Simple Minds

The Scottish band Simple Minds was formed in 1978 by vocalist Jim Kerr, guitarist Charley Burchill, bassist Tony Donald and drummer Brian McGee. The original lineup was complete after they were joined by guitarist Duncan Barnwell and keyboardist Michael McNeil. Soon, Donald left his duties to Derek Forbes and, in a short while, Simple Minds parted ways with Barnwell. Right after the start, the group won the status of a strong concert act, which helped the young musicians enter partnership with ZOOM. The first studio works by Simple Minds differed greatly from each other by genre as the band was experimenting with trends much looking for the optimal sounding. The debut album of the Scots was called Life In A Day and sneaked into the UK charts, although the musicians were not happy with what they had done and right after the release came back to the studio to work on fresh material. Within shortest terms, they recorded the sophomore album, Reel to Real Cacophony. Compared to its pop-loaded predecessor, this one was much darker and more experimental.

Critics praised the approach utilized by Simple Minds, yet the sales of the release left much to be desired. It was followed by the dance album Empires and Dance. This record marked the group’s turn to the widely demanded format of pop music. In 1981, they released one album uniting two different long players, Sons and Fascination, and Sister Feelings Call, each re-released separately later. In a year, Simple Minds presented their first effort to reach high acclaim in the YSA. That was New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84), promoted by a large-scale tour. McGee refused to take part in it due to the stated dislike of performing on big stages. He was replaced by Mel Gaynor. After the 1984 release of Sparkle in the Rain, Jim Kerr married the singer of Pretenders, Chrissie Hynde. Upon that event, both bands toured a lot together. In the meantime, Simple Minds continued to conquer the American market. Despite Kerr’s reluctance, the group performed the song Don't You (Forget About Me) for the movie Breakfast Club (1985). This was the band’s only composition to top the US charts.

The vocalist of Simple Minds was still dissatisfied with the lyrics of this hit and insisted on the release of the Once Upon a Time album without it. This did not stop the record from becoming golden and hitting the UK Top Ten. The releases of the concert album, In The City Of Light, and too political studio effort, Street Fighting Years, late in the eighties appeared commercial disasters. The Scotts decided to pen more personal stuff with the focus on rock music. In the end, they made a solid record, Real Life, but by the moment of its release in 1991, the group had lost too many of their supporters and gone through irksome lineup changes.

However, the Simple Minds leaders, Kerr and Burchill did not show signs of giving up. In 1995, the Scottish group recovered slightly from the recent failures with the ambitious long player, Good News From the Next World. It featured the composition She's a River, a strong radio hit. In 1998, Derek Forbes came back to Simple Minds to release another studio work, Neapolis. The record proved to be too colorless. It was obvious that the musicians doubted which way to move further. In 2001, the group issued a collection of covers, Neon Lights, paying tributes to celebrated performers. In 2002, they hit the stores with Cry, an album with new studio material. The last efforts by the Scottish band, Black & White 050505 (2005), and Graffiti Soul (2009) demonstrated an attempt to come back to the most successful period in the group’s history, the first half of the eighties.