Simple Minds

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Template:Infobox band Simple Minds is a Scottish New Wave/rock band which had its greatest worldwide popularity during the mid-1980s. This band from Glasgow's south side produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early part of that decade which were heavily influenced by electronic music, a rising force in UK pop at that time (see the Human League). Simple Minds reached its peak of commercial success after an appearance on Live Aid and an album of unashamed stadium rock before producing some politically inspired and critically praised work that sold in declining numbers. In recent years, a number of their earlier electronic tracks have been remixed for the dancefloor, and Simple Minds is still a major concert draw throughout Europe and Australia, although the band's presence on American airwaves has long since waned. Simple Minds' last major concert tour of the United States was in 2002.

Atlhough Simple Minds has had a string of successful hit singles in the US over the years--the most recent being "She's A River" in 1995--the band is primarily known for their number-one worldwide smash, "Don't You (Forget About Me)," from the soundtrack of the John Hughes movie The Breakfast Club.

Founding members Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill, along with drummer Mel Gaynor, are the core of the band, which currently features Mark Taylor on keyboards and Eddie Duffy on bass guitar.

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History

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The late 1970s: Punk and experimentation

Charlie Burchill and Jim Kerr formed a punk band in 1977 that was heavily influenced by Lou Reed, and after one unsuccessful single as Johnny & The Self Abusers, they shuffled the lineup to include former Abusers Brian McGee on drums and Tony Donald on bass guitar, the latter of whom was quickly replaced by Derek Forbes. In addition, keyboard and synthesizer player Mick MacNeil was also recruited. The band's name was changed to "Simple Minds," which was taken from a line in the David Bowie song "Jean Genie": "...so simple-minded, he can't drive his module."

Simple Minds' initial recordings, such as Life in a Day, but primarily Real To Real Cacophony and Empires and Dance, were heavily influenced by Kraftwerk, Neu and similar European artists, and to that end, Simple Minds promoted itself as a European band, not a Scottish or UK band. All three albums received critical acclaim for their inventiveness and blending of influences (and occasional pop sensibilities like "Chelsea Girl"), but sales were slow until the band moved towards a primarily pop-oriented sound, beginning with the Steve Hillage-produced double album Sons & Fascination/Sister Feelings Call, released in 1981. In fact, this double album so impressed Peter Gabriel, he personally selected Simple Minds to open for him on several European dates, which increased the band's visibility.

Over the next few years, there were further changes to the lineup. Drummer Kenny Hyslop replaced McGee in 1981 followed briefly by Mike Ogletree, but it wasn't until November 1982 that the band decided Mel Gaynor would be a permanent drummer and not a hired hand.

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The early 1980s: The "New Romantics"

Simple Minds' fifth studio album, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84), released in 1982, was a significant turning point for the band, when critical and popular success in the UK and Europe finally intersected. With a slicker, more sophisticated sound thanks to producer Peter Walsh, Simple Minds was categorized as part of the "New Romantic" outgrowth of New Wave (along with Duran Duran and others), and the record generated a few charting singles including "Promised You a Miracle" and "Glittering Prize," both of which became concert favorites over the years. Still, there were some fans of Simple Minds' early work who criticized the band's move to a more pop-oriented and less experimental approach, and the next record, Sparkle in the Rain, gave them even more to complain about.

Overseen by Steve Lillywhite, who also produced U2's first three records, Sparkle in the Rain was an aggressive, rock-oriented album in much the same vein as U2's War, and some long-time fans accused Simple Minds of brazenly stealing their new bombastic sound from the Irish foursome. This assertion was somewhat non-sensical, because U2 frontman Bono was quoted in the official Simple Minds biography The Race is the Prize (1984) as saying the sound and feeling he wanted his band to aspire to was the one that Simple Minds had already achieved. So, whatever complaints some may have had were drowned out by the huge success of singles like "Waterfront," which hit number one 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." Despite the band's newfound popularity in the UK and Europe, Simple Minds remained essentially unknown in the US. The movie The Breakfast Club would change all that.

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1985-1986: The Breakfast Club and worldwide success

Released in the spring of 1985, this teen drama from writer/director John Hughes was a box-office smash and made household names of many of its young stars, including Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy and Emilio Estevez. It also broke Simple Minds in the US almost overnight, when the band achieved its one and only number-one pop hit with the film's opening track, "Don't You (Forget About Me)". Ironically, the song wasn't 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.

Taking advantage of their newfound popularity, Simple Minds released its most unashamedly commercial record, Once Upon a Time, which was tailored specifically to appeal to the stadium-rock sensibilities of American audiences. Reviled by some long-time fans yet embraced by millions of new listeners, the record reached number ten on the US Pop Albums chart, even though "Don't You (Forget About Me)" was not included. (The band made it clear 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 generated three US hit singles, "Alive & Kicking," "Sanctify Yourself," and "All the Things She Said," the latter of which featured a cutting-edge music video directed by Zybigniew Rybczynski. (A fourth single, "Ghostdancing," was also a hit in Europe and Australia.) Once again, Simple Minds were compared by the music press and listeners alike to U2--often unfairly--despite the fact that both bands were heading in different musical directions. (However, Bono did join Simple Minds onstage at the Barrowlands in Glasgow in 1985 for a live version of "New Gold Dream.") For Once Upon a Time and its subsequent world tour, the band also featured Robin Clarke as an additional lead singer.

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The late 1980s: Political activism

Simple Minds has consistently been described as a powerful live act, and to document this, the band released the double-live set Live In The City of Light in 1987, which was recorded primarily in Paris on the band's Once Upon a Time tour. Following the lead of other socially conscious bands like U2, Simple Minds' tour promoted the work of Amnesty International.

Inspired by Peter Gabriel, with whom they toured in the early 1980s, Simple Minds headlined a series of concerts throughout the US and Europe in 1988 with numerous other politically-minded artists (including Gabriel) known as "Freedomfest," designed to highlight the evils of apartheid in South Africa. The band wrote the song, "Mandela Day," specifically for this series of concerts, and the song would appear on their next album.

After this lengthy period of touring, Simple Minds finally went back into the studio and recorded the politically-charged and distinctly radio-unfriendly Street Fighting Years, which was released in 1989. Ironically, the first single from the record, the six-minute opus "Belfast Child," based on the traditional Celtic folk song, "She Moved Through the Fair", was the band's first and only number-one hit in the UK. The album received glowing reviews, including a rare five-star review from Q Magazine, and sold well. However, in the US, it was another story entirely. Street Fighting Years received a savage review in Rolling Stone, which blasted the band for the positive lyrical refrain in "Mandela Day," which proclaimed "Mandela's free, Mandela's free," even while Nelson Mandela was still in prison in South Africa at that time. (The song ultimately proved prophetic, as within a year, Mandela was released from prison and apartheid was dismantled not long afterward.) "This is Your Land" was chosen as the leadoff single for the US, and despite guest vocals from Lou Reed, the single failed to make a mark on the pop charts. Then, after a concert in Brisbane, Australia in late 1989, keyboardist Mick MacNeil quit the band, citing health concerns.

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The 1990s: Decline and reinvention

In 1991, Simple Minds returned with a much more radio-friendly collection of their political concerns, Real Life, which scored a moderate pop hit in the US with "See the Lights." Although the album was well-received on both sides of the Atlantic, Real Life had the misfortune of being released in the same year that grunge broke through to the mainstream. Nirvana was now the band of the moment, and even U2 radically changed their musical direction with Achtung Baby. Unfortunately, the highly-polished pop/rock of Simple Minds was now considered passé. As a result, "See the Lights" would be the band's last Top 40 pop single in the US.

As the 1990s progressed, Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill became the only active members of Simple Minds, so the duo decided to go back to what made them popular ten years prior as a way to spark new interest in their music and prove that Simple Minds was still relevant. The band hired Keith Forsey, the force behind "Don't You (Forget About Me)," to produce their next record, which returned to the uplifting arena rock of their Once Upon a Time days. Echoing that period, Kerr grew his hair long once again, and the band released Good News from the Next World in 1995 to good reviews but weak sales. However, the band did have a US Modern Rock chart hit with the leadoff single, "She's a River."

Three years later, after being released from their contract with Virgin Records, Simple Minds decided to musically reinvent themselves yet again, this time reaching even further back into their past, to their Kraftwerk-inspired electronic pop days. Derek Forbes returned after a 16-year absence as well as drummer Mel Gaynor, who became a full-time member once again, and the resulting album, Neapolis, was an interesting if uneven work, which 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 US, citing lack of interest. As a further nod to Simple Minds' European musical heritage, the music video for "Glitterball," the album's leadoff single, was the first production of any kind to film at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.

After the disappointing reaction to Neapolis, things became even more difficult for the band. In 2000, Simple Minds' next record, Our Secrets Are The Same, originally slated for release in late 1999, became mired in lawsuits when EMI declined to release it, and became further compromised after it was leaked onto the internet. As a stop-gap measure, and as a way to acknowledge their musical debt to artists that inspired them in their early days, Simple Minds released the cover album Neon Lights in 2001, featuring the band's reinvention of songs from artists as varied as Patti Smith, Joy Division and Kraftwerk. However, music critics wondered if this was the last gasp from a band that had run out of ideas.

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The 2000s: Creative rebirth

Simple Minds forcefully countered that concern in 2002 with the oddly-titled Cry, featuring arguably some of the band's strongest work in more than a decade. For the first time, Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill turned to outside writers for a number of tracks, and the result was generally favorable reviews. Although the album didn't sell in great numbers in the US, Simple Minds felt confident enough to mount a North American leg of their Floating World Tour (named after the instrumental track which closes Cry), the first time in seven years that Simple Minds had performed on the continent. Although the venues were small compared to the stadiums they played in their 1980s heyday, the concerts were well-attended by long-time Simple Minds fans, many of whom brought their teenage children along with them. In a nod to the recent influence of trance and techno music, the band used those stylings to update their very early tracks, including "I Travel" and "The American," which had not been performed live for several years.

Finally, in 2004, Our Secrets Are The Same was remastered and mixed by Simon Heyworth as the final disc in a five disc box set compilation entitled Silver Box, composed mostly of previously unreleased demos, radio & TV sessions and various live recordings from 1979 to 1995.

Simple Minds' latest album, Black & White 050505, released in the fall of 2005, was previewed on the band's official website for several weeks prior to its release. Although this album has generated some of the most positive reviews for a Simple Minds record in many years, and the first single, "Home," has received airplay on alternative rock radio stations in the US, the album has yet to make a significant impact in either the UK or the US. Simple Minds has been touring throughout Europe in support of this album during the first quarter of 2006, and will head to the Far East, Australia and New Zealand in mid-May, returning for more European music festivals throughout the summer.

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Personnel

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Current lineup

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Former members

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Discography

Related article: Simple Minds discography, featuring track listings
  • All albums released in North America unless otherwise noted
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Studio Albums

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Live Albums

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Compilations

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External Links

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