Word of Mouth (Mike + The Mechanics album)

Word of Mouth is the third album by Mike + The Mechanics, released in 1991.

The album did not chart as well as their previous album Living Years (1988), charting at No. 11 in the UK, while the lead single "Word of Mouth" got to No. 13 in the UK and No. 33 in Australia. The follow-up singles "A Time and Place" and "Everybody Gets a Second Chance" both became minor hits in the UK, peaking at No. 58 and No. 56, respectively.

There was some overlap with the marketing of the album and the making of Genesis's We Can't Dance, with Mike Rutherford being committed to both. As such, there was no tour for Word of Mouth, however the band (under the post-2010 lineup) would title their 2017 UK tour as The Word of Mouth Tour 2017.

The song "Get Up" was used in the 1993 film Rookie of the Year, as well as in the Baywatch episode "Nightmare Bay: Parts 1 & 2".

Reception

AllMusic suggested that the album was inferior to its predecessors, writing, "The new record led off with two killer pop songs...But within a few months of its release, Word of Mouth had already been banished to the discount racks and budget bins of nearly every record store in the English-speaking world."

Track listing

Personnel

Mike + The Mechanics

• Mike Rutherford – guitars, bass
• Paul Carrack – vocals <small>(lead: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10)</small>, keyboards
• Paul Young – vocals <small>(lead: 2, 4, 7, 9)</small>
• Adrian Lee – keyboards
• Peter Van Hooke – drums

Additional personnel

• Steve Piggot – keyboards
• Ian Wherry – keyboards
• Tim Renwick – guitars
• Pino Palladino – bass
• Martin Ditcham – percussion
• Phil Todd – saxophone
• London Community Gospel Choir – choir (10)
• Kitson Hall Audience – crowd (2)

Production

• Tracks 1, 3, 5 & 8–10 – produced by Christopher Neil, Mike Rutherford and Russ Titelman.
• Tracks 2, 4, 6 & 7 – produced by Christopher Neil and Mike Rutherford
• Engineers – Rob Eaton (Tracks 1 & 3–10); Mike Punczek (Track 2).
• Assistant engineers – Mark Robinson, Jeremy Wheatley and Shaun De Feo.
• Recorded at The Farm; Technical Assistants – Geoff Callingham and Mike Bowen. Olympic Studios, London, except Track 2 at Living Years tour, US 1989.
• Equipment – Dale Newman, Steve Jones and Angela Jewel.
• Mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound (New York, NY).
• Cover design – Icon
• Photography – Mike Owen

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References