Simple Minds
Encyclopedia
Simple Minds are a Scottish rock
band who achieved worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The band produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s and best known for their #1 US, Canada and Netherlands hit single "Don't You (Forget About Me)
", from the soundtrack of the John Hughes movie The Breakfast Club
, #3 US hit single "Alive and Kicking
" and #1 UK hit single "Belfast Child
". The band has sold more than 40 million albums since 1979.
The core of the band is the two remaining founder members - Jim Kerr
(vocals, songwriting) and Charlie Burchill
(guitars, keyboards, other instruments, songwriting) - and drummer Mel Gaynor
(who first joined the band in 1982). The other current band members are Andy Gillespie (keyboards) and Ged Grimes
(bass guitar). Significant former members include bass guitarist Derek Forbes
and keyboard player Michael MacNeil (the latter credited as a significant band composer during the band's rise in the 1980s).
band Johnny & The Self-Abusers, founded on the South Side of Glasgow in 1977. The band was "dreamed up" by would-be Glasgow
scenemaker Alan Cairnduff, although he left the job of actually organising the band to his friend John Milarky. At Cairnduff’s suggestion, Milarky teamed up with two musicians he’d never worked with before - budding singer and lyricist Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill. Kerr and Burchill, who had known each other since the age of eight, were longstanding allies. After joining Johnny & The Self-Abusers, they brought in two of their school friends, Brian McGee
on drums and Tony Donald on bass (all four had previously played together in the schoolboy band Biba-Rom!). With Milarky established as singer, guitarist and saxophonist, the lineup was completed by Milarky’s friend Alan McNeil as third guitarist. To expand the band's potential sound, Kerr and Burchill also doubled on keyboards and violin respectively. In common with the early punk bands, various members took on stage names - Milarky became "Johnnie Plague", Kerr became "Pripton Weird", MacNeil chose "Sid Syphilis" and Burchill chose "Charlie Argue".
Johnny & The Self-Abusers played its first gig on Easter Monday, 1977 at the Dourne Castle pub in Glasgow. The band played support to rising punk stars Generation X
in Edinburgh
two weeks later. The band went on to play a summer of concerts in Glasgow. Development was rapid, but at the expense of unity. The band soon split into two factions, with Milarky and McNeil on one side and Kerr, Donald, Burchill and McGee on the other: at the same time, Milarky’s compositions were being edged out in favour of those of Kerr and Burchill. In November 1977, Johnny & The Self-Abusers released its only single, "Saints And Sinners", on Chiswick Records (which was dismissed as being "rank and file" in a Melody Maker review.) The band split on the same day that the single was released, with Milarky and McNeil going on to form The Cuban Heels. Ditching the stage names and the overt punkiness, the remaining members continued together as Simple Minds (naming themselves after a David Bowie
lyric from his song "Jean Genie").
(a subsidiary of the Arista Records
label), and used his position to get Simple Minds signed to Arista. (By early 1980, Findlay would become the band’s full-time manager via his Schoolhouse Management company).
The band’s lineup did not settle until the end of 1978. Tony Donald quit in April, before the first Simple Minds demo tape was recorded (he would later become Burchill’s guitar technician). He was replaced by Duncan Barnwell’s friend Derek Forbes (formerly the bass player with The Subs). In November, Barnwell himself was judged surplus to musical requirements (as well as being at odds with the band’s image), and was asked to leave. The remaining quintet of Kerr, Burchill, MacNeil, Forbes and McGee - generally considered as the first serious lineup of Simple Minds - began rehearsing the set of Kerr/Burchill-written songs which would appear on their debut album.
, was produced by John Leckie
and released by Arista in April 1979. The album took a cue from fellow post-punk
forebears Magazine
, and was somewhat self-consciously derivative of the late-70s punk boom. Possessing a similar AOR
crossover potential to that of Simple Minds' contemporaries The Cars
, it also revealed influences by David Bowie
, Genesis
and Roxy Music
. The album's title track was released as Simple Minds' first single and reached #62 in the UK Gallop charts, with the album itself putting in a more respectable performance at #30 in the LP charts. However, the next single ("Chelsea Girl") failed to chart at all. While Arista were disappointed with this failure, the band themselves had rapidly become dissatisfied with the album, which they considered too derivative. While preparing ideas for the next record, they enjoyed a well-received support slot for Magazine
, following which they went straight back into the studio with Leckie to work on new material.
Simple Minds' second release, Real to Real Cacophony
was a significant departure from the pop tunes of Life in a Day. The album had a darker and far more experimental atmosphere, announcing some of the New Wave
experimentation that would become the band’s trademark sound over the next two albums. Much of the album was written in the studio, although Simple Minds had been playing early versions of several tracks during the recent tour dates. Innovations which the band displayed on Real to Real Cacophony
included minimalist
structures based around the rhythm section of Forbes and McGee, plus the occasional use of unconventional time signatures. The band also experimented with elements of dub, and included the wordless and atmospheric "Veldt" in which they attempted to create an impression of an African landscape using electronic buzzes and drones, Burchill's improvised saxophone lines and Kerr's chants and cries. The album also generated an acclaimed (but again, non-charting) single - "Changeling".
, was another stylistic departure, and signalled the influence of Kraftwerk
, Neu!
and similar European artists on the band. During this period of their career Simple Minds promoted themselves as being a European band, rather than Scottish or British. Many of the tracks on Empires and Dance were extremely minimal and featured a significant use of sequencing
. McNeil's keyboards and Forbes' bass became the main melodic elements in the band's sound, with Burchill's heavily-processed guitar becoming more of a textural element. With this album, Kerr began to experiment with non-narrative lyrics based on observations he'd made as the band travelled across Europe on tour. While not consciously so, Empires and Dance was essentially industrial
in its aesthetic, and preceded by a couple of years the industrial-pop crossover of Cabaret Voltaire
's album The Crackdown
. The band's label, however, demonstrated little enthusiasm for such experimentation, and in 1981 Simple Minds switched from Arista to Virgin
. The following year, Arista put out a compilation album, Celebration
, featuring tracks from the three previous records.
Simple Minds' first release on Virgin was actually two albums: the Steve Hillage
-produced Sons and Fascination and Sister Feelings Call. The latter album was initially included as a bonus disc with the first 10,000 vinyl copies of Sons and Fascination, but it was later re-issued as an album in its own right. (For the CD release, it was paired on a single disc with Sons and Fascination — at first with two tracks deleted, but on later issues, in full.) Sons and Fascination perfected the formula that began with Empires and Dance, and showcased the band’s musicianship during their most prolific period. The band’s comparative musical virtuosity aligned them with the more streamlined end of progressive rock
rather than the flippancy of many other New Wave musicians. One significant progressive rock musician - Peter Gabriel
- selected Simple Minds as the opening act on several dates of his European tour. Further increasing the band's visibility, the single "Love Song" was an international hit (reaching the Top 20 in Canada and Australia) and the instrumental "Theme for Great Cities" proved so enduring a composition that it was later re-recorded in 1991 as a B-side to the single "See the Lights". These minimalist, dance-oriented compositions, like those of Neu! before them, were examples of man-made trance well before trance
itself.
It was also during this period that the ground-breaking visual aesthetic of Simple Minds' product was established, masterminded by Malcolm Garrett
's graphic design company Assorted iMaGes. Characterised at first by hard, bold typography and photo-collage, Garrett's designs for the band would later incorporate pop-religious iconography in clean, integrated package designs that befitted the band's idealised image as neo-romantic purveyors of European anthemic pop.
However, this period would also see the end of the first "classic" Simple Minds lineup when drummer Brian McGee left the band at the end of the Sons and Fascination sessions, citing exhaustion at Simple Minds' constant touring schedule and a desire for more time at home with family. He would later join Propaganda
.
, Zones), who joined the band in October 1981 in time to play the first leg of the Sons & Fascination tour. His interest in New York music (including funk, hip-hop and dance) played an immediate part in the band's musical development. He stayed long enough to drum on the band’s next single, the disco-friendly ‘Promised You A Miracle’ (based on a funk riff cadged from one of the cassettes he would play on the band’s tour bus) which hit the UK Top 20 and the Australian Top 10. Unfortunately, Hyslop "didn’t fit in" with the band or their management (a situation further strained by his apparent suspicion of record companies) and in February 1982 he left the band after a mere five months. Hyslop was replaced by the Kilmarnock-born percussionist Mike Ogletree
(the former drummer for Café Jacques). Ogletree joined Simple Minds for rehearsals in a large converted barn in Perthshire, Scotland, where he wrote and played the drum parts for the songs that were to become what is considered the band's watershed album, New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84). Ogletree also performed with the band on TV and to close out the second leg of the 'Sons and Fascination Tour'.
Although his playing and writing style contributed the R&B, funk and soul elements that gave the band the commercial edge they sought, Ogletree apparently found the transition from rehearsal to recording and live playing difficult. The band moved to Townhouse Studios for recording sessions with producer Peter Walsh, who introduced them to a London-born drummer called Mel Gaynor, a 22-year old session musician with plenty of experience (including a stint drumming for The Nolans
). Gaynor proved to have the combination of broad skills plus force of playing which the band wanted. Working closely with Ogletree in order to capture and maintain the beats and grooves from the Perthshire sessions, he played drums on the majority of the record (although Ogletree would play drums on three tracks and be credited for percussion across the entire album).
'. The album proved to be a significant turning point for the band, becoming a commercial breakthrough and generating a handful of charting singles including 'Glittering Prize"' (which reached the UK Top 20 and Australian Top 10). With a slick, sophisticated sound - thanks to Walsh's production - and similarly sumptuous design by Malcolm Garrett
, Simple Minds were soon categorised as part of the New Romantic
outgrowth of New Wave (along with Duran Duran
and others). Despite the success of the album, some fans of the band's earlier work criticised Simple Minds' new and more commercial orientation. While some tracks ("Promised You A Miracle
", "Colours Fly and Catherine Wheel") continued the formula perfected on Sons and Fascination, other tracks ("Someone Somewhere in Summertime", "Glittering Prize") were undisguised pop. In addition, jazz keyboardist Herbie Hancock
performed a synth solo on the track "Hunter and the Hunted".
Mike Ogletree played on the first leg of the New Gold Dream tour, but left the band immediately afterwards in November 1982 to join Fiction Factory
. Mel Gaynor was recruited (as a full member of the band) for the remaining dates. Simple Minds’ first non-Scottish member, Gaynor would go on to become the band's longest-standing drummer (despite twice leaving and returning in the following decades).
, was a complete departure. Produced by Steve Lillywhite
and released in February 1984, the album contained a rock-oriented set of songs.
The eventual result of this shift in musical direction gave rise to hugely successful singles like "Waterfront
" (which hit #1 in a few European countries and remains one of the band's signature songs to this day) as well as "Speed Your Love To Me
" and "Up On The Catwalk
". The public also appreciated Simple Mind's upfront sound, ensuring that Sparkle in the Rain
topped the charts in the UK and hit the Top 20 in several other countries (including Canada, where it reached #13).
In 1984, Jim Kerr married Chrissie Hynde
from the Pretenders (who temporarily renamed herself Christine Kerr). Simple Minds did a North American tour where they played as headliners supported by China Crisis
during the Canadian leg and in support of the Pretenders in the U.S. while Hynde was pregnant with Kerr's daughter (The marriage would last until 1990).
changed all that. Simple Minds were offered the song 'Don't You (Forget About me) only after it was turned down by Bryan Ferry. Released in early 1985, this Brat Pack drama from writer/director John Hughes was a box-office smash and made household names of Molly Ringwald
, Judd Nelson
, Anthony Michael Hall
, Ally Sheedy
and Emilio Estevez
. It also broke Simple Minds into the US market almost overnight, when the band achieved their only #1 U.S. pop hit in April 1985 with the film's opening track, "Don't You (Forget About Me)". Ironically, the song was not even written by the band, but by Keith Forsey
, who offered the song to Billy Idol
and Bryan Ferry
before Simple Minds agreed to record it. The song soon became a chart-topper in many other countries around the world.
At around this point, the camaraderie that had fuelled Simple Minds began to unravel, and over the next ten years the band's lineup would undergo frequent changes. Jim Kerr subsequently recalled "We were knackered. We were desensitised. The band started to fracture. We were lads who had grown up together, we were meant to grow together, politically, spiritually and artistically. But we were getting tired with each other. There was an element of the chore creeping in. We were coasting and this whole other thing was a challenge."
The first casualty of the band's collective change of attitude was bassist Derek Forbes, who had always been one of the strongest personalities within Simple Minds, and was now beginning to squabble with Kerr. Forbes later confessed "I was completely bonkers most of the time. I was the oldest and seemed to have the gift of the gab. I'm a bit of a natural comedian. I was always sent out to bring the girls back - chatting up the ladies came naturally. But it got to the stage where I got too involved with the women, so they started to come before the band. I would have this totally separate life from the rest of the band and that caused pressures and tension."
Forbes began failing to turn up for rehearsals, and was duly dismissed. Although he had expected this outcome, he would later describe the split as "a bereavement." Despite his disappointment, Forbes remained in touch with the band (and would soon reunite with another former Simple Minds bandmate, drummer Brian McGee, in Propaganda
). In 2008 – in what appeared to be an oblique reference to Forbes - Kerr reflected “Looking back, there was a sacking of one guy that was harsh. Probably something stupid like he had a better-looking girlfriend than everyone else. I feel bad about that."
Forbes was replaced by former Brand X
bass player John Giblin
(who also happened to own the band’s rehearsal space and was himself a renowned sessions musician who’d worked with Peter Gabriel
and Kate Bush
among others). Giblin made his debut with Simple Minds at Live Aid
in Philadelphia, where the band performed "Don't You (Forget About Me)", a new track called "Ghostdancing" and "Promised You a Miracle". Simple Minds were the first band to be approached to play the Philadelphia leg of Live Aid.
/Stevie Nicks
producer Jimmy Iovine
. Taking advantage of their new-found popularity, Simple Minds recorded what has been considered to be their most unashamedly commercial album. On its release in November, Once Upon a Time
appeared to be tailored specifically to appeal to the stadium rock sensibilities of American audiences This overlooked the fact that it was not only a continuation of the stylistic changes introduced on Sparkle in the Rain
, but was heavily influenced by the celebratory aspects of soul, disco and gospel music. This was reinforced by the strong contributions of former Chic
singer Robin Clark
, who performed call-and-response vocals with Kerr throughout the album (effectively becoming a second lead singer), and was heavily featured in Simple Minds music videos of the time.
Once Upon a Time
was reviled by some long-time fans, but was embraced by millions of new listeners and was critically well-received. The record reached #1 in the UK and #10 in the US, despite the fact that their major-league breakthrough single "Don't You (Forget About Me)" was not included. The band had made it clear in interviews prior to the album's release that they would not include the song, believing that it would devalue the rest of the album, which they felt could stand on its own merits. Once Upon a Time would go on to generate four worldwide hit singles: "Alive & Kicking", "Sanctify Yourself", "Ghostdancing" and "All the Things She Said", the latter of which featured a cutting-edge music video directed by Zbigniew Rybczyński
that used techniques developed in music videos for bands such as Pet Shop Boys
and Art of Noise. The band also toured, with both Robin Clark and percussionist Sue Hadjopoulos added to the live lineup.
Because of Simple Minds' powerful stage presence and lyrics that trafficked in Christian symbolism
, the band was criticised by some in the music press as a lesser version of U2
, despite the fact that both bands were now heading in different musical directions. However, the two groups were well-acquainted with one another, and Bono joined Simple Minds on-stage at the Barrowlands in Glasgow in 1985 for a live version of "New Gold Dream". Bono also appeared on stage at Simple Minds Croke Park concert and sung "Sun City" during the "Love Song" medley. Derek Forbes also appeared on stage at the Croke Park concert and performed on several songs during the encore. To document their successful worldwide Once Upon a Time Tour, Simple Minds released the double-live set Live in the City of Light
in 1987, which was recorded primarily over two nights in Paris in 1986.
Simple Minds played 3 nights at Glasgow Barrowlands at the end of 1987 to raise money for the "Cash for Kids" charity. "Room", "Capital City", "King is White" and "Pleasantly Disturbed" were surprise inclusions to the set. Derek Forbes, Chrissie Hynde and Johnny Marr joined the band onstage during the Love Song/Sun City medley on the final night.
, Simple Minds began new writing sessions. Initially the band began work on an instrumental project called Aurora Borealis (mostly written by Burchill and MacNeil). This project was then supplanted by an increase in the band's political activism, something which they had begun to stress in recent years (notably by giving all of the income from the "Ghostdancing" single to Amnesty International, and playing cover versions of Little Steven's "(Ain't' Gonna Play) Sun City" on tour). Inspired by Peter Gabriel
(with whom they had toured in the early 1980s).
Simple Minds was the first band to sign up for Mandela Day, a concert held at Wembley Stadium
, London, UK, as an expression of solidarity with the then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela
. Bands involved were asked to produce a song especially for the event - Simple Minds was the only act which actually produced one. This was "Mandela Day
", which the band played live on the day (alongside cover versions of "Sun City" with Little Steven and a cover version of Peter Gabriel's "Biko" on which Gabriel himself took on lead vocals). "Mandela Day" was released on the Ballad Of The Streets EP, which reached #1 in the British singles charts (the only time the band would do so). Another EP track, "Belfast Child
", was a rewrite of the Celtic folk
song "She Moved Through the Fair
" (which had been introduced to Kerr by John Giblin) with new lyrics written about the ongoing war in Northern Ireland). The single was also an expression by Simple Minds of their support for the campaign for the release of Beirut
-held hostage Brian Keenan, kidnapped by the Islamic Jihad
. Both "Belfast Child" and "Mandela Day" would set the direction for Simple Minds' next album, another song-based affair which would supplant the planned instrumental project.
(produced by Trevor Horn
and Stephen Lipson
) maintained the band's growing sense of scale but moved away from the American soul and gospel influences of Once Upon a Time
in favour of soundtrack atmospherics and a new incorporation of acoustic and folk music-related ingredients. The lyrics were also more directly political, moving away from the impressionistic or spiritual concerns of earlier 1980s Simple Minds songs and covering topics including the Poll Tax, the Soweto
townships, the Berlin Wall
and the stationing of nuclear submarines on the Scottish coast.
The band underwent further lineup changes during the recording of Street Fighting Years
. Mel Gaynor and John Giblin both contributed to the recording (and, in Giblin's case, to some of the writing) but both men had left the band by the time of the album's release, by which time the band was credited as a trio of Kerr, Burchill and MacNeil. In a new development for the band, various bass guitar and drum tracks were performed by high-profile session musicians. Gaynor's departure from the band was brief (he was rehired for the following tour) but the balance of power within the band had clearly become centralised around the remaining founder members and would continue in that way.
Released in 1989, the album rose to #1 in the UK charts and received glowing praise, including a rare five-star review from Q
magazine. However, it received a less positive review in Rolling Stone which criticised the band for what the reviewer considered to be political vacuity. "This Is Your Land" was chosen as the lead single for the U.S., and even with guest vocals from the band's idol Lou Reed
, the single failed to make a mark on the pop charts. The album performed relatively poorly in the United States, possibly due to its shift in musical inspirations and lyrical content.
Reunited with Mel Gaynor, Simple Minds hired Malcolm Foster (ex-Pretenders) as the new bass player and expanded the live band again by recruiting three additional touring members - backing singer Annie McCaig, percussionist Andy Duncan and violinist Lisa Germano
). Touring began in May 1989, and included the first and only time that the group headlined Wembley Stadium, where they were supported by fellow Scottish bands The Silencers
, Texas
and Gun
. In September, the concert in the roman amphiteatre Verona Arena
in Italy was recorded for the live video "Verona", released by Virgin in 1990.
At the end of the Street Fighting Years tour, Simple Minds laid plans to go to Amsterdam to begin recording a new album. Just before the end of the tour, keyboardist Michael MacNeil announced to the band that he would not be joining them as he needed a break. Kerr and Burchill apparently saw his actions as a betrayal, and MacNeil played his last concert with Simple Minds in Brisbane a week later. Although he hadn’t originally intended to leave the band in the long term, the breakdown of MacNeil's relationship with Kerr and Burchill ensured that his break with the band was permanent. At the time, MacNeil's departure was put down to health concerns, but he had in fact had been gradually suffering disillusionment with the band's high-life lifestyle and touring schedule (as well as what Kerr has referred to as "a number of animated quarrels").
MacNeil has subsequently commented that his parting with Simple Minds was painful and acrimonious (although he has since reconciled with his former bandmates) and that this was the period in which everything began to change within the band. At around the same time, long-term manager Bruce Findlay was fired and over the next few years the band would gradually alter to the point where it was a shifting set of musicians around the only remaining core members, Kerr and Burchill. MacNeil has commented “After I left, everything kind of went, and Bruce fell into that bracket of upheaval. I don't think he deserved it and I have a lot of sympathy for him after the way he was treated."
In December 2009, Kerr retrospectively defended the changes in an online diary entry. Although he admitted that MacNeil's departure had been a "colossal fracture" he also asserted that "if ever there was a time to regroup, rethink and re- strategise, it was there and then. The last thing needed was for people within the group to be quitting, for things to be fragmenting, creative engines dropping off the machine etc." However, he also paid tribute to his former bandmate and admitted that MacNeil had been irreplaceable.
who played live with the band at the Nelson Mandela Freedom Concert and on a short German tour. He was subsequently replaced in the live band by Mark Taylor.
In 1991, Simple Minds returned with a much more radio-friendly collection of their political concerns, Real Life
. The album's cover showed a trio of Kerr, Burchill and Gaynor and the writing credits for all songs was Kerr/Burchill. The album reached #2 in the UK, where it also spawned four Top 40 singles. In the US, however, "See the Lights" was the band's last Top 40 pop single. The band toured to support the release, playing as a basic five-piece (Kerr, Burchill, Gaynor, Foster and Taylor) and cutting down on the extended arrangements of the last few large tours. Mel Gaynor left the band in 1992 to pursue session work and other projects, and for the next two years Simple Minds were on hiatus, releasing the compilation album Glittering Prize in 1992 to mark time.
Simple Minds returned to active duty later in 1994. By now the band was officially a duo of Kerr and Burchill (with the latter taking on keyboards in the studio, as well as guitar). Hiring Keith Forsey (the writer of "Don't You (Forget About Me)") as producer, they began to put together an album which returned to the uplifting arena rock feel of their Once Upon a Time
days. With Gaynor now out of the picture, the remaining instrumentation was covered by session musicians (although Malcolm Foster was included among the bass players used for recording). Good News from the Next World
was released in 1995 to positive reviews, but weak sales in the U.S. In the UK and Europe, however, the response was much more positive, with the album reaching #2 in the UK and producing the two Top 20 hits "She's a River" and "Hypnotised". The band toured to promote Good News from the Next World
, with Malcolm Foster and Mark Taylor as touring bass and keyboard players and Mark Schulman (who'd played on the album) on drums. This would be Foster's last work with the band, and Shulman would return to session work at the end of the tour.
, Simple Minds decided to musically reinvent themselves once again, this time reaching back to their Kraftwerk-inspired, early electronic pop days. During the lengthy writing and demoing sessons for the next album, Kerr and Burchill made use of the skills of their original rhythm section, Derek Forbes and Brian McGee (returning after respective eleven- and fourteen-year absences). Although McGee was not involved beyond the rehearsal stage, Forbes formally rejoined Simple Minds in July 1996. The band then reunited with Mel Gaynor for studio session in spring 1997. Gaynor was reinstated as a full-time member for the European tour (which once again featured Mark Taylor on keyboards).
After the tour, album recording sessions were interrupted by Kerr and Burchill’s decision to play live (without Forbes, Taylor or Gaynor) as part of the Proms tour (a series of orchestral concerts featuring a mixture of light classical and pop music). The duo played versions of "Alive And Kicking", "Belfast Child" and "Don't You (Forget About Me)" backed by a full orchestra and were billed as Simple Minds - something which emphasised the degree to which the band remained a Kerr/Burchill project with backing musicians.
When finally released, the new album, Neapolis
- turned out to be less of a "band" album than expected. Although Forbes played bass guitar on all album tracks, Gaynor only played on one song, "War Babies". Other drum tracks were recorded by session players Michael Niggs and Jim McDermott, with additional percussion programming by Transglobal Underground
/Furniture
drummer Hamilton Lee. The album ultimately charted poorly and received mixed reviews. However, it is notable for being the only Simple Minds album released by Chrysalis Records
, who refused to release the album in the U.S., citing lack of interest.
As a further nod to Simple Minds' European musical heritage, the music video for "Glitterball", the album's lead single, was the first production of any kind to film at the Guggenheim Museum
in Bilbao, Spain. A European tour followed between March and July 1998, undermined by problems with ill-health and contractual fiascos (including a pull-out from the Fleadh Festival to be replaced by James
).
.
The other result from the sessions was the supplanting of the Simple Minds rhythm section. Once again, Forbes and Gaynor found themselves out of the band while Mark Kerr (formerly the drummer with the Glasgow rock band, Gun
after the departure of Scott Shields) became the new drummer and Sly Silver Sly’s Eddie Duffy joined on bass guitar. The new-look Simple Minds made their debut with a short set of greatest hits at the Scotland Rocks For Kosovo festival, with Mark Taylor returning on keyboards. (The displaced Forbes and Gaynor, having apparently been told that the band wasn't appearing at the festival, formed a new band of their own to play the same concert. This became Forbes/Gaynor And Friends and went on to play several gigs in Italy at the end of the year - some of which were illicitly billed as being Simple Minds concerts).
Having delivered Our Secrets Are the Same to Chrysalis, Simple Minds then found themselves caught up in record company politics while Chrysalis, EMI
and other companies attempted to merge with each other. Originally slated for release in late 1999, the album remained unreleased after the band emmired themselves in lawsuits with Chrysalis. In 2000, the situation became even more complicated when Our Secrets Are the Same was leaked on the internet. Discouraged with their label's failure to resolve the problems, and with both momentum and potential album sales lost, the band once again went on hiatus. Eddie Duffy, Mark Taylor and Mark Kerr all moved on to other projects. Jim Kerr moved to Sicily and took up a part-time career as a hotelier, although both he and Burchill would continue working together on various business interests and would keep the idea of the band alive.
, Roxy Music
and Kraftwerk
. Of these projects, Neon Lights was the first to be completed and released (later in 2001) to help to build awareness of the returning band. In the video for the Neon Lights single "Dancing Barefoot", the band consisted of Jim Kerr, Charlie Burchill, Gordon Goudie and Mark Kerr. A 2-CD compilation, The Best of Simple Minds
, was released soon afterwards to continue to build commercial momentum.
Cry
itself was eventually released in 2002. Although the album did not sell in great numbers in the U.S., Simple Minds felt confident enough to mount a North American leg of their Floating World Tour (named after the instrumental track which closes Cry), their first in seven years. With Goudie opting to remain studio bound (and Mark Kerr leaving the band lineup again), Simple Minds once again mended their relationship with Mel Gaynor, recruiting him as tour drummer. The live band was completed by the returning Eddie Duffy on bass guitar and by new keyboard player/programmer Andy Gillespie (of SoundControl).
In 2004, Simple Minds released a five-CD compilation entitled Silver Box
. This mostly comprised previously-unreleased demos, radio & TV sessions and various live recordings from 1979 to 1995, but also included the long-delayed Our Secrets Are the Same.
In 2005, the band embarked on the "Intimate Tour" (a series of low-key gigs at smaller venues). Andy Gillespie was unable to appear at all the gigs, and Mark Taylor returned to cover for him on several occasions. From this point onwards, the two would alternate as Simple Mind’s live keyboard player, depending on Gillespie’s schedule with his other projects.
, which generated some of the most positive reviews for a Simple Minds record in many years. The album's first single, "Home", received airplay on alternative rock radio stations in the US. However, it did not make a significant chart impact on either side of the Atlantic, only reaching #37 in the UK and not being officially released in North America. Despite the response from some website sources and a few UK tabloid
papers the album failed to reignite the chart success of old and the mainstream media generally ignored the album or gave it a number of poor or indifferent reviews. Nonetheless, the band spent 2006 touring throughout Europe, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand on the Black And White Tour (with Mark Taylor on keyboards).
2007 saw the band's 30th anniversary, and a brief tour of Australia & New Zealand as guests of INXS
. Burchill, Kerr, Gaynor, Duffy and Gillespie. Also performed a brief set at the 40th anniversary tribute to Glasgow
Celtic
's famous Lisbon Lions
European Cup
winning team (with Jim McDermott deputising on drums for an absent Mel Gaynor). The band continued to release a number of audio video Download "bundles" through their official website, featuring live music and several short documentary style videos recorded during their 2006 tour in Edinburgh and Brussels
(including the complete show on 16 February 2006 at the Ancienne Belgique
, Brussels
, Belgium as "Live Bundles" #1 to #5 and (only) 6 tracks from the show on 28 August 2006 at the "T On The Fringe
" music festival, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK as "Live Bundles" #6 & #7).
on 27 June 2008 in London's Hyde Park. The band then undertook a short tour throughout the UK to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill also played a number of unrelated shows across Europe with Night of the Proms
prior to those UK dates. During these concerts, the band performed the entire New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)
album and showcased songs from their other albums in a two-part concert performance.
The original members of Simple Minds worked together for the first time in 27 years when they entered a recording studio in the middle of June 2008. Nothing came of the short-lived reunion; one member later commented that it lasted "30 minutes".
Reverting to the Burchill/Kerr/Gaynor/Duffy line-up, Simple Minds recorded a new studio album, Graffiti Soul
, which was released on 25 May 2009. Jim Kerr suggested that Simple Minds had enough material from the Graffiti Soul recording sessions for two albums, one to be released at the start of 2009 and the second following within the space of a year.
The album's first single, "Rockets", was made available on the Internet in early April 2009. On Sunday, 31 May 2009, the album entered the UK Album chart at #10, becoming Simple Minds first album in 14 years to enter the UK Top 10. The album also entered European Top 100 Album chart at #9. In support of the album, Simple Minds embarked on a new (European) tour called Graffiti Soul Tour on 3 November 2009 in Vienna, Austria. The tour visited many western, eastern and northern European countries (including a leg in the UK & Ireland in December 2009) and ended on 18 December 2009 in Wolfsburg, Germany.
After an early spring 2010 mini-tour in Australia & New Zealand, Simple Minds embarked on a late spring 2010 European tour (Germany, Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands, Belgium, France).
Interspersed with Simple Minds activity, Jim Kerr recorded and released his first solo album Lostboy! AKA Jim Kerr
on 17 May 2010 under the name "Lostboy! AKA". Explaining the project name and ethos, he commented "I didn’t want to start a new band. I like my band (laughs)...and I didn’t want a point blank Jim Kerr solo album either."
A Lostboy! AKA 10-date European tour followed from 18 to 31 May 2010. In August 2010 Lostboy! AKA embarked on a 12-date "Electroset Radio" tour for various European/UK radio stations but the band played only 4 dates in Germany & Spain. A new Lostboy AKA! 25-date "Electroset" (European) tour (the third one) (featuring Simon Hayward and Sarah Brown) was scheduled from 18 October to 3 December 2010 but the band played only 9 shows till the rest of the tour was cancelled after the performance on 13 November 2010 in Dublin, Ireland
because of Jim's mother Irene who had become ill with a recurrence of cancer.
In August, Simple Minds played four dates in Brazil
, scheduling a further concert for 11 September 2010 at La Fête de l'Humanité, La Courneuve
, Paris
, France. On 9 September, Jim Kerr made a cryptic blog comment on the Simple Minds website - "Heading to Paris for the last gig of this tour but being honest - with SM there is no "last gig" as such. It just means the last gig before a break that inevitably leads to the next move forward and onwards into the future. Changes are always happening though and that will be apparent when we walk on stage in Paris." This referred to a further personnel change, revealed as a change in bass player with Eddie Duffy being replaced by Ged Grimes (originally the bass player with Danny Wilson and later a Deacon Blue
member who had also played on the Lostboy! AKA project).
The band was expected to play a handful of gigs between October and December 2010 but gave only two shows: a mini-concert on 2 October 2010 at the Cash For Kids Ball organised by Radio Clyde at the Hilton in Glasgow, UK and a full-length concert on 10 December 2010 at the Festhalle in Bern, Switzerland
.
The sessions were produced by Andy Wright and engineered & mixed by Gavin Goldberg. The four songs recorded were an 8-minute long version of 'In Every Heaven' (originally recorded in 1982 during the "New Gold Dream" sessions) and three entirely new compositions: 'Stagefright' and 'On The Rooftop' both written by Charlie Burchill and Jim Kerr and 'Broken Glass Park' originally a Lostboy! AKA song written by Jim Kerr and Owen Parker.
The initial plan was to release the album on two formats in May 2011 on the eve of the 'Greatest Hits Forest Tour'. Both formats would include the two new songs 'Stagefright' and 'Broken Glass Park' (with the limited-edition definitive set being boosted by the addition of 'In Every Heaven'). Unfortunately, in August 2011, its release was postponed until 2012 to coincide with future plans by the band. However, 'Stagefright' would first be made available as an exclusive Facebook free download on 3 June 2011. And both new songs 'Stagefright' and 'Broken Glass Park' were played live during the tour.
The two other songs 'In Every Heaven' and 'On The Rooftop' could be the first tracks for what will eventually become the Simple Minds 16th studio album of original compositions due to be released in 2012.
Simple Minds played a single night on 2 April 2011 at the Night Of The Proms 2011 in Frederikshavn
, Denmark
.
The new song 'Stagefright' was made available on 3 June 2011 as an exclusive free download for members at Simpleminds.com and fans of the Official Simple Minds Facebook Page.
From 16 June to 28 August 2011, the 'Greatest Hits +' tour visited European countries: the UK, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Ireland, Gibraltar & Serbia mainly at summer festival venues. Simple Minds played a number of free concerts (on 4 July 2011 in Potsdam, Germany, on 4 July 2011 in Florence, Italy for the opening of Florence's Hard Rock Cafe, on 18 August in Belgrade, Serbia and on 27 August in Bad Harzburg, Germany before 25,000 people).
In late August / early September 2011, Simple Minds recorded a new song called 'Planet Zero', a "space-rock" track written by Charlie Burchill and Jim Kerr.
On 22 October 2011, Simple Minds took part in the 600 Sounds Festival in Gold Coast
, Queensland
, Australia
, their last show for 2011.
To coincide with the "5x5 Live" tour , EMI Music will release on 13 February 2012 the box set "Simple Minds X5" featuring the 5 first albums over 6 discs, Life In A Day, Real To Real Cacophony, Empires and Dance, Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call & New Gold Dream (81, 82, 83, 84) (with Sons and Fascination and Sister Feelings Call as separate discs in a gatefold sleeve as well as bonus material on each disc including rare and previously unavailable CD, B-sides and remixes).
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band who achieved worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The band produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s and best known for their #1 US, Canada and Netherlands hit single "Don't You (Forget About Me)
Don't You (Forget About Me)
"Don't You " is a song known for its being in the soundtrack to the film The Breakfast Club and performed by the band Simple Minds in 1985. The songwriters were producer Keith Forsey "Don't You (Forget About Me)" is a song known for its being in the soundtrack to the film The Breakfast Club and...
", from the soundtrack of the John Hughes movie The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club is a 1985 American teen drama film written and directed by John Hughes. The storyline follows five teenagers as they spend a Saturday in detention together and come to realize that they are all deeper than their respective stereotypes.-Plot:The plot follows five students at...
, #3 US hit single "Alive and Kicking
Alive and Kicking (song)
"Alive and Kicking" is a song by the rock band Simple Minds, released as first single from the band's 1985 album, Once Upon a Time.Following on from the success of previous non-album single, "Don't You ", "Alive and Kicking" was released as a single, reaching #3 on the U.S...
" and #1 UK hit single "Belfast Child
Belfast Child
"Belfast Child" is a 1989 Number 1 UK Charts hit single by Simple Minds from their album Street Fighting Years. The single is also known as the "Ballad of the Streets" EP, highlighting both "Belfast Child" and "Mandela Day" ....
". The band has sold more than 40 million albums since 1979.
The core of the band is the two remaining founder members - Jim Kerr
Jim Kerr
James "Jim" Kerr is a Scottish musician and singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Simple Minds who achieved five UK #1 albums and a #1 single "Ballad of the Streets EP". He released his first solo album, Lostboy! AKA Jim Kerr, on the 27 May 2010.- Simple Minds :Kerr attended...
(vocals, songwriting) and Charlie Burchill
Charlie Burchill
Charles "Charlie" Burchill is a Scottish musician and composer. He was one of the founders of Scottish rock group Simple Minds. He plays guitar, keyboard, saxophone, drums and violin.-Style:...
(guitars, keyboards, other instruments, songwriting) - and drummer Mel Gaynor
Mel Gaynor
Mel George Gaynor is a British musician. He is best known as the long time drummer for the rock band, Simple Minds...
(who first joined the band in 1982). The other current band members are Andy Gillespie (keyboards) and Ged Grimes
Ged Grimes
Ged Grimes is a Scottish musician, producer and composer. He is currently the bass player for rock group Simple Minds, and was a founding member of Danny Wilson, a band whose hits include "Mary's Prayer" , and "The...
(bass guitar). Significant former members include bass guitarist Derek Forbes
Derek Forbes
Derek Forbes is a Scottish bassist and sometime guitarist, best known for his work with Simple Minds .His departure from the band was due to stylistic musical differences with the rest of the band during the...
and keyboard player Michael MacNeil (the latter credited as a significant band composer during the band's rise in the 1980s).
1977: Johnny & The Self-Abusers
The roots of Simple Minds are in the short-lived punkPunk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Johnny & The Self-Abusers, founded on the South Side of Glasgow in 1977. The band was "dreamed up" by would-be Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
scenemaker Alan Cairnduff, although he left the job of actually organising the band to his friend John Milarky. At Cairnduff’s suggestion, Milarky teamed up with two musicians he’d never worked with before - budding singer and lyricist Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill. Kerr and Burchill, who had known each other since the age of eight, were longstanding allies. After joining Johnny & The Self-Abusers, they brought in two of their school friends, Brian McGee
Brian McGee (drummer)
Brian McGee is a Scottish drummer who played in different bands like Simple Minds and Endgames.He met future Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr at Holyrood R.C...
on drums and Tony Donald on bass (all four had previously played together in the schoolboy band Biba-Rom!). With Milarky established as singer, guitarist and saxophonist, the lineup was completed by Milarky’s friend Alan McNeil as third guitarist. To expand the band's potential sound, Kerr and Burchill also doubled on keyboards and violin respectively. In common with the early punk bands, various members took on stage names - Milarky became "Johnnie Plague", Kerr became "Pripton Weird", MacNeil chose "Sid Syphilis" and Burchill chose "Charlie Argue".
Johnny & The Self-Abusers played its first gig on Easter Monday, 1977 at the Dourne Castle pub in Glasgow. The band played support to rising punk stars Generation X
Generation X (band)
Generation X was a British punk rock band, formed on 21 November 1976 by Billy Idol, Tony James and John Towe.-History:...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
two weeks later. The band went on to play a summer of concerts in Glasgow. Development was rapid, but at the expense of unity. The band soon split into two factions, with Milarky and McNeil on one side and Kerr, Donald, Burchill and McGee on the other: at the same time, Milarky’s compositions were being edged out in favour of those of Kerr and Burchill. In November 1977, Johnny & The Self-Abusers released its only single, "Saints And Sinners", on Chiswick Records (which was dismissed as being "rank and file" in a Melody Maker review.) The band split on the same day that the single was released, with Milarky and McNeil going on to form The Cuban Heels. Ditching the stage names and the overt punkiness, the remaining members continued together as Simple Minds (naming themselves after a David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
lyric from his song "Jean Genie").
Late 1977 to late 1978: the lineup settles
In January 1978 Simple Minds recruited Duncan Barnwell as a second guitarist (allowing for an optional two-guitar lineup while also enabling Burchill to play violin if he wanted to). Meanwhile, Kerr had abandoned keyboards to concentrate entirely on vocals. In March, Kerr, Burchill, Donald, Barnwell and McGee were joined by the Barra-born keyboard player Michael MacNeil. The band rapidly established a reputation as an exciting live act (usually performing in full makeup) and gained a management deal with Bruce Findlay, owner of the Bruce’s Records chain of record shops. Findlay also owned Zoom RecordsZoom Records (Scotland)
'Zoom' was a short-lived record label established in Edinburgh, Scotland founded and funded by successful music shop owner Bruce Findlay in the summer of 1977...
(a subsidiary of the Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
label), and used his position to get Simple Minds signed to Arista. (By early 1980, Findlay would become the band’s full-time manager via his Schoolhouse Management company).
The band’s lineup did not settle until the end of 1978. Tony Donald quit in April, before the first Simple Minds demo tape was recorded (he would later become Burchill’s guitar technician). He was replaced by Duncan Barnwell’s friend Derek Forbes (formerly the bass player with The Subs). In November, Barnwell himself was judged surplus to musical requirements (as well as being at odds with the band’s image), and was asked to leave. The remaining quintet of Kerr, Burchill, MacNeil, Forbes and McGee - generally considered as the first serious lineup of Simple Minds - began rehearsing the set of Kerr/Burchill-written songs which would appear on their debut album.
1979: Finding a voice (Life in a Day & Real to Real Cacophony)
The first Simple Minds album, Life in a DayLife in a Day (Simple Minds album)
Life in a Day is the debut album by Simple Minds, released in 1979. It reached #30 in the UK Albums Chart. The title track and "Chelsea Girl" were issued as singles.-Track listing:-Personnel:*Jim Kerr - vocals...
, was produced by John Leckie
John Leckie
John Leckie is a British music producer, notable for producing many high-profile albums such as The Stone Roses's debut and Radiohead's The Bends...
and released by Arista in April 1979. The album took a cue from fellow post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
forebears Magazine
Magazine (band)
Magazine are an English post-punk group active from 1977 to 1981, then reformed in 2009. Their debut single, "Shot by Both Sides", is now acknowledged as a classic and their debut album, Real Life, is still widely admired as one of the greatest albums of all time...
, and was somewhat self-consciously derivative of the late-70s punk boom. Possessing a similar AOR
Album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock is an American FM radio format focusing on album tracks by rock artists.-Music played:Most radio formats are based on a select, tight rotation of hit singles...
crossover potential to that of Simple Minds' contemporaries The Cars
The Cars
The Cars are an American rock band that emerged from the early New Wave music scene in the late 1970s. The band consisted of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek, lead singer and bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson...
, it also revealed influences by David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
and Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
. The album's title track was released as Simple Minds' first single and reached #62 in the UK Gallop charts, with the album itself putting in a more respectable performance at #30 in the LP charts. However, the next single ("Chelsea Girl") failed to chart at all. While Arista were disappointed with this failure, the band themselves had rapidly become dissatisfied with the album, which they considered too derivative. While preparing ideas for the next record, they enjoyed a well-received support slot for Magazine
Magazine (band)
Magazine are an English post-punk group active from 1977 to 1981, then reformed in 2009. Their debut single, "Shot by Both Sides", is now acknowledged as a classic and their debut album, Real Life, is still widely admired as one of the greatest albums of all time...
, following which they went straight back into the studio with Leckie to work on new material.
Simple Minds' second release, Real to Real Cacophony
Real to Real Cacophony
Real to Real Cacophony is the second studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1979. The album did not chart, nor did its only single, "Changeling".-Track listing:-Re-releases:...
was a significant departure from the pop tunes of Life in a Day. The album had a darker and far more experimental atmosphere, announcing some of the New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
experimentation that would become the band’s trademark sound over the next two albums. Much of the album was written in the studio, although Simple Minds had been playing early versions of several tracks during the recent tour dates. Innovations which the band displayed on Real to Real Cacophony
Real to Real Cacophony
Real to Real Cacophony is the second studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1979. The album did not chart, nor did its only single, "Changeling".-Track listing:-Re-releases:...
included minimalist
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
structures based around the rhythm section of Forbes and McGee, plus the occasional use of unconventional time signatures. The band also experimented with elements of dub, and included the wordless and atmospheric "Veldt" in which they attempted to create an impression of an African landscape using electronic buzzes and drones, Burchill's improvised saxophone lines and Kerr's chants and cries. The album also generated an acclaimed (but again, non-charting) single - "Changeling".
1980-1981: Eurotrance and art-rock (Empires and Dance, Sons and Fascination, Sister Feelings Call)
The next album, Empires and DanceEmpires and Dance
Empires and Dance is the third studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1980. It charted poorly, peaking at only #41 in the UK Albums Chart. According to the Allmusic review of the album, this is primarily because the record company Arista only released a small number of copies at a time before...
, was another stylistic departure, and signalled the influence of Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
, Neu!
Neu!
Neu! was a German band formed by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother after their split from Kraftwerk in the early 1970s...
and similar European artists on the band. During this period of their career Simple Minds promoted themselves as being a European band, rather than Scottish or British. Many of the tracks on Empires and Dance were extremely minimal and featured a significant use of sequencing
Music sequencer
The music sequencer is a device or computer software to record, edit, play back the music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically :...
. McNeil's keyboards and Forbes' bass became the main melodic elements in the band's sound, with Burchill's heavily-processed guitar becoming more of a textural element. With this album, Kerr began to experiment with non-narrative lyrics based on observations he'd made as the band travelled across Europe on tour. While not consciously so, Empires and Dance was essentially industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
in its aesthetic, and preceded by a couple of years the industrial-pop crossover of Cabaret Voltaire
Cabaret Voltaire (band)
Cabaret Voltaire were a British music group from Sheffield, England.Initially composed of Stephen Mallinder, Richard H. Kirk and Chris Watson, the group was named after the Cabaret Voltaire, a nightclub in Zürich, Switzerland that was a centre for the early Dada movement.Their earliest performances...
's album The Crackdown
The Crackdown
The Crackdown is an album electronic band Cabaret Voltaire recorded for Some Bizzare Records in 1983. The album shows Cabaret Voltaire beginning to move away from their industrial roots, and leaning towards a more New Wave-type sound...
. The band's label, however, demonstrated little enthusiasm for such experimentation, and in 1981 Simple Minds switched from Arista to Virgin
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
. The following year, Arista put out a compilation album, Celebration
Celebration (Simple Minds album)
Celebration is a compilation album by Simple Minds, released in 1982. The compilation features tracks from the band's tenure on the Arista Records label prior to their move to Virgin Records in 1981.-Track listing:Notes- Personnel :...
, featuring tracks from the three previous records.
Simple Minds' first release on Virgin was actually two albums: the Steve Hillage
Steve Hillage
Steve Hillage is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s...
-produced Sons and Fascination and Sister Feelings Call. The latter album was initially included as a bonus disc with the first 10,000 vinyl copies of Sons and Fascination, but it was later re-issued as an album in its own right. (For the CD release, it was paired on a single disc with Sons and Fascination — at first with two tracks deleted, but on later issues, in full.) Sons and Fascination perfected the formula that began with Empires and Dance, and showcased the band’s musicianship during their most prolific period. The band’s comparative musical virtuosity aligned them with the more streamlined end of progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
rather than the flippancy of many other New Wave musicians. One significant progressive rock musician - Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
- selected Simple Minds as the opening act on several dates of his European tour. Further increasing the band's visibility, the single "Love Song" was an international hit (reaching the Top 20 in Canada and Australia) and the instrumental "Theme for Great Cities" proved so enduring a composition that it was later re-recorded in 1991 as a B-side to the single "See the Lights". These minimalist, dance-oriented compositions, like those of Neu! before them, were examples of man-made trance well before trance
Trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
itself.
It was also during this period that the ground-breaking visual aesthetic of Simple Minds' product was established, masterminded by Malcolm Garrett
Malcolm Garrett
Malcolm Garrett is a British graphic designer, who has worked for music artists such as Simple Minds, Magazine, Duran Duran and Peter Gabriel...
's graphic design company Assorted iMaGes. Characterised at first by hard, bold typography and photo-collage, Garrett's designs for the band would later incorporate pop-religious iconography in clean, integrated package designs that befitted the band's idealised image as neo-romantic purveyors of European anthemic pop.
However, this period would also see the end of the first "classic" Simple Minds lineup when drummer Brian McGee left the band at the end of the Sons and Fascination sessions, citing exhaustion at Simple Minds' constant touring schedule and a desire for more time at home with family. He would later join Propaganda
Propaganda (band)
Propaganda is a German synthpop group, formed in 1982. They were one of the initial roster of acts signed to Trevor Horn's ZTT label, between 1984 and 1986, during which they released the critically acclaimed album A Secret Wish....
.
1982: different drummers
McGee’s initial replacement as Simple Minds' drummer was Kenny Hyslop (ex-SkidsSkids
Skids may refer to:* Skids is the name of several Transformers characters* Skids , a Scottish band* The skids on a helicopter* A steel girder foundation on which heavy modular plant is built and subsequently skidded into position....
, Zones), who joined the band in October 1981 in time to play the first leg of the Sons & Fascination tour. His interest in New York music (including funk, hip-hop and dance) played an immediate part in the band's musical development. He stayed long enough to drum on the band’s next single, the disco-friendly ‘Promised You A Miracle’ (based on a funk riff cadged from one of the cassettes he would play on the band’s tour bus) which hit the UK Top 20 and the Australian Top 10. Unfortunately, Hyslop "didn’t fit in" with the band or their management (a situation further strained by his apparent suspicion of record companies) and in February 1982 he left the band after a mere five months. Hyslop was replaced by the Kilmarnock-born percussionist Mike Ogletree
Mike Ogletree
Mike Ogletree is a Scottish drummer. A founding member of the late-seventies Scottish progressive rock band Café Jacques, he is best known for his work in Fiction Factory and Simple Minds, a New Wave band with heavy synth influences active during the 1980s....
(the former drummer for Café Jacques). Ogletree joined Simple Minds for rehearsals in a large converted barn in Perthshire, Scotland, where he wrote and played the drum parts for the songs that were to become what is considered the band's watershed album, New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84). Ogletree also performed with the band on TV and to close out the second leg of the 'Sons and Fascination Tour'.
Although his playing and writing style contributed the R&B, funk and soul elements that gave the band the commercial edge they sought, Ogletree apparently found the transition from rehearsal to recording and live playing difficult. The band moved to Townhouse Studios for recording sessions with producer Peter Walsh, who introduced them to a London-born drummer called Mel Gaynor, a 22-year old session musician with plenty of experience (including a stint drumming for The Nolans
The Nolans
The Nolans are an Anglo-Irish all-female band consisting of a group of sisters. The group, best known for their song "I'm In the Mood for Dancing", gained prominence as guest performers on numerous television shows in the United Kingdom...
). Gaynor proved to have the combination of broad skills plus force of playing which the band wanted. Working closely with Ogletree in order to capture and maintain the beats and grooves from the Perthshire sessions, he played drums on the majority of the record (although Ogletree would play drums on three tracks and be credited for percussion across the entire album).
1983: New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)
New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84) was released in September 1982, combining the results of the Walsh sessions along with 'Promised You A MiraclePromised You A Miracle
"Promised You A Miracle" is a 1982 song by Simple Minds and was released as the first single from their fifth studio album New Gold Dream . It is most notable for being the band's first successful chart hit in the UK, reaching #13 in the UK Singles Chart and charting for 11 weeks...
'. The album proved to be a significant turning point for the band, becoming a commercial breakthrough and generating a handful of charting singles including 'Glittering Prize"' (which reached the UK Top 20 and Australian Top 10). With a slick, sophisticated sound - thanks to Walsh's production - and similarly sumptuous design by Malcolm Garrett
Malcolm Garrett
Malcolm Garrett is a British graphic designer, who has worked for music artists such as Simple Minds, Magazine, Duran Duran and Peter Gabriel...
, Simple Minds were soon categorised as part of the New Romantic
New Romantic
New Romanticism , was a pop culture movement in the United Kingdom that began around 1979 and peaked around 1981. Developing in London nightclubs such as Billy's and The Blitz and spreading to other major cities in the UK, it was based around flamboyant, eccentric fashion and new wave music...
outgrowth of New Wave (along with Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
and others). Despite the success of the album, some fans of the band's earlier work criticised Simple Minds' new and more commercial orientation. While some tracks ("Promised You A Miracle
Promised You A Miracle
"Promised You A Miracle" is a 1982 song by Simple Minds and was released as the first single from their fifth studio album New Gold Dream . It is most notable for being the band's first successful chart hit in the UK, reaching #13 in the UK Singles Chart and charting for 11 weeks...
", "Colours Fly and Catherine Wheel") continued the formula perfected on Sons and Fascination, other tracks ("Someone Somewhere in Summertime", "Glittering Prize") were undisguised pop. In addition, jazz keyboardist Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
performed a synth solo on the track "Hunter and the Hunted".
Mike Ogletree played on the first leg of the New Gold Dream tour, but left the band immediately afterwards in November 1982 to join Fiction Factory
Fiction Factory
Fiction Factory are a Scottish New Wave band from Perth, originally formed in 1983.Before they started their project Fiction Factory, Kevin Patterson , Eddie Jordan , Grant Taylor and Chic Medley played in The Rude Boys , a skinhead ska band.CBS asked the band to create a concert playing band, so...
. Mel Gaynor was recruited (as a full member of the band) for the remaining dates. Simple Minds’ first non-Scottish member, Gaynor would go on to become the band's longest-standing drummer (despite twice leaving and returning in the following decades).
1984: (Sparkle in the Rain)
The formula that had defined Simple Minds' New Wave period had run its course, and the next record, Sparkle in the RainSparkle in the Rain
Sparkle In The Rain is the sixth studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1984. It peaked at number one in the UK album charts on 18 February 1984.-Album profile:Sparkle In The Rain, Simple Minds' US breakthrough album, is a rock-oriented album...
, was a complete departure. Produced by Steve Lillywhite
Steve Lillywhite
Steve Lillywhite is an English Grammy Award winning record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited for working on over 500 records and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including XTC, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Dave Matthews Band, U2, Peter Gabriel,...
and released in February 1984, the album contained a rock-oriented set of songs.
The eventual result of this shift in musical direction gave rise to hugely successful singles like "Waterfront
Waterfront (song)
"Waterfront" is a 1983 single from Simple Minds, the first release from the album Sparkle in the Rain.Featuring a new, rockier sound, "Waterfront" scaled the charts in various countries around the world, including hitting #1 for two weeks in New Zealand. It also reached #13 on the UK Singles Charts...
" (which hit #1 in a few European countries and remains one of the band's signature songs to this day) as well as "Speed Your Love To Me
Speed Your Love to Me
"Speed Your Love To Me" is a song by Simple Minds, which was released as the second single from the album Sparkle in the Rain, in January 1984...
" and "Up On The Catwalk
Up on the Catwalk
"Up On The Catwalk" was the third single to be released from Sparkle in the Rain, the sixth studio album by Simple Minds. It was released in March 1984 and climbed to #27 in the UK Singles Chart....
". The public also appreciated Simple Mind's upfront sound, ensuring that Sparkle in the Rain
Sparkle in the Rain
Sparkle In The Rain is the sixth studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1984. It peaked at number one in the UK album charts on 18 February 1984.-Album profile:Sparkle In The Rain, Simple Minds' US breakthrough album, is a rock-oriented album...
topped the charts in the UK and hit the Top 20 in several other countries (including Canada, where it reached #13).
In 1984, Jim Kerr married Chrissie Hynde
Chrissie Hynde
Christine Ellen "Chrissie" Hynde is an US musician best known as the leader of the rock/new wave band the Pretenders. She is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and has been the only constant member of the band throughout its history.-Early life and career:Hynde is the daughter of a part-time...
from the Pretenders (who temporarily renamed herself Christine Kerr). Simple Minds did a North American tour where they played as headliners supported by China Crisis
China Crisis
China Crisis is an English pop/rock band. They were formed in 1979 in Kirkby, near Liverpool, Merseyside with a core of vocalist/keyboardist Gary Daly and guitarist Eddie Lundon...
during the Canadian leg and in support of the Pretenders in the U.S. while Hynde was pregnant with Kerr's daughter (The marriage would last until 1990).
1985: Hit and change ("Don't You (Forget About Me)" & departure of bassist Derek Forbes)
Despite the band's new-found popularity in the UK and Europe, Simple Minds remained essentially unknown in the U.S. The band's UK releases on Arista were not picked up by Arista USA who had 'right of first refusal' for their releases. At this point New York club DJ and Independent Music Consultant, Neil Kempfer-Stocker, told Bruce Findlay to forget the Polydor Inc./USA offer to release the band's records in North America and steered the band to A&M's Hernando Courtright, West Coast A&R. The movie The Breakfast ClubThe Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club is a 1985 American teen drama film written and directed by John Hughes. The storyline follows five teenagers as they spend a Saturday in detention together and come to realize that they are all deeper than their respective stereotypes.-Plot:The plot follows five students at...
changed all that. Simple Minds were offered the song 'Don't You (Forget About me) only after it was turned down by Bryan Ferry. Released in early 1985, this Brat Pack drama from writer/director John Hughes was a box-office smash and made household names of Molly Ringwald
Molly Ringwald
Molly Kathleen Ringwald is an American actress, singer and dancer. Having appeared in the John Hughes movies Sixteen Candles , The Breakfast Club , and Pretty in Pink , Ringwald has been frequently named the greatest teen star of all time...
, Judd Nelson
Judd Nelson
Judd Asher Nelson is an American actor. He is best known for being a member of the "Brat Pack" in the mid-1980s; and for his roles as John Bender in The Breakfast Club, Alec Newbary in St...
, Anthony Michael Hall
Anthony Michael Hall
Michael Anthony Hall , known professionally as Anthony Michael Hall, is an American actor, film producer and director who starred in several teen-oriented films of the 1980s. Hall began his career in commercials and on stage as a child, and made his screen debut in 1980...
, Ally Sheedy
Ally Sheedy
Alexandra Elizabeth "Ally" Sheedy is an American film and stage actress, as well as the author of two books. She is best known for her roles in the Brat Pack films The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire.-Early life:...
and Emilio Estevez
Emilio Estevez
Emilio Estevez is an American actor, film director, and writer. He started his career as an actor and is well-known for being a member of the acting Brat Pack of the 1980s, starring in The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire...
. It also broke Simple Minds into the US market almost overnight, when the band achieved their only #1 U.S. pop hit in April 1985 with the film's opening track, "Don't You (Forget About Me)". Ironically, the song was not even written by the band, but by Keith Forsey
Keith Forsey
Keith Forsey is an English soundtrack composer, drummer, songwriter and record producer.-Biography:Forsey's first recordings were as the younger member of the group The Spectrum, better known for the end title theme for Gerry Anderson's Captain Scarlet, but hit makers across Europe in their own...
, who offered the song to Billy Idol
Billy Idol
William Michael Albert Broad , better known by his stage name Billy Idol, is an English rock musician. A member of the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans, Idol first achieved fame in the punk rock era as a member of the band Generation X...
and Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry, CBE is an English singer, musician, and songwriter. Ferry came to public prominence in the early 1970s as lead vocalist and principal songwriter with the band Roxy Music, who enjoyed a highly successful career with three number one albums and ten singles entering the top ten charts in...
before Simple Minds agreed to record it. The song soon became a chart-topper in many other countries around the world.
At around this point, the camaraderie that had fuelled Simple Minds began to unravel, and over the next ten years the band's lineup would undergo frequent changes. Jim Kerr subsequently recalled "We were knackered. We were desensitised. The band started to fracture. We were lads who had grown up together, we were meant to grow together, politically, spiritually and artistically. But we were getting tired with each other. There was an element of the chore creeping in. We were coasting and this whole other thing was a challenge."
The first casualty of the band's collective change of attitude was bassist Derek Forbes, who had always been one of the strongest personalities within Simple Minds, and was now beginning to squabble with Kerr. Forbes later confessed "I was completely bonkers most of the time. I was the oldest and seemed to have the gift of the gab. I'm a bit of a natural comedian. I was always sent out to bring the girls back - chatting up the ladies came naturally. But it got to the stage where I got too involved with the women, so they started to come before the band. I would have this totally separate life from the rest of the band and that caused pressures and tension."
Forbes began failing to turn up for rehearsals, and was duly dismissed. Although he had expected this outcome, he would later describe the split as "a bereavement." Despite his disappointment, Forbes remained in touch with the band (and would soon reunite with another former Simple Minds bandmate, drummer Brian McGee, in Propaganda
Propaganda (band)
Propaganda is a German synthpop group, formed in 1982. They were one of the initial roster of acts signed to Trevor Horn's ZTT label, between 1984 and 1986, during which they released the critically acclaimed album A Secret Wish....
). In 2008 – in what appeared to be an oblique reference to Forbes - Kerr reflected “Looking back, there was a sacking of one guy that was harsh. Probably something stupid like he had a better-looking girlfriend than everyone else. I feel bad about that."
Forbes was replaced by former Brand X
Brand X
Brand X was a jazz fusion band active between 1975–1980 and 1992-1999. Noted members included Phil Collins , Percy Jones , John Goodsall and Robin Lumley ....
bass player John Giblin
John Giblin
John Giblin is an internationally renowned session bassist who has worked with the following artists:*Eric Clapton, Sting, Mark Knopfler, Phil Collins * Peter Gabriel...
(who also happened to own the band’s rehearsal space and was himself a renowned sessions musician who’d worked with Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
and Kate Bush
Kate Bush
Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
among others). Giblin made his debut with Simple Minds at Live Aid
Live Aid
Live Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...
in Philadelphia, where the band performed "Don't You (Forget About Me)", a new track called "Ghostdancing" and "Promised You a Miracle". Simple Minds were the first band to be approached to play the Philadelphia leg of Live Aid.
1985-1987: Worldwide success - Once Upon A Time & Live in the City of Light
During 1985, Simple Minds were in the studio with former Tom PettyTom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
/Stevie Nicks
Stevie Nicks
Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums...
producer Jimmy Iovine
Jimmy Iovine
James "Jimmy" Iovine is an American music producer, entrepreneur and chairman of Interscope-Geffen-A&M.-Biography:...
. Taking advantage of their new-found popularity, Simple Minds recorded what has been considered to be their most unashamedly commercial album. On its release in November, Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time (Simple Minds album)
Once Upon a Time is the seventh studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1985.Although already successful in their native UK and Europe, the band had also now become popular in the US, mainly due to the Keith Forsey-penned "Don't You " which appeared on The Breakfast Club soundtrack and had become...
appeared to be tailored specifically to appeal to the stadium rock sensibilities of American audiences This overlooked the fact that it was not only a continuation of the stylistic changes introduced on Sparkle in the Rain
Sparkle in the Rain
Sparkle In The Rain is the sixth studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1984. It peaked at number one in the UK album charts on 18 February 1984.-Album profile:Sparkle In The Rain, Simple Minds' US breakthrough album, is a rock-oriented album...
, but was heavily influenced by the celebratory aspects of soul, disco and gospel music. This was reinforced by the strong contributions of former Chic
Chic (band)
Chic was an African American disco and R&B band that was organized during 1976 by guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards. It is known best for its commercially successful disco songs, including "Dance, Dance, Dance " , "Everybody Dance" , "Le Freak" , "I Want Your Love" , "Good Times"...
singer Robin Clark
Robin Clark
Robin Clark is an American vocalist best known for her 1985 work with UK band Simple Minds in Once Upon A Time album and tour. She has also performed vocals on numerous other tours and albums, including work with David Bowie and Luther Vandross amongst others...
, who performed call-and-response vocals with Kerr throughout the album (effectively becoming a second lead singer), and was heavily featured in Simple Minds music videos of the time.
Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time (Simple Minds album)
Once Upon a Time is the seventh studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1985.Although already successful in their native UK and Europe, the band had also now become popular in the US, mainly due to the Keith Forsey-penned "Don't You " which appeared on The Breakfast Club soundtrack and had become...
was reviled by some long-time fans, but was embraced by millions of new listeners and was critically well-received. The record reached #1 in the UK and #10 in the US, despite the fact that their major-league breakthrough single "Don't You (Forget About Me)" was not included. The band had made it clear in interviews prior to the album's release that they would not include the song, believing that it would devalue the rest of the album, which they felt could stand on its own merits. Once Upon a Time would go on to generate four worldwide hit singles: "Alive & Kicking", "Sanctify Yourself", "Ghostdancing" and "All the Things She Said", the latter of which featured a cutting-edge music video directed by Zbigniew Rybczyński
Zbigniew Rybczynski
Zbigniew Rybczyński is a Polish filmmaker who has won numerous prestigious industry awards both in the United States and internationally. He was also a teacher of cinematography, and digital cinematography. Currently he is a researcher of blue and greenscreen compositing technology at Ultimatte...
that used techniques developed in music videos for bands such as Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
and Art of Noise. The band also toured, with both Robin Clark and percussionist Sue Hadjopoulos added to the live lineup.
Because of Simple Minds' powerful stage presence and lyrics that trafficked in Christian symbolism
Christian symbolism
Christian symbolism invests objects or actions with an inner meaning expressing Christian ideas. Christianity has borrowed from the common stock of significant symbols known to most periods and to all regions of the world. Religious symbolism is effective when it appeals to both the intellect and...
, the band was criticised by some in the music press as a lesser version of U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, despite the fact that both bands were now heading in different musical directions. However, the two groups were well-acquainted with one another, and Bono joined Simple Minds on-stage at the Barrowlands in Glasgow in 1985 for a live version of "New Gold Dream". Bono also appeared on stage at Simple Minds Croke Park concert and sung "Sun City" during the "Love Song" medley. Derek Forbes also appeared on stage at the Croke Park concert and performed on several songs during the encore. To document their successful worldwide Once Upon a Time Tour, Simple Minds released the double-live set Live in the City of Light
Live in the City of Light
-Side two:-Side three:-Side four:-Side two:-Side three:-Side four:-Side two:-Side three:-Side four:-References:...
in 1987, which was recorded primarily over two nights in Paris in 1986.
Simple Minds played 3 nights at Glasgow Barrowlands at the end of 1987 to raise money for the "Cash for Kids" charity. "Room", "Capital City", "King is White" and "Pleasantly Disturbed" were surprise inclusions to the set. Derek Forbes, Chrissie Hynde and Johnny Marr joined the band onstage during the Love Song/Sun City medley on the final night.
1988: Rock activism - Amnesty International, Freedomfest & Mandela Day
By 1988, the band had built their own recording premises - the Bonnie Wee Studio - in Scotland. Following the lengthy period of touring to support Once Upon a TimeOnce Upon a Time (Simple Minds album)
Once Upon a Time is the seventh studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1985.Although already successful in their native UK and Europe, the band had also now become popular in the US, mainly due to the Keith Forsey-penned "Don't You " which appeared on The Breakfast Club soundtrack and had become...
, Simple Minds began new writing sessions. Initially the band began work on an instrumental project called Aurora Borealis (mostly written by Burchill and MacNeil). This project was then supplanted by an increase in the band's political activism, something which they had begun to stress in recent years (notably by giving all of the income from the "Ghostdancing" single to Amnesty International, and playing cover versions of Little Steven's "(Ain't' Gonna Play) Sun City" on tour). Inspired by Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
(with whom they had toured in the early 1980s).
Simple Minds was the first band to sign up for Mandela Day, a concert held at Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
, London, UK, as an expression of solidarity with the then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
. Bands involved were asked to produce a song especially for the event - Simple Minds was the only act which actually produced one. This was "Mandela Day
Mandela Day
Nelson Mandela International Day is an annual international day in honour of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each 18 July . The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the first UN Mandela Day held on 18 July 2010...
", which the band played live on the day (alongside cover versions of "Sun City" with Little Steven and a cover version of Peter Gabriel's "Biko" on which Gabriel himself took on lead vocals). "Mandela Day" was released on the Ballad Of The Streets EP, which reached #1 in the British singles charts (the only time the band would do so). Another EP track, "Belfast Child
Belfast Child
"Belfast Child" is a 1989 Number 1 UK Charts hit single by Simple Minds from their album Street Fighting Years. The single is also known as the "Ballad of the Streets" EP, highlighting both "Belfast Child" and "Mandela Day" ....
", was a rewrite of the Celtic folk
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
song "She Moved Through the Fair
She Moved Through the Fair
"She Moved Through the Fair" is a traditional Irish folk song, existing in a number of versions and which has been recorded many times.-Origins:...
" (which had been introduced to Kerr by John Giblin) with new lyrics written about the ongoing war in Northern Ireland). The single was also an expression by Simple Minds of their support for the campaign for the release of Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
-held hostage Brian Keenan, kidnapped by the Islamic Jihad
Islamic Jihad Organization
The Islamic Jihad Organization – IJO or Organisation du Jihad Islamique in French, but best known as ‘Islamic Jihad’ for short, was a fundamentalist Shia group known for its activities in the 1980s during the Lebanese Civil War...
. Both "Belfast Child" and "Mandela Day" would set the direction for Simple Minds' next album, another song-based affair which would supplant the planned instrumental project.
1989: Inwards and outwards (Street Fighting Years, band fractures and other changes)
The next album Street Fighting YearsStreet Fighting Years
Street Fighting Years is the eighth studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1989.Produced by Trevor Horn and Stephen Lipson, the album was a major stylistic departure from the previous album, 1985's Once Upon A Time, While still maintaining the epic arena-rock sense of scale and drama which the...
(produced by Trevor Horn
Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn CBE is an English pop music record producer, songwriter, musician and singer. He was born in Houghton-le-Spring in north-east England....
and Stephen Lipson
Stephen Lipson
Stephen J. Lipson is a musician and producer who has worked with numerous artists, including Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Cher, Grace Jones, Paul McCartney, Pet Shop Boys, Take That, Simple Minds, Lindisfarne, and Annie Lennox....
) maintained the band's growing sense of scale but moved away from the American soul and gospel influences of Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time (Simple Minds album)
Once Upon a Time is the seventh studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1985.Although already successful in their native UK and Europe, the band had also now become popular in the US, mainly due to the Keith Forsey-penned "Don't You " which appeared on The Breakfast Club soundtrack and had become...
in favour of soundtrack atmospherics and a new incorporation of acoustic and folk music-related ingredients. The lyrics were also more directly political, moving away from the impressionistic or spiritual concerns of earlier 1980s Simple Minds songs and covering topics including the Poll Tax, the Soweto
Soweto
Soweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...
townships, the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
and the stationing of nuclear submarines on the Scottish coast.
The band underwent further lineup changes during the recording of Street Fighting Years
Street Fighting Years
Street Fighting Years is the eighth studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1989.Produced by Trevor Horn and Stephen Lipson, the album was a major stylistic departure from the previous album, 1985's Once Upon A Time, While still maintaining the epic arena-rock sense of scale and drama which the...
. Mel Gaynor and John Giblin both contributed to the recording (and, in Giblin's case, to some of the writing) but both men had left the band by the time of the album's release, by which time the band was credited as a trio of Kerr, Burchill and MacNeil. In a new development for the band, various bass guitar and drum tracks were performed by high-profile session musicians. Gaynor's departure from the band was brief (he was rehired for the following tour) but the balance of power within the band had clearly become centralised around the remaining founder members and would continue in that way.
Released in 1989, the album rose to #1 in the UK charts and received glowing praise, including a rare five-star review from Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine. However, it received a less positive review in Rolling Stone which criticised the band for what the reviewer considered to be political vacuity. "This Is Your Land" was chosen as the lead single for the U.S., and even with guest vocals from the band's idol Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
, the single failed to make a mark on the pop charts. The album performed relatively poorly in the United States, possibly due to its shift in musical inspirations and lyrical content.
Reunited with Mel Gaynor, Simple Minds hired Malcolm Foster (ex-Pretenders) as the new bass player and expanded the live band again by recruiting three additional touring members - backing singer Annie McCaig, percussionist Andy Duncan and violinist Lisa Germano
Lisa Germano
Lisa Germano is an American singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has released seven albums featuring her often-hushed vocal style, confessional lyrics, and distinctive violin. Her 1994 album Geek the Girl received widespread critical acclaim, including being featured as a top album of...
). Touring began in May 1989, and included the first and only time that the group headlined Wembley Stadium, where they were supported by fellow Scottish bands The Silencers
The Silencers (band)
The Silencers are a Scottish rock band formed in London in 1986 by two ex-members of the post-punk outfit Fingerprintz. Their music is characterized by a melodic blend of pop, folk and traditional Celtic influences...
, Texas
Texas (band)
Texas are a Scottish pop band from Bearsden, near Glasgow, Scotland. They were founded by Johnny McElhone in 1986 and feature Sharleen Spiteri on lead vocals. Texas made their performing debut in March 1988 at Scotland's University of Dundee...
and Gun
Gun (band)
Gun are a rock band from Glasgow, Scotland, best known for their cover of Cameo's "Word Up!".-Early career:Originally called Blind Allez then for a short time, 'Phobia', GUN were formed in 1987 by Giuliano Gizzi and Cami Morlotti , with Mark Rankin , Alan Thornton and David Aitken...
. In September, the concert in the roman amphiteatre Verona Arena
Verona Arena
The Verona Arena is a Roman amphitheatre in Piazza Bra in Verona, Italy, which is internationally famous for the large-scale opera performances given there. It is one of the best preserved ancient structures of its kind....
in Italy was recorded for the live video "Verona", released by Virgin in 1990.
At the end of the Street Fighting Years tour, Simple Minds laid plans to go to Amsterdam to begin recording a new album. Just before the end of the tour, keyboardist Michael MacNeil announced to the band that he would not be joining them as he needed a break. Kerr and Burchill apparently saw his actions as a betrayal, and MacNeil played his last concert with Simple Minds in Brisbane a week later. Although he hadn’t originally intended to leave the band in the long term, the breakdown of MacNeil's relationship with Kerr and Burchill ensured that his break with the band was permanent. At the time, MacNeil's departure was put down to health concerns, but he had in fact had been gradually suffering disillusionment with the band's high-life lifestyle and touring schedule (as well as what Kerr has referred to as "a number of animated quarrels").
MacNeil has subsequently commented that his parting with Simple Minds was painful and acrimonious (although he has since reconciled with his former bandmates) and that this was the period in which everything began to change within the band. At around the same time, long-term manager Bruce Findlay was fired and over the next few years the band would gradually alter to the point where it was a shifting set of musicians around the only remaining core members, Kerr and Burchill. MacNeil has commented “After I left, everything kind of went, and Bruce fell into that bracket of upheaval. I don't think he deserved it and I have a lot of sympathy for him after the way he was treated."
In December 2009, Kerr retrospectively defended the changes in an online diary entry. Although he admitted that MacNeil's departure had been a "colossal fracture" he also asserted that "if ever there was a time to regroup, rethink and re- strategise, it was there and then. The last thing needed was for people within the group to be quitting, for things to be fragmenting, creative engines dropping off the machine etc." However, he also paid tribute to his former bandmate and admitted that MacNeil had been irreplaceable.
1990-1995: Three to two (Real Life, Glittering Prize & Good News From The Next World)
Despite opting not to replace MacNeil, Simple Minds continued to record, hiring keyboard players as and where required. The first of these was session keyboard player Peter-John VettesePeter-John Vettese
Peter-John Vettese , also known as Peter Vettese, is a British keyboardist, songwriter, arranger and record producer....
who played live with the band at the Nelson Mandela Freedom Concert and on a short German tour. He was subsequently replaced in the live band by Mark Taylor.
In 1991, Simple Minds returned with a much more radio-friendly collection of their political concerns, Real Life
Real Life (Simple Minds album)
Real Life is the ninth studio album by Simple Minds, released in April 1991. The first album without Michael MacNeil, the album reached #2 in the UK, but failed to chart in the United States, despite hitting the Top 40 with "See the Lights", which also reached #1 on the US Modern Rock Tracks...
. The album's cover showed a trio of Kerr, Burchill and Gaynor and the writing credits for all songs was Kerr/Burchill. The album reached #2 in the UK, where it also spawned four Top 40 singles. In the US, however, "See the Lights" was the band's last Top 40 pop single. The band toured to support the release, playing as a basic five-piece (Kerr, Burchill, Gaynor, Foster and Taylor) and cutting down on the extended arrangements of the last few large tours. Mel Gaynor left the band in 1992 to pursue session work and other projects, and for the next two years Simple Minds were on hiatus, releasing the compilation album Glittering Prize in 1992 to mark time.
Simple Minds returned to active duty later in 1994. By now the band was officially a duo of Kerr and Burchill (with the latter taking on keyboards in the studio, as well as guitar). Hiring Keith Forsey (the writer of "Don't You (Forget About Me)") as producer, they began to put together an album which returned to the uplifting arena rock feel of their Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time (Simple Minds album)
Once Upon a Time is the seventh studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1985.Although already successful in their native UK and Europe, the band had also now become popular in the US, mainly due to the Keith Forsey-penned "Don't You " which appeared on The Breakfast Club soundtrack and had become...
days. With Gaynor now out of the picture, the remaining instrumentation was covered by session musicians (although Malcolm Foster was included among the bass players used for recording). Good News from the Next World
Good News from the Next World
Good News from the Next World is Simple Minds' tenth studio album, released in 1995.The album garnered moderate commercial success. It was not badly received among critics in the United States...
was released in 1995 to positive reviews, but weak sales in the U.S. In the UK and Europe, however, the response was much more positive, with the album reaching #2 in the UK and producing the two Top 20 hits "She's a River" and "Hypnotised". The band toured to promote Good News from the Next World
Good News from the Next World
Good News from the Next World is Simple Minds' tenth studio album, released in 1995.The album garnered moderate commercial success. It was not badly received among critics in the United States...
, with Malcolm Foster and Mark Taylor as touring bass and keyboard players and Mark Schulman (who'd played on the album) on drums. This would be Foster's last work with the band, and Shulman would return to session work at the end of the tour.
1996-1998: Reimagining (Neapolis and reunions with former members)
Having being released from their contract with Virgin RecordsVirgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
, Simple Minds decided to musically reinvent themselves once again, this time reaching back to their Kraftwerk-inspired, early electronic pop days. During the lengthy writing and demoing sessons for the next album, Kerr and Burchill made use of the skills of their original rhythm section, Derek Forbes and Brian McGee (returning after respective eleven- and fourteen-year absences). Although McGee was not involved beyond the rehearsal stage, Forbes formally rejoined Simple Minds in July 1996. The band then reunited with Mel Gaynor for studio session in spring 1997. Gaynor was reinstated as a full-time member for the European tour (which once again featured Mark Taylor on keyboards).
After the tour, album recording sessions were interrupted by Kerr and Burchill’s decision to play live (without Forbes, Taylor or Gaynor) as part of the Proms tour (a series of orchestral concerts featuring a mixture of light classical and pop music). The duo played versions of "Alive And Kicking", "Belfast Child" and "Don't You (Forget About Me)" backed by a full orchestra and were billed as Simple Minds - something which emphasised the degree to which the band remained a Kerr/Burchill project with backing musicians.
When finally released, the new album, Neapolis
Neapolis (Album)
Neapolis is Scottish rock band Simple Minds's eleventh studio album, released in 1998.Simple Minds decided to musically reinvent themselves yet again, this time reaching back to their Kraftwerk-inspired, early electronic pop days...
- turned out to be less of a "band" album than expected. Although Forbes played bass guitar on all album tracks, Gaynor only played on one song, "War Babies". Other drum tracks were recorded by session players Michael Niggs and Jim McDermott, with additional percussion programming by Transglobal Underground
Transglobal underground
Transglobal Underground is a London-based music collective who specialise in a fusion of western, oriental and African music styles...
/Furniture
Furniture (band)
Furniture was a British pop band, active from 1979 to 1991 and best known for their 1986 Top 30 hit "Brilliant Mind". Since its break-up, the band has retained a certain cult appeal, partly due to a continuing high reputation for songwriting and partly due to the nature of the band's career...
drummer Hamilton Lee. The album ultimately charted poorly and received mixed reviews. However, it is notable for being the only Simple Minds album released by Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records was a British record label that was created in 1969. The name was both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis...
, who refused to release the album in the U.S., citing lack of interest.
As a further nod to Simple Minds' European musical heritage, the music video for "Glitterball", the album's lead single, was the first production of any kind to film at the Guggenheim Museum
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art, designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, built by Ferrovial, and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. It is built alongside the Nervion River, which runs through the city of Bilbao to the Atlantic Coast. The...
in Bilbao, Spain. A European tour followed between March and July 1998, undermined by problems with ill-health and contractual fiascos (including a pull-out from the Fleadh Festival to be replaced by James
James (band)
James are a British rock band from Manchester, England. They formed in 1982 and were active throughout the 1980s, but most successful during the 1990s. Their hit singles include "Come Home", "Sit Down", and "She's a Star" as well as their American College Radio hit "Laid"...
).
1999-2000: Reorganisation and frustration (Our Secrets Are The Same & hiatus)
As Simple Minds' main writing team, Kerr and Burchill had continued to demo and originate material by themselves. For the latest sessions, they had shared studio space with a band called Sly Silver Sly (who featured Kerr’s brother Mark as drummer and who themselves were working with American songwriter Kevin Hunter). The two writing and recording projects merged to become the sessions for the next Simple Minds album, Our Secrets Are the SameSilver Box
Silver Box is a 5-CD box set by Scottish rock band Simple Minds, released on October 18, 2004, mostly made up of previously unreleased demos, radio & TV sessions and various live recordings from 1979 to 1995......
.
The other result from the sessions was the supplanting of the Simple Minds rhythm section. Once again, Forbes and Gaynor found themselves out of the band while Mark Kerr (formerly the drummer with the Glasgow rock band, Gun
Gun (band)
Gun are a rock band from Glasgow, Scotland, best known for their cover of Cameo's "Word Up!".-Early career:Originally called Blind Allez then for a short time, 'Phobia', GUN were formed in 1987 by Giuliano Gizzi and Cami Morlotti , with Mark Rankin , Alan Thornton and David Aitken...
after the departure of Scott Shields) became the new drummer and Sly Silver Sly’s Eddie Duffy joined on bass guitar. The new-look Simple Minds made their debut with a short set of greatest hits at the Scotland Rocks For Kosovo festival, with Mark Taylor returning on keyboards. (The displaced Forbes and Gaynor, having apparently been told that the band wasn't appearing at the festival, formed a new band of their own to play the same concert. This became Forbes/Gaynor And Friends and went on to play several gigs in Italy at the end of the year - some of which were illicitly billed as being Simple Minds concerts).
Having delivered Our Secrets Are the Same to Chrysalis, Simple Minds then found themselves caught up in record company politics while Chrysalis, EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
and other companies attempted to merge with each other. Originally slated for release in late 1999, the album remained unreleased after the band emmired themselves in lawsuits with Chrysalis. In 2000, the situation became even more complicated when Our Secrets Are the Same was leaked on the internet. Discouraged with their label's failure to resolve the problems, and with both momentum and potential album sales lost, the band once again went on hiatus. Eddie Duffy, Mark Taylor and Mark Kerr all moved on to other projects. Jim Kerr moved to Sicily and took up a part-time career as a hotelier, although both he and Burchill would continue working together on various business interests and would keep the idea of the band alive.
2001-2005: Neon Lights, Cry, Silver Box & Our Secrets Are the Same
In 2001, Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill began working with multi-instrumentalist Gordon Goudie (ex-Primevals) on a brand new Simple Minds album to be called Cry. Mark Kerr would also contribute to the project (this time as an acoustic guitarist and Burchill's co-writer on a number of songs) while Jim Kerr brought in various Italian musicians as collaborators, including Planet Funk and Phunk Investigation. In parallel to Cry, Simple Minds also recorded an album of covers called Neon Lights, featuring Simple Minds reinventions of songs from artists including Patti SmithPatti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
, Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
and Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
. Of these projects, Neon Lights was the first to be completed and released (later in 2001) to help to build awareness of the returning band. In the video for the Neon Lights single "Dancing Barefoot", the band consisted of Jim Kerr, Charlie Burchill, Gordon Goudie and Mark Kerr. A 2-CD compilation, The Best of Simple Minds
The Best Of Simple Minds
The Best Of Simple Minds is the second greatest hits album by Simple Minds, released in 2001. New versions of the 'Theme for Great Cities' were released, and some copies The Best Of Simple Minds is the second greatest hits album by Simple Minds, released in 2001. New versions of the 'Theme for...
, was released soon afterwards to continue to build commercial momentum.
Cry
Cry (Simple Minds album)
Cry is the thirteenth album by the Scottish rock group Simple Minds. It was recorded in the last six months of 2001 in Sicily and Scotland...
itself was eventually released in 2002. Although the album did not sell in great numbers in the U.S., Simple Minds felt confident enough to mount a North American leg of their Floating World Tour (named after the instrumental track which closes Cry), their first in seven years. With Goudie opting to remain studio bound (and Mark Kerr leaving the band lineup again), Simple Minds once again mended their relationship with Mel Gaynor, recruiting him as tour drummer. The live band was completed by the returning Eddie Duffy on bass guitar and by new keyboard player/programmer Andy Gillespie (of SoundControl).
In 2004, Simple Minds released a five-CD compilation entitled Silver Box
Silver Box
Silver Box is a 5-CD box set by Scottish rock band Simple Minds, released on October 18, 2004, mostly made up of previously unreleased demos, radio & TV sessions and various live recordings from 1979 to 1995......
. This mostly comprised previously-unreleased demos, radio & TV sessions and various live recordings from 1979 to 1995, but also included the long-delayed Our Secrets Are the Same.
In 2005, the band embarked on the "Intimate Tour" (a series of low-key gigs at smaller venues). Andy Gillespie was unable to appear at all the gigs, and Mark Taylor returned to cover for him on several occasions. From this point onwards, the two would alternate as Simple Mind’s live keyboard player, depending on Gillespie’s schedule with his other projects.
2005-2007: Black & White 050505
In 2005, Simple Minds released their fourteenth studio album, Black & White 050505Black & White 050505
Black & White 050505 is Scottish rock group Simple Minds' fourteenth studio album, released in the UK on September 12, 2005.It is the second Simple Minds studio album not officially released in the US....
, which generated some of the most positive reviews for a Simple Minds record in many years. The album's first single, "Home", received airplay on alternative rock radio stations in the US. However, it did not make a significant chart impact on either side of the Atlantic, only reaching #37 in the UK and not being officially released in North America. Despite the response from some website sources and a few UK tabloid
Tabloid journalism
Tabloid journalism tends to emphasize topics such as sensational crime stories, astrology, gossip columns about the personal lives of celebrities and sports stars, and junk food news...
papers the album failed to reignite the chart success of old and the mainstream media generally ignored the album or gave it a number of poor or indifferent reviews. Nonetheless, the band spent 2006 touring throughout Europe, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand on the Black And White Tour (with Mark Taylor on keyboards).
2007 saw the band's 30th anniversary, and a brief tour of Australia & New Zealand as guests of INXS
INXS
INXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...
. Burchill, Kerr, Gaynor, Duffy and Gillespie. Also performed a brief set at the 40th anniversary tribute to Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
's famous Lisbon Lions
Lisbon Lions
The Lisbon Lions is the nickname given to the Celtic team that won the European Cup at the Estádio Nacional in Lisbon, Portugal on 25 May 1967, defeating Internazionale 2–1. All the members of this team were born within 30 miles of Glasgow, Scotland. Celtic's style was the antithesis of the...
European Cup
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
winning team (with Jim McDermott deputising on drums for an absent Mel Gaynor). The band continued to release a number of audio video Download "bundles" through their official website, featuring live music and several short documentary style videos recorded during their 2006 tour in Edinburgh and Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
(including the complete show on 16 February 2006 at the Ancienne Belgique
Ancienne Belgique
The Ancienne Belgique is a concert hall for contemporary music in Brussels, Belgium. Located in the historic heart of Brussels, it is one the leading concert venues in Belgium, hosting a wide variety of international and local acts.-The venue:...
, Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium as "Live Bundles" #1 to #5 and (only) 6 tracks from the show on 28 August 2006 at the "T On The Fringe
T on the Fringe
The Edge Festival is an annual music festival held in Edinburgh, Scotland, which takes place during August of each year. Formerly known as T on the Fringe, The Edge is part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts fringe festival...
" music festival, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK as "Live Bundles" #6 & #7).
2008: "30 Years Live" tour (& brief reunion of original line-up)
Simple Minds played the 90th birthday tribute to Nelson MandelaNelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
on 27 June 2008 in London's Hyde Park. The band then undertook a short tour throughout the UK to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill also played a number of unrelated shows across Europe with Night of the Proms
Night of the Proms
Night of the Proms is a series of concerts held yearly in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Poland. Regularly there are also shows in France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg...
prior to those UK dates. During these concerts, the band performed the entire New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)
New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)
New Gold Dream is the fifth studio album by Scottish rock band Simple Minds. The album was released in 1982 and was a turning point for the band as they gained critical and commercial success in the UK and Europe. It made #3 in the UK Albums Chart...
album and showcased songs from their other albums in a two-part concert performance.
The original members of Simple Minds worked together for the first time in 27 years when they entered a recording studio in the middle of June 2008. Nothing came of the short-lived reunion; one member later commented that it lasted "30 minutes".
2009-2010: Graffiti Soul by Simple Minds & Lostboy! AKA Jim Kerr by Lostboy! AKA
A new record label, W14/Universal label, purchased the Sanctuary label in early 2009. Former Sanctuary Records A&R head John Williams (who'd signed the band to Sanctuary) kept his position with the new label, and exercised the option to pick up the remaining Simple Minds albums owed as part of the previous deal.Reverting to the Burchill/Kerr/Gaynor/Duffy line-up, Simple Minds recorded a new studio album, Graffiti Soul
Graffiti Soul
Graffiti Soul is the fifteenth studio album by the Scottish rock group Simple Minds, released on 25 May 2009.An e-mail announcement by Simple Minds stated that Graffiti Soul was initially written on location in Rome, Sicily, Antwerp and Glasgow...
, which was released on 25 May 2009. Jim Kerr suggested that Simple Minds had enough material from the Graffiti Soul recording sessions for two albums, one to be released at the start of 2009 and the second following within the space of a year.
The album's first single, "Rockets", was made available on the Internet in early April 2009. On Sunday, 31 May 2009, the album entered the UK Album chart at #10, becoming Simple Minds first album in 14 years to enter the UK Top 10. The album also entered European Top 100 Album chart at #9. In support of the album, Simple Minds embarked on a new (European) tour called Graffiti Soul Tour on 3 November 2009 in Vienna, Austria. The tour visited many western, eastern and northern European countries (including a leg in the UK & Ireland in December 2009) and ended on 18 December 2009 in Wolfsburg, Germany.
After an early spring 2010 mini-tour in Australia & New Zealand, Simple Minds embarked on a late spring 2010 European tour (Germany, Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands, Belgium, France).
Interspersed with Simple Minds activity, Jim Kerr recorded and released his first solo album Lostboy! AKA Jim Kerr
Lostboy! AKA Jim Kerr
Lostboy! AKA Jim Kerr is Simple Minds front-man Jim Kerr's first solo album released on 17 May 2010. The album entered the UK charts at #94 on 29 May 2010 and UK Independent Chart at #8...
on 17 May 2010 under the name "Lostboy! AKA". Explaining the project name and ethos, he commented "I didn’t want to start a new band. I like my band (laughs)...and I didn’t want a point blank Jim Kerr solo album either."
A Lostboy! AKA 10-date European tour followed from 18 to 31 May 2010. In August 2010 Lostboy! AKA embarked on a 12-date "Electroset Radio" tour for various European/UK radio stations but the band played only 4 dates in Germany & Spain. A new Lostboy AKA! 25-date "Electroset" (European) tour (the third one) (featuring Simon Hayward and Sarah Brown) was scheduled from 18 October to 3 December 2010 but the band played only 9 shows till the rest of the tour was cancelled after the performance on 13 November 2010 in Dublin, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
because of Jim's mother Irene who had become ill with a recurrence of cancer.
In August, Simple Minds played four dates in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, scheduling a further concert for 11 September 2010 at La Fête de l'Humanité, La Courneuve
La Courneuve
La Courneuve is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-History:The history of La Courneuve begins as the rest of the region with the invasion of European tribes and the eventual conquering of the area by the Romans. During the Middle Ages,...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France. On 9 September, Jim Kerr made a cryptic blog comment on the Simple Minds website - "Heading to Paris for the last gig of this tour but being honest - with SM there is no "last gig" as such. It just means the last gig before a break that inevitably leads to the next move forward and onwards into the future. Changes are always happening though and that will be apparent when we walk on stage in Paris." This referred to a further personnel change, revealed as a change in bass player with Eddie Duffy being replaced by Ged Grimes (originally the bass player with Danny Wilson and later a Deacon Blue
Deacon Blue
Deacon Blue are a Scottish pop band formed in Glasgow during 1985. Their name was taken from the title of the Steely Dan song "Deacon Blues". The band consists of vocalist Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh, keyboard player James Prime and drummer Dougie Vipond....
member who had also played on the Lostboy! AKA project).
The band was expected to play a handful of gigs between October and December 2010 but gave only two shows: a mini-concert on 2 October 2010 at the Cash For Kids Ball organised by Radio Clyde at the Hilton in Glasgow, UK and a full-length concert on 10 December 2010 at the Festhalle in Bern, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
2010: Recording new songs for a new studio album and a new compilation
In early October 2010, a new line-up of Simple Minds (Burchill, Kerr, Gaynor, Gillespie with new bassist Ged Grimes) completed four weeks at the Sphere Recording Studios in London during which four songs were recorded and mixed for an extensive new compilation album to be called "Greatest Hits +" and for the forthcoming new Simple Minds studio album.The sessions were produced by Andy Wright and engineered & mixed by Gavin Goldberg. The four songs recorded were an 8-minute long version of 'In Every Heaven' (originally recorded in 1982 during the "New Gold Dream" sessions) and three entirely new compositions: 'Stagefright' and 'On The Rooftop' both written by Charlie Burchill and Jim Kerr and 'Broken Glass Park' originally a Lostboy! AKA song written by Jim Kerr and Owen Parker.
The initial plan was to release the album on two formats in May 2011 on the eve of the 'Greatest Hits Forest Tour'. Both formats would include the two new songs 'Stagefright' and 'Broken Glass Park' (with the limited-edition definitive set being boosted by the addition of 'In Every Heaven'). Unfortunately, in August 2011, its release was postponed until 2012 to coincide with future plans by the band. However, 'Stagefright' would first be made available as an exclusive Facebook free download on 3 June 2011. And both new songs 'Stagefright' and 'Broken Glass Park' were played live during the tour.
The two other songs 'In Every Heaven' and 'On The Rooftop' could be the first tracks for what will eventually become the Simple Minds 16th studio album of original compositions due to be released in 2012.
Simple Minds played a single night on 2 April 2011 at the Night Of The Proms 2011 in Frederikshavn
Frederikshavn
This article is about a Danish town. For the German town, see Friedrichshafen, and for the Finnish town, see Fredrikshamn .Frederikshavn is a Danish town in Frederikshavn municipality, Region Nordjylland on the northeast coast of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. Its name translates to...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
.
The new song 'Stagefright' was made available on 3 June 2011 as an exclusive free download for members at Simpleminds.com and fans of the Official Simple Minds Facebook Page.
2011: 'Greatest Hits Forest Tour' & 'Greatest Hits +' tour
From 10 June to 3 July 2011, Simple Minds embarked on the 'Greatest Hits Forest Tour', playing a series of seven dates in woodland locations of England, as part of Forestry Commission Live Music.From 16 June to 28 August 2011, the 'Greatest Hits +' tour visited European countries: the UK, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Ireland, Gibraltar & Serbia mainly at summer festival venues. Simple Minds played a number of free concerts (on 4 July 2011 in Potsdam, Germany, on 4 July 2011 in Florence, Italy for the opening of Florence's Hard Rock Cafe, on 18 August in Belgrade, Serbia and on 27 August in Bad Harzburg, Germany before 25,000 people).
In late August / early September 2011, Simple Minds recorded a new song called 'Planet Zero', a "space-rock" track written by Charlie Burchill and Jim Kerr.
On 22 October 2011, Simple Minds took part in the 600 Sounds Festival in Gold Coast
Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, their last show for 2011.
2012: "5X5 Live" tour + "Simple Minds X5" box set
On 22 November 2011, Simple Minds announced an exclusive opportunity to hear them perform 5 songs from each of their first 5 albums (released from 1979 to 1982) at 4 intimate UK venues on 24 & 25 February and 2 & 3 March 2012, a mini-UK tour to be part of a 16-date European tour beginning in Portugal on 14 February and 4 March 2012 in Ireland.To coincide with the "5x5 Live" tour , EMI Music will release on 13 February 2012 the box set "Simple Minds X5" featuring the 5 first albums over 6 discs, Life In A Day, Real To Real Cacophony, Empires and Dance, Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call & New Gold Dream (81, 82, 83, 84) (with Sons and Fascination and Sister Feelings Call as separate discs in a gatefold sleeve as well as bonus material on each disc including rare and previously unavailable CD, B-sides and remixes).
Discography
- Life in a DayLife in a Day (Simple Minds album)Life in a Day is the debut album by Simple Minds, released in 1979. It reached #30 in the UK Albums Chart. The title track and "Chelsea Girl" were issued as singles.-Track listing:-Personnel:*Jim Kerr - vocals...
(1979) 1st studio album - Real to Real CacophonyReal to Real CacophonyReal to Real Cacophony is the second studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1979. The album did not chart, nor did its only single, "Changeling".-Track listing:-Re-releases:...
(1979) 2nd studio album - Empires and DanceEmpires and DanceEmpires and Dance is the third studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1980. It charted poorly, peaking at only #41 in the UK Albums Chart. According to the Allmusic review of the album, this is primarily because the record company Arista only released a small number of copies at a time before...
(1980) 3rd studio album - Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings CallSons and Fascination/Sister Feelings CallSons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call is the current common title for what were once two technically separate releases by Simple Minds, both assembled from the same sessions and released at the same time and, in some instances, sold as a double-LP set...
(1981) (2-LP/1-CD) 4th studio album - New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84) (1982) 5th studio album
- Sparkle in the RainSparkle in the RainSparkle In The Rain is the sixth studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1984. It peaked at number one in the UK album charts on 18 February 1984.-Album profile:Sparkle In The Rain, Simple Minds' US breakthrough album, is a rock-oriented album...
(1984) 6th studio album - The Breakfast Club (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1985) one song: Don't You (Forget About Me)Don't You (Forget About Me)"Don't You " is a song known for its being in the soundtrack to the film The Breakfast Club and performed by the band Simple Minds in 1985. The songwriters were producer Keith Forsey "Don't You (Forget About Me)" is a song known for its being in the soundtrack to the film The Breakfast Club and...
- Once Upon A TimeOnce Upon a Time (Simple Minds album)Once Upon a Time is the seventh studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1985.Although already successful in their native UK and Europe, the band had also now become popular in the US, mainly due to the Keith Forsey-penned "Don't You " which appeared on The Breakfast Club soundtrack and had become...
(1985) 7th studio album - Live in the City of LightLive in the City of Light-Side two:-Side three:-Side four:-Side two:-Side three:-Side four:-Side two:-Side three:-Side four:-References:...
(1987) (2-LP/2-CD) live album - Street Fighting YearsStreet Fighting YearsStreet Fighting Years is the eighth studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1989.Produced by Trevor Horn and Stephen Lipson, the album was a major stylistic departure from the previous album, 1985's Once Upon A Time, While still maintaining the epic arena-rock sense of scale and drama which the...
(1989) 8th studio album - Real LifeReal Life (Simple Minds album)Real Life is the ninth studio album by Simple Minds, released in April 1991. The first album without Michael MacNeil, the album reached #2 in the UK, but failed to chart in the United States, despite hitting the Top 40 with "See the Lights", which also reached #1 on the US Modern Rock Tracks...
(1991) 9th studio album - Good News from the Next WorldGood News from the Next WorldGood News from the Next World is Simple Minds' tenth studio album, released in 1995.The album garnered moderate commercial success. It was not badly received among critics in the United States...
(1995) 10th studio album - NeapolisNeapolis (Album)Neapolis is Scottish rock band Simple Minds's eleventh studio album, released in 1998.Simple Minds decided to musically reinvent themselves yet again, this time reaching back to their Kraftwerk-inspired, early electronic pop days...
(1998) 11th studio album - Our Secrets are the Same (originally 2000) 12th studio album (finally issued as CD#5 from Silver BoxSilver BoxSilver Box is a 5-CD box set by Scottish rock band Simple Minds, released on October 18, 2004, mostly made up of previously unreleased demos, radio & TV sessions and various live recordings from 1979 to 1995......
(2004)) - Neon Lights (2001) (covers album)
- CryCry (Simple Minds album)Cry is the thirteenth album by the Scottish rock group Simple Minds. It was recorded in the last six months of 2001 in Sicily and Scotland...
(2002) 13th studio album - Black & White 050505Black & White 050505Black & White 050505 is Scottish rock group Simple Minds' fourteenth studio album, released in the UK on September 12, 2005.It is the second Simple Minds studio album not officially released in the US....
(2005) 14th studio album - Sunday Express - Live (Volumes 1 & 2) (2007) (2-CD live album) (promotional exclusive Sunday ExpressDaily ExpressThe Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
free release) - Graffiti SoulGraffiti SoulGraffiti Soul is the fifteenth studio album by the Scottish rock group Simple Minds, released on 25 May 2009.An e-mail announcement by Simple Minds stated that Graffiti Soul was initially written on location in Rome, Sicily, Antwerp and Glasgow...
(2009) 15th studio album (The 2-CD Deluxe Edition includes a second album entitled Searching for the Lost Boys made of cover songs) - TBA (2012) 16th studio album
Current line-up
- Jim KerrJim KerrJames "Jim" Kerr is a Scottish musician and singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Simple Minds who achieved five UK #1 albums and a #1 single "Ballad of the Streets EP". He released his first solo album, Lostboy! AKA Jim Kerr, on the 27 May 2010.- Simple Minds :Kerr attended...
- Lead vocals (1978–present) - Charlie BurchillCharlie BurchillCharles "Charlie" Burchill is a Scottish musician and composer. He was one of the founders of Scottish rock group Simple Minds. He plays guitar, keyboard, saxophone, drums and violin.-Style:...
- Guitar, keyboards (1978–present) - Mel GaynorMel GaynorMel George Gaynor is a British musician. He is best known as the long time drummer for the rock band, Simple Minds...
- Drums, percussion (1982–1991; 1997–1998; 2002–present) - Andy Gillespie - Keyboards (2002–2005; 2007–present)
- Ged GrimesGed GrimesGed Grimes is a Scottish musician, producer and composer. He is currently the bass player for rock group Simple Minds, and was a founding member of Danny Wilson, a band whose hits include "Mary's Prayer" , and "The...
- Bass guitar (2010–present)
Former members
- Mick MacNeilMick MacNeilMichael "Mick" MacNeil was the Scottish composer and keyboardist for the band Simple Minds, best remembered for their UK #7/US #1 hit single "Don't You ". Having joined in 1978 Johnny & The Self-Abusers to create Simple Minds, MacNeil left the band in 1990...
- Composer, Keyboards (1978–1990) - Derek ForbesDerek ForbesDerek Forbes is a Scottish bassist and sometime guitarist, best known for his work with Simple Minds .His departure from the band was due to stylistic musical differences with the rest of the band during the...
- Bass Guitar (1978–1985; 1997–1998) - Brian McGeeBrian McGee (drummer)Brian McGee is a Scottish drummer who played in different bands like Simple Minds and Endgames.He met future Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr at Holyrood R.C...
- Drums (1978–1981)
Other past members
- Kenny HyslopKenny hyslopKenny Hyslop is a Scottish drummer who played with different projects and bands who were varied in different styles, such as glam rock, 1970s teenybop, soft rock, punk, new wave, new romantic, blues and modern electronica.-Biography:Hyslop attended Hermitage School.He joined the band Salvation...
- Drums (1981–1982) - Mike OgletreeMike OgletreeMike Ogletree is a Scottish drummer. A founding member of the late-seventies Scottish progressive rock band Café Jacques, he is best known for his work in Fiction Factory and Simple Minds, a New Wave band with heavy synth influences active during the 1980s....
- Drums (1982) - John GiblinJohn GiblinJohn Giblin is an internationally renowned session bassist who has worked with the following artists:*Eric Clapton, Sting, Mark Knopfler, Phil Collins * Peter Gabriel...
- Bass Guitar (1985–1989) - Eddy Duffy - Bass Guitar (1999–2010)
Former live & session musicians
- Paul Wishart - Saxophone - Empires and Dance Tour (1980)
- Robin ClarkRobin ClarkRobin Clark is an American vocalist best known for her 1985 work with UK band Simple Minds in Once Upon A Time album and tour. She has also performed vocals on numerous other tours and albums, including work with David Bowie and Luther Vandross amongst others...
- Vocals - Once Upon a Time Tour (1985–1986) - Sue Hadjopoulos - Percussion - Once Upon a Time Tour (1985–1986)
- Lisa GermanoLisa GermanoLisa Germano is an American singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has released seven albums featuring her often-hushed vocal style, confessional lyrics, and distinctive violin. Her 1994 album Geek the Girl received widespread critical acclaim, including being featured as a top album of...
- Violin - Street Fighting Years Tour (1989) - Annie McCraig - Vocals - Street Fighting Years Tour (1989)
- Andy Duncan - Percussion - Street Fighting Years Tour (1989)
- Malcolm Foster - Bass Guitar (1989–1995)
- Peter-John VettesePeter-John VettesePeter-John Vettese , also known as Peter Vettese, is a British keyboardist, songwriter, arranger and record producer....
- Keyboards (1990) - Mark Taylor - Keyboards (1991–1999; 2005–07)
- Mark Schulman - Drums - Good News From The Next World Tour (1994–1995)
- Mark Kerr - Drums (1999), Guitar (2002)
- Sarah Brown - Vocals - Graffiti Soul Tour (2009)