Nick Van Eede

It took nearly a decade for Nick Van Eede to become an overnight sensation. Eede's breathy voice and photogenic appearance easily suited the tastes of adolescent MTV viewers when his band Cutting Crew sliced their way to the top of the pop charts with &"I Just Died" In Your Arms" in 1987. While he may have seemed like a newcomer back then, Eede's musical career actually originated in the late '70s as a solo act. Armed with only a kazoo and an acoustic guitar, Eede toured with Slade in Poland; he also supported musicians such as David Essex, Hot Chocolate, and Alan Price. He eventually joined a group called the Drivers in the early '80s. Future Cutting Crew guitarist Kevin Scott MacMichael was a member of Fast Forward, one of the Drivers' opening bands. When the Drivers fell apart, Eede and MacMichael decided to collaborate; they formed Cutting Crew in the mid-'80s with Colin Farley (bass) and Martin Beadle (drums). Eede recorded three albums with Cutting Crew, Broadcast, The Scattering, and Compus Mentus, before the group broke up in 1993. Only Broadcast was successful in America. Years later, the singer revived Cutting Crew (albeit with a different lineup) and issued the band's fourth studio effort, Grinning Souls, in 2006. ~ Michael Sutton