With one of rock music’s most iconic power ballads, (I Just) Died In Your Arms, Cutting Crew topped the chart in several countries in 1986, including the US. As they prepare to celebrate their 40th anniversary, we caught up with singer and band leader Nick Van Eede.
2025 marks four decades of Cutting Crew. How does that make you feel?
It makes me proud, I suppose. We’ve weathered the storm, experiencing highs and lows, and I’m busier now than I was even during the late eighties. We have seventy-two shows lined-up until next summer.
Following 19 headline dates in January and February, Cutting Crew support Kim Wilde for nine gigs. What should we expect?
Kim just phoned up, and I figured why the hell not? Our own gigs are performed as a trio, a format that allows me to mix storytelling with the songs. It works really well. We’re in a very good situation, we’ve a couple of records that will keep on being played until it’s time for my daughter to pop her clogs.
(I Just) Died In Your Arms is a song that will be handed down for generations. We can’t legitimately call Cutting Crew a one-hit wonder, because I’ve Been In Love Before was a US Top 10 hit and dented the Top 30 here at home, but it’s probably something you hear a lot?
[Shrugs] I used to get a bit tetchy about that back in the day, but now I embrace it. That song has been my passport, my bank manager and my lover down through the years. It has seven million broadcasts in America, so I guess you can say it works. It’s up there with Help! by The Beatles, it’s ridiculous.
How true is the tale that its title popped into your head while you were getting jiggy with a girlfriend?
It was afterwards. The morning after. That’s all I’m saying, I’m a happily married man.
What’s the weirdest place or situation in which you’ve heard the song?
I’d been doing some gigs in Tanzania with Leslie Mandoki Soulmates, an amazing German band that was full of superstars, and we were treated to going out on safari. Driving along, we were stopped and these gangsta guys demanded money, when suddenly it came on the radio. Everyone was hoping that the title wouldn’t be relevant to our situation.
There must have been some unusual cover versions. Have you heard any?
I could tell you about two or three gangsta-rap versions I’ve heard. There are dance versions, also Euro-pop versions. Some are horrible, but there are a couple of good Latino ones.
Back in 2016 Cutting Crew teamed up for a UK tour with the progressive/psychedelic/pop-rock band Blurred Vision, essentially as one group.
That was slightly unusual. I imagine it was quite baffling for the audience but there were some good moments.
Who comes to see Cutting Crew in 2025?
Sixty-year-olds are the main demographic – men and women – but we also get younger ones, right down to twenty-somethings. People find us through all sorts of ways. For example, we were in Stranger Things. We didn’t take off way the way Kate Bush did, but it didn’t do us any harm.
Cutting Crew's 40th anniversary UK tour runs from Jan 31 to March 1. Visit the band's website for dates and tickets.
