"One for the Mockingbird" by Cutting Crew

Song#:  3149
Date:  06/06/1987
Debut:  78
Peak:  38
Weeks:  11
Genre:  Rock



Pop Bits:  This UK band grabbed a major hit with their very first single "(I Just) Died in Your Arms." The song would hit #1 on the US Pop chart and lead them to a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. For a follow-up, this next track was selected. It didn't catch on quite as well and after making the Pop Top 40, it stalled. It did only slightly better at Rock getting to #29. By this point, the album had already peaked at #16 and gone gold. This track didn't promote it all that well, but a third single would help spur some sales of the album.

ReduxReview:  While this song didn't have the mainstream appeal of "(I Just) Died in Your Arms," I thought it was a worthy follow-up. In addition to being nicely written and produced, the song had a good hook and it showed a different side of the band. It may not have been destined for the Top 10, but I thought it would do better than a minor Top 40 showing.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  Not long after Cutting Crew broke up, lead singer/songwriter Nick Van Eede ended up on the ground floor of what would become one of the biggest hits of the 90s. Van Eede produced a demo of a song that was written by Brian Higgins, Matthew Gray, Stuart McLennen, and Timothy Powell. The little ditty floated around at Warner Bros. for a long time, but it generated little interest. Then a lucky break came in 1998. Warner was seeking material for a new Cher album that was to have a Eurobeat flavor. Producer/songwriter Mark Taylor was already working on the project and was given the demo to see if he could do something with it. He enlisted the help of a couple other staff songwriters and in the end they came up with the song "Believe." Of course that song went on to become an iconic worldwide #1 hit for Cher. Van Eede had nothing to do with the song beyond producing the original demo. All he got out of it was a good story and as he has stated in interviews, "I got a bottle of whiskey for my work!"

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