Billboard #1 Hits: #684: ‘The Living Years’- Mike + The Mechanics. March 25, 1989. #1 for 1 week in Billboard Hot 100.

• Single: ‘The Living Years’- Mike + The Mechanics
• Record Company- Atlantic
• Genre: Pop
• Written by Brian Robertson and Mike Rutherford
• Time: 5:32
• B-side: ‘Too Many Friends’
• Album- The Living Years
• Grade: A
• Peaked at #1 1 week in Billboard Hot 100. #2 in UK Singles Chart. #1 in Australia, Canada, Ireland and Japan.

Mike + The Mechanics-featuring Mike Rutherford from Genesis and lead singer Paul Carrick- had 7 Hot 100 singles from 1985-91 4 of which made the Top 40. This was their biggest hit. The song addresses a son’s regret over unresolved conflict with his deceased father. Burt Bacharach in 1996 would say that the song was one of the finest lyrics in the past decade. It was nominated for four Grammy Awards in 1990- including Record and Song Of The Year.