in the "Refueled! Tour", marking the debut with them of
Nic Collins (son of Rutherford's Genesis bandmate
Phil Collins) on drums. The band completed a 44-date tour in 2025, called "Looking Back - Living The Years", to mark 40 years since their debut album. ==Reception==