When: September 13, 1986 Where: Greek Theatre, Berkeley And: Caught the band at the backstage entrance area, at the top of a driveway on a beautiful, relatively rural hillside. I was actually waiting for UB40 — the headliners of the show — but never say no to a photo op (even if I wasn’t managing to get my camera in focus very well). Roland...

When: March 2, 1986 Where: Kyoto Hotel, San Francisco And: The first time I met Fine Young Cannibals (aka FYC), they were a young band on their first tour. I had liked their music ever since I heard “Johnny Come Home,” so of course wanted to meet the guys. Lead singer Roland Gift was quite nice, but David Steele and Andy Cox — whose work in the...

You gotta admit — it takes balls to cover an Elvis tune… and an even brassier set of cojones to release it as a single. Fine Young Cannibals not only got away with it, but they made it shine. I love this video, not only for the bright sequined coats, but for the way Andy and David steal the show from the background with their little manic dance moves....

As you may know, The Beat (for legal reasons, The English Beat in the US) featured members of both General Public and Fine Young Cannibals. And for more from the English...