The Raw and the Cooked (album)

The Raw & the Cooked
Studio album by Fine Young Cannibals
Released	1988
Recorded	1986 - 1988
Genre	College rock, soul, New Wave
Length	35:49
Label	London I.R.S.
Producer	David Z Jerry Harrison Fine Young Cannibals
Fine Young Cannibals chronology
Fine Young Cannibals (1985) The Raw & the Cooked (1988) The Raw and the Remix (1990)

The Raw & the Cooked is the second and final album by Fine Young Cannibals, released in 1988. A remixed version was also released as The Raw and the Remix. The title of the album comes from the book of the same name ("Le Cru et le Cuit" in French) written by French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss.

Album information

The cover of Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" originally appeared on the soundtrack for Something Wild two years earlier. Three songs from the album — "Good Thing", "Tell Me What" and "As Hard As It Is" — first appeared in the 1987 film Tin Men, where the Fine Young Cannibals portrayed a band in a nightclub. These three songs have a retro-soul style consistent with the film's 1963 Baltimore setting.

After the band asked MCA Records to get Prince to produce tracks to complete the album, the label countered with producer David Z, who had worked with Prince and is the older brother of Bobby Z of The Revolution. FYC and David Z recorded three tracks together at Paisley Park Studios to complete the album, including the hit "She Drives Me Crazy".

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau	A−
Rolling Stone

Although released in 1988, The Raw and the Cooked did not chart until the following year, when it reached number one in three different countries: United States, United Kingdom and Australia. Selling over two million copies, The Raw & the Cooked included two US number one songs "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing".

The album won Best British Album at the 1990 Brit Awards.

Track listing

• All Songs Written By Gift/Steele, except where noted.

Side one - Raw

1. "She Drives Me Crazy" – 3:36
2. "Good Thing" – 3:22
3. "I'm Not the Man I Used to Be" – 4:19
4. "I'm Not Satisfied" – 3:51
5. "Tell Me What" – 2:47

Side two - Cooked

1. "Don't Look Back" – 3:40
2. "It's OK (It's Alright)" – 3:32 (Cox/Gift/Steele)
3. "Don't Let It Get You Down" – 3:23
4. "As Hard As It Is" – 3:14
5. "Ever Fallen in Love" (Pete Shelley) – 3:54

Production credits

The album package details the production credits as follows:

1. "She Drives Me Crazy", co-production between David Z and FYC
2. "Good Thing", production by Steele/Cox/Gift, remixed by Julian Mendelsohn
3. "I'm Not the Man I Used to Be", production by Steele/Cox/Gift
4. "I'm Not Satisfied", co-production between David Z and FYC
5. "Tell Me What", production by Steele/Cox/Gift, remixed by Julian Mendelsohn
6. "Don't Look Back", production by Steele/Cox/Gift, remixed by Bruce Lampcov
7. "It's OK (It's Alright)", co-produced (sic) by David Z
8. "Don't Let It Get You Down", production by Steele/Cox/Gift
9. "As Hard As It Is", production by Steele/Cox/Gift, remixed by FYC and Dave Anderson
10. "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)", co-production between Jerry Harrison and FYC

Chart positions

Year	Chart	Position
1989	U.S. Billboard 200 Chart Albums Chart	1

Personnel

• Roland Gift - Vocals
• Andy Cox - Guitar
• David Steele - Bass, Keyboards, Drum Machine

with:

• Jools Holland - Piano on "Good Thing"
• Jimmy Helms, George Chandler & Jimmy Chambers - Backing Vocals on "Good Thing", "Tell Me What" & "It's OK (It's Alright)"
• Martin Parry - Drums on "Tell Me What"
• Simon Fowler - Backing vocals on "Don't Look Back"
• Graeme Hamilton - Trumpet on "Don't Let It Get You Down" & "As Hard As It Is"
• Jenny Jones - Drums & Backing Vocals on "As Hard As It Is"
• Gavin Wright - Violin on "As Hard As It Is"
• Bridgette Enver - Saxophone on "As Hard As It Is"

References

Preceded by Like a Prayer by Madonna	Billboard 200 number-one album 3 June – 21 July 1989	Succeeded by Batman (soundtrack) by Prince
Preceded by Technique by New Order	UK number one album 18 February 1989 – 24 February 1989	Succeeded by A New Flame by Simply Red
Preceded by Beaches (soundtrack) by Bette Midler	Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album 10–16 July 1989	Succeeded by Hysteria by Def Leppard