FM
History
When in Rome is a synthpop group. It was initially made up of Clive Farrington (vocals), Andrew Mann (vocals), and Michael Floreale (synthesizers). They are best known for the single "The Promise", which reached #1 on the Billboard Dance Chart in June of 1988 and also peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 later that year. Despite widely successful touring, the trio split in 1990 over their musical direction, having only released their self-titled debut album. Since the mid-00s, two groups under the When in Rome name-- one featuring Floreale and another with Farrington/Mann-- have toured.
Initially Farrington and Mann were in the locally active, Manchester, England-based group Beau Leisure. Farrington and Mann then went on to form When in Rome at the same time that Mann re-located to London from his Manchester home. Mann tirelessly traded the group's demo of "The Promise", an emotional love song mixing smooth pop with electronic music, along with other tracks around the entire A&R Departments of all the major labels. Eventually, A&R man Simon Potts of Electra signed them to an undisclosed deal. Simply Red were signed to Electra at around the same time, oddly enough. However, internal corporate politics caused Electra to close their London offices. Unable to deal with the time difference between the U.K. and the U.S. when dealing with Electra then, When in Rome decided to change labels, and the group were signed almost instantly to Virgin U.K. subsidiary 10 Records by A&R guru Mick Clark.
