"Taken In" by Mike + the Mechanics

Song#:  2779
Date:  06/28/1986
Debut:  85
Peak:  32
Weeks:  15
Genre:  Pop, Adult Contemporary



Pop Bits:  This Genesis off-shoot group headed up by Mike Rutherford was awarded a gold album for their successful self-titled debut album. It featured two Top 10 hits including the #5 "All I Need Is a Miracle." A third single from the LP was needed in order to follow-up that hit and this album closing track was selected. The ballad wouldn't make it into the Pop Top 10 like the previous two singles, but it did at least reach the Top 40. It did much better at AC where the tune made it to #7. Oddly, their two previous singles also peaked at #7 on the AC chart. A fourth single, "Hanging on By a Thread," was issued out in Europe, but it failed to chart. It never received an official release in the US.

ReduxReview:  This is a lovely, easy-going tune that was a great fit for AC radio. It might have been a bit too subtle for pop radio, but I think it should have done a better on the chart. It nearly had an updated 70s yacht rock feel to it, which was a nice change of pace from noisy 80s sythpop. It was refreshing to hear a memorable track on the radio that didn't hit you over the head with hooks or was full of screaming synths. Another quality track from the band.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  For their 1983 self-titled album, Genesis decided to write and record songs on the spot in the studio. Previously, band members would bring in partial or full songs to sessions that they would then flesh out and record. For Genesis, they collaborated together creating the songs in the studio. The band would first record themselves improvising and then take ideas from the jam session to create songs. One section of a session piqued the interest of Mike Rutherford. He though there was something that could be done with it, but the other two-thirds of Genesis (Phil Collins and Tony Banks) weren't fond of the passage so the band skipped any further development. When putting together the material for the Mike + the Mechanics debut LP, Rutherford remember the snippet and revisited it. He and his producer Christopher Neil developed and finished the song "A Call to Arms" with B.A. Robertson. However, because Rutherford used ideas from the Genesis session, he had to seek permission from his bandmates to use the tune. They agreed and the song became a part of the Mechanics' debut album. Collins and Banks are credited on the track as co-writers.

_________________________________________________________________________________