Cutting Crew mark 40 years of Broadcast with rare intimate Camden gig

Four decades after their breakthrough, Cutting Crew are heading back to where it all began, at least in spirit.

The band will play a special intimate show at Barfly Camden on November 9 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their debut album, Broadcast.

For a band whose music went on to fill arenas and rack up more than a billion streams, the choice of venue is deliberately small. Singer and guitarist Nick van Eede says the idea was to recreate the atmosphere of the early days, before Broadcast changed everything.

“We thought it would be cool to celebrate 40 years of Broadcast by playing an intimate rock and roll show, at the sort of venue we were playing before it was released and it all went crazy. We haven’t played anywhere this small since!”

Released by Virgin Records on November 14, 1986, Broadcast launched Cutting Crew onto the international stage and produced the song that would become their signature.

“(I Just) Died In Your Arms” reached No. 1 in the US and No. 4 in the UK, and has since passed one billion streams. The band followed it with another major hit, “I’ve Been In Love Before”, which reached the Top 10 of the US Billboard Hot 100.

Rather than celebrate the anniversary with another large-scale show, Cutting Crew are stripping things back.

The Barfly performance promises to be a rare chance to see the band in a much more intimate setting, a particularly fitting way to mark an album that predates the huge success that followed it.

The anniversary celebrations will not stop at the gig. A 40th Anniversary vinyl edition of Broadcast is also on the way, marking the first time the album has been reissued on vinyl in more than 30 years. Further details are expected to be announced soon.

Cutting Crew's current line-up still features original members Nick van Eede, Colin Farley and Martin ‘Frosty’ Beedle, all of whom played on Broadcast. Original lead guitarist Kevin MacMichael died in 2002.

The present-day line-up is completed by longtime collaborators Tom Arnold and Gareth Moulton on guitars.

The band continues to tour Europe, including arena shows alongside artists such as Starship, Holly Johnson and Nik Kershaw. But for one night in November, Cutting Crew will swap the arenas for a Camden room and take their anniversary back to basics.

Cutting Crew play Barfly Camden on November 9. Tickets are on sale now.

Author: Andrew Braithwaite

Andrew is the founder and chief editor of Music Talkers. He's also a keen music enthusiast and plays the guitar.