When he wasn't busy in Genesis or making solo records, Mike Rutherford jammed with his musical all-stars in Mike + The Mechanics. Rutherford recruited "ace" vocalists Paul Carrack (Ace, Squeeze) and Paul Young (but not the same Paul Young who had a hit with "Every Time You Go Away"). The band's first effort (self-titled) appeared in 1985 and quickly spawned two top 10 hits with "Silent Running" (#6) and "All I Need Is A Miracle" (#5). The band's follow-up LP, "Living Years," featured a title track that soared to #1, and some decent but lesser known singles like "Nobody's Perfect" (#63) and "Seeing Is Believing" (#62). Their last chart appearance arrived in 1991 with a single from their third effort, the title-track to "Word Of Mouth," which stalled at #78. Young passed away from a heart attack in 2000 at the age of 53 and saw Carrack taking over all vocal duties until they broke up a few years later. Rutherford has released a couple more records in recent years under the Mike + The Mechanics name, but with a different crew. "Poor Boy Down" is one of the underrated cuts from "Living Years."
Genesis is another one of those bands that changed dramatically over the course of several decades. Formed in the late 60s, Genesis remained a prog rock band lead by Peter Gabriel until he left in 1975. At that point, drummer Phil Collins stepped up to the mic and helped put the band on the charts for the first time with "Your Own Special Way," which went to #62 in 1977. The follow-up singles established the Collins-led version of Genesis as a radio-friendly act that occasionally dipped back into its prog roots. "Follow You Follow Me" reached #23 in 1978 and "Misunderstanding" hit #14 in 1980, which would prove to be a decade owned by Phil Collins and Genesis. Genesis ranks as the 38th most successful act of the 80s and #159 of all-time. The band roared back to radio in 1983 with "That's All!" hitting #6. Hot off the heels of a hugely successful solo album by Phil Collins, Genesis scored their first (and only) #1 hit with "Invisible Touch" in 1986. The record of the same name was a monster success and mined for nearly every track. One that got lost in the mix of the many hits such as "Throwing It All Away" (#4), "Land Of Confusion" (#4), "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" (#3), and "In Too Deep" (#3) was "Anything She Does." Genesis would return in 1991 as a full-fledged adult contemporary act to rack up a bounty of hits like "No Son Of Mine" (#12), "I Can't Dance" (#7), "Hold On My Heart" (#12), "Jesus He Knows Me" (#23), and "Never A Time" (#21). After an amazing run, they haven't recorded with Collins again and haven't seen the charts since.
