FEATURE:
A Buyer’s Guide
Part Seventy-Four: Simple Minds
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ON this occasion…
for A Buyer’s Guide, I am recommending the best albums from Simple Minds. The Scottish legends have released some wonderful albums. Their eighteenth, 2018’s Walk Between Worlds, was very well-received. It is hard to narrow down to the very best – though that is what I am going to do. Before that, here is some biography about 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 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 Reel to Real Cacophony and the Euro-disco 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 the group's 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. The 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.
They weren't totally deterred, however. Kerr and Burchill trudged on, releasing Good News from the Next World in 1995, while the single "She's a River" received moderate airplay. A short tour of North America soon followed, but Simple Minds' direction also quickly faded. They needed a break to clarify their own personal stance in music. Derek Forbes returned for 1998's Néapolis, but that, too, wasn't strong enough to sustain Simple Minds' newfound creativity. Their famed pop songs had been diluted a bit; however, the new millennium proved poignant. Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill signed to Eagle Records in early 2001 and constructed their first covers album, Neon Lights, later that fall, paying tribute to Patti Smith, Neil Young, David Bowie, and others. In summer 2002, Kerr and Burchill issued Cry, Simple Minds' first batch of new material since 1995's Good News from the Next World. Our Secrets Are the Same, an album that was intended for release in 2000, saw official release in 2003.
An extensive reissue program and live recordings followed. Black & White, a new studio album, appeared in 2005, and the charting Graffiti Soul (which saw the return of original drummer Mel Gaynor to the fold) arrived in 2009. Simple Minds accepted a spot at London's iTunes Festival that year and issued a digital EP of their performance. After a global tour, Simple Minds returned with Big Music in 2014, an album that included two songs co-written with Chvrches' Iain Cook. A stripped-down set called Acoustic arrived in late 2016, featuring acoustic reworkings of many of the band's hits. In 2018, the band released its 18th studio long-player, Walk Between Worlds. Co-produced by the band with Andy Wright and Gavin Goldberg (both of whom had worked on Big Music), the album contained two distinct "sides": The first half revisited the glassy guitars and new wave dance grooves of the post-punk era that signified the band's earliest records, while the second explored more cinematic sounds reflected best in the title track and "Barrowland Star," which were both completely orchestrated at Abbey Road. Concert album Live in the City of Angels landed the following year alongside a comprehensive compilation of hits, The Best of 1979-2019, which included a cover of King Creosote's "For One Night Only”.
If you need guidance as to which Simple Minds albums are worth getting, I have highlighted the best four, one that is underrated, in addition to their latest studio album. I have also recommended a book about them that people should check out. Go and take a look below at my recommendations regarding…
THE mighty Simple Minds.
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The Four Essential Albums
Reel to Real Cacophony
Release Date: 11th November, 1979
Labels: Zoom/Arista
Producer: John Leckie
Standout Tracks: Reel to Real/Cacophony/Premonition
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=58898&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/0NZjDWHRqlvelT1qcLnFEQ?si=pIagubMIRAWDS5aBDRT1hw&dl_branch=1
Review:
“To the delight of some open-minded post-punk fans -- fans who also had space for the relatively new, untraditional likes of Devo, Kraftwerk, and Eno in their record collections -- the relative simple-mindedness of Life in a Day was blown to bits and left for dead on the pub floor by Real to Real Cacophony, the wide-eyed carnival-like follow-up released only seven months after its predecessor. The artistic leap from Life in a Day to Real to Real has to be one of the most mesmerizing ones imaginable, an improvement that is even more impressive when the short time between release dates is considered. It's where Simple Minds ventured beyond the ability to mimic their influences and began to manipulate them, mercilessly pushing them around and shaping them into funny objects the way a child transforms a chunk of Play-Doh from an indefinable chunk of nothing into a definable chunk of something. Aside from a mercifully brief lapse into aimless murmuring and doodling that occurs during the middle of the record, Real to Real Cacophony is rife with countless bizarre joys. It knocks you on your back with pretentious artsy-fartsiness as instantly as New Gold Dream dazzles with its art pop pleasures, but its challenging melodicism through jerky time signatures and an endless supply of varied sounds and textures keeps you coming back for more. "Real to Real," a sinister rewrite of Kraftwerk's "Radio-Activity," is a good, quick point of reference. Guitars are employed less frequently and are replaced by burbling electronics and further use of keyboard shadings, though the absolute high point of the band's early years, "Changeling," benefits from plangent, angular jabs. The record is certainly as much of an achievement as New Gold Dream -- an achievement that's on a plane with other 1979 post-punk landmarks like Metal Box, 154, Entertainment, and Unknown Pleasures. No kidding” – AllMusic
Choice Cut: Changeling
New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84)
Release Date: 13th September, 1982
Label: Virgin
Producers: Peter Walsh
Standout Tracks: Someone Somewhere (In Summertime/Somebody Up There Likes You/Glittering Prize
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=58825&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/6dn2O3un8SV0QZ421jDdEj?si=Eb5Xi1CTT_-Se1aQ29QlCA&dl_branch=1
Review:
“Originally released in September 1982, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) was the album that saw Simple Minds move from being a well-respected cult to one of the biggest bands of the 80s and – remarkably for the time – doing so without once resorting to cliché. As Paul Morley said in NME on its release, “I am jarred by the constant beauty of this music.” Now with this five CD and DVD reappraisal, the beauty is extrapolated: the lightness of its touch, the weirdness of the lyrics and its otherworldly feel makes it adorable still.
Though appearing less than a year after their Virgin debut – Sons And Fascination/ Sister Feelings Call – New Gold Dream (81- 82-83-84) seemed to take forever to arrive. Promised You A Miracle, recorded ahead of the album in early 1982, stood alone, released in the March of that year. It sounded unlike anything the group had released before; commercial, airy and strange, it gave them their first UK Top 20 hit.
Emboldened by this, the group built their forthcoming album around their hit, and what an LP it was to be. Snatches were heard via BBC Radio 1 sessions for John Peel and ‘Kid’ Jensen; proof that they could still straddle the pop kids and the cognoscenti.
There is a key paragraph in Billy Sloan’s extensive liner notes, which explains it all. It regards the choice of producer Pete Walsh, who was only 20 at the time: “After working with Walsh on the remix of Sweat In Bullet, [guitarist Charlie] Burchill had enthused that the producer’s strength was not what he had put into their song – but what he had left out.” Jim Kerr said, “Charlie told me: ‘Pete’s taken a ton of stuff out… But don’t worry. It sounds amazing. You’ll love it.’” The album became a triumph of what was left out.
Like all the best albums, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) retains that indefinable “thing”; the whole band were playing at their peak; Mick McNeill’s shimmering keyboards and Derek Forbes’ beautiful bass provided a subtlety to the groove; allowing Burchill and Kerr’s musical ideas to flow. You’d never guess there are three different drummers on the album” – Record Collector
Choice Cut: Promised You a Miracle
Sparkle in the Rain
Release Date: 6th February, 1984
Labels: Virgin (U.K.)/A&M (U/S.)
Producer: Steve Lillywhite
Standout Tracks: Up on the Catwalk/Waterfront/Street Hassle
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=58922&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fuGLrZ4Ju22UpWqGg5cDW?si=oArD15mCQ5e_1FxdEwTC6Q&dl_branch=1
Review:
“Their 1982 album New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) was the album that put Simple Minds on a commercial par with the post-punk new pop vanguard (ABC, Human League, Associates et al).
But two years later it was their sixth album that launched them into the alt-rock superleague, putting them virtually on a par with U2, and with only Echo & The Bunnymen snapping at their heels. Sparkle In The Rain reached No.1 in February 1984 and went Top 20 around the world. Suddenly, there were not just coteries of hipsters but 50,000-strong crowds waiting in arenas to be entertained. Even Jim Kerr made the unashamed admission that “there’s just no room for subtlety”. In the wake of New Gold Dream’s lushness, Sparkle In The Rain came as something of a brash, rude awakening. Produced by Steve Lillywhite, it eschewed ornate grandeur for a simpler propulsion that could easily be mistaken for lumpen populism. Then again, the music had a new, muscular excitement, with less studio polish but more stadium punch. Waterfront, The Kick Inside Of Me and White Hot Day plodded somewhat, but Up On The Catwalk, ‘C’ Moon Cry Like A Baby and Speed Your Love To Me had a thrilling, throbbing momentum, while East At Easter proved that they could still do magisterial grace. Now Sparkle comes as a five-disc box set, in a full, unexpurgated version that well serves its clattering majesty. The original album has been newly remastered, and it comes packaged with a plethora of extras: a disc of single edits, B-sides and extended mixes, as well as two further CDs that include 13 tracks performed live at Glasgow’s Barrowlands in 1984 and a trio of BBC Radio 1 sessions from 1983. You also get a DVD featuring a brand new Steven Wilson 5.1 surround sound remix of the album, a new stereo mix and all three promo videos (for Waterfront, Speed Your Love To Me and Up On The Catwalk), as well as several TV appearances. Altogether now: ‘You will be there, you will be there…’” – Louder Sound
Choice Cut: Speed Your Love to Me
Once Upon a Time
Release Date: 21st October, 1985
Labels: Virgin/A&M (U.S.)
Producers: Jimmy Iovine/Bob Clearmountain
Standout Tracks: All the Things She Said/Ghostdancing/Sanctify Yourself
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=58861&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5Q74XTJr0l3sVQXprBeoT1?si=foC_dfCCSS-ArV7ZgRi12w&dl_branch=1
Review:
“Riding the coattails of the John Hughes flick The Breakfast Club, Simple Minds finally broke into America with their theme song "Don't You Forget About Me," and their 1985 release Once Upon a Time captured the heart-wrenching excitement found in bands such as U2. They were now one of the biggest names in music, and Jim Kerr's thirsting vocals became the band's signature. Once Upon a Time, featuring producer Jimmy Iovine (U2, Stevie Nicks, Bruce Springsteen), showcased more of a guitar-driven sound. The band's heavy synth pop beats had relaxed a bit and Charlie Burchill's charming playing style was most noticeable. Also enlisting the choir-like beauty of Robin Clark, Simple Minds' popularity was expounded on songs such as "Alive & Kicking" and "Sanctify Yourself." This album was one of their best, most likely leading the pack in the band's album roster, because it exuded raw energy and solid composition not entirely captured on previous albums” – AllMusic
Choice Cut: Alive and Kicking
The Underrated Gem
Big Music
Release Date: 31st October, 2014
Labels: Caroline International/Universal, Sony Music
Producers: Gavin Goldberg/Steve Osborne/Owen Parker/Simple Minds/Andy Wright
Standout Tracks: Midnight Walking/Honest Town/Big Music
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/6274675
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/4s9M8e27eqKwsNt1rrk2ON?si=IVAfngjCRViTZMEz1OoltQ&dl_branch=1
Review:
“Despite being 16 albums in, Simple Minds are surprisingly current in many ways. They’ve installed Chvrches man Iain Cook as a co-writer, while their overwrought production and heart-on-sleeve openness has been aped by the likes of recent indie stand-out Strand of Oaks and even Belle and Sebastian. On Big Music, their own sound has had a makeover, too, combining huge synth lines with similarly gargantuan drums. Opener Blindfolded sums up what they seem to be aiming for on Big Music: epic songwriting. Everything is over the top, from the name of the album and Kerr’s lyrics to a sonic palate that screams arena tour. The OTT approach works, as well, with the first three songs (Blindfolded, Midnight Walking, Honest Town) sounding like great pop. There are moments when the approach starts to wane – Kill or Cure sounds like it’s come straight from the 80s rather than 2014 – but by the time closer Spirited Away kicks in, the band have managed to craft an album of pop that’s both true to their sound and interesting enough to give it a contemporary edge” – The Guardian
Choice Cut: Let the Day Begin
The Latest Album
Walk Between Worlds
Release Date: 2nd February, 2018
Label: BMG Rights Management
Producers: Simple Minds/Andy Wright/Gavin Goldberg
Standout Tracks: Summer/The Signal and the Noise/Sense of Discovery
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=1306425&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/53wMq7klbk3UY7SOkrrmb6?si=bymYGIPeTFegGgYwoh2UZQ&dl_branch=1
Review:
“That Simple Minds trade in instantly familiar methodology has, at times, left them sounding predictable.
Though 2014’s Big Music – with its great, big, you-can’t- miss-it signpost of a title – was welcomed in some quarters as a return to form, it still felt stiff and flabby, like a once svelte, now out-of-shape athlete recovering from their first long run after a holiday.
They’ve kept busy, however, with 2016 devoted to an acoustic album and related tours, and it appears they’re now approaching full fitness.
Guitars chime hypnotically and Jim Kerr still sings like a grown man seeing snow for the first time, letting rip uncontainable disbelief. On the U2-like Summer this excitement is almost poignant, the song’s forecast bellowed like news of his first-born son – “Here comes summer!/ Here comes rain!” – before Kerr ends up charmingly, naively tongue-tied: “Here comes lightning! I like the way it shoots!”
If his grammatically challenged over-stretching for rhymes might seem gauche – “Here comes all those fantasies/ Taking me to my roots” – it’s overshadowed by the song’s strapping melody and the revelation that finally someone might challenge fellow Scots Travis for pop’s meteorological crown.
Indeed, there’s climate talk all over the album, from the pumping opener Magic (“It breaks like a storm/ This is our kind of weather”) to Kerr’s insistence – on Sense Of Discovery, a solemn slowburner which borrows knowingly from Alive And Kicking, and one of the album’s two longest tracks – that: “The rage will dissolve like the wind”.
The calmly iridescent Utopia also points at “solar storms” and “falling snow”, while a heavy “freeze” bites on In Dreams, the full-bodied positivity of its choruses capitalising on Kerr’s glowering delivery elsewhere. Fortunately, Simple Minds don’t take the weather with them everywhere they go.
On Barrowland Star, the album’s swaggering highlight, they instead celebrate their career, allowing strings and Charlie Burchill’s extended – and we mean Andrex-long – guitar solo to provide the elemental sturm und drang.
Like everything on the otherwise trim, 42-minute Walk Between Worlds, it’s as familiar as April showers, but currently it’s the band’s glittering early-80s catalogue being mined for inspiration. The outlook remains bright, therefore, albeit with occasionally drab spells” – Classic Pop
Choice Cut: Magic
The Simple Minds Book
The Simple Minds - Heart of the Crowd
Author: Richard Houghton
Publication Date: 3rd December, 2020
Publisher: This Day in Music Books
Synopsis:
“This official book is an oral history of Simple Minds, mixing over 350 fan anecdotes with a narrative written by founding members Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill, The book also features never before seen photographs, collectable memorabilia and fans pictures capturing their live performances” – Waterstones.co.uk
Buy: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-simple-minds-heart-of-the-crowd/richard-houghton/9781838078300