SIMPLE MINDS
Best known in the U.S. for their 1985 number one hit "Don't
You (Forget About Me)" from the film The Breakfast Club,
Scotland's Simple Minds have evolved from a post-punk art rock
band influenced by Roxy Music into a grand, epic-sounding pop
band along the lines of U2. The band grew out of a Glasgow punk
group called Johnny and the Self-Abusers, which featured guitarist
Charlie Burchill and lead singer Jim Kerr.
The inaugural 1978 lineup of Simple Minds featured a rhythm section
of Tony Donald on bass and Brian McGee on drums, plus keyboardist
Mick McNeil; Donald was soon replaced by Derek Forbes. Their early
albums leaped from one style to another, with Life in a Day consisting
mostly of dense, arty pop songs; critical acclaim followed the
darker, more experimental art rock of Real to Real Cacophony and
the Eurodisco of Empires and Dance. The group began a transition
to a more accessible pop style with the albums Sons and Fascination
and Sister Feelings Call, originally issued together and subsequently
split up. New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) became their first chart
album in the U.S., and the tour-shy McGee quit owing to burgeoning
popularity, eventually being replaced by Mel Gaynor. Following
the Steve Lillywhite-produced Sparkle in the Rain, Jim Kerr married
Pretenders lead singer Chrissie Hynde (the two groups had toured
together).
After Bryan Ferry rejected the opportunity to sing "Don't
You (Forget About Me)," Simple Minds almost did so as well;
Kerr was dissatisfied with the song's lyrics, which he regarded
as formulaic. His change of heart gave Simple Minds their only
American chart-topper, and the song later became an international
hit as well; however, Kerr's feelings about the song remained
ambivalent, and it did not appear on the follow-up album, Once
Upon a Time. This album went gold and reached the U.S. Top Ten,
in spite of criticism for its bombastic, over-the-top approach.
A live album and the uncompromisingly political Street Fighting
Years squandered Simple Minds' commercial momentum, however.
By the time the group returned to more personal themes and its
straightforward, anthemic rock on 1991's Real Life, personnel
changes and audience loss left the group's future viability in
doubt. As of 1996, Kerr and Burchill are the only remaining members.
