Simple Minds Transcends Progressive Rock

It's 2:37pm. You're sitting in your cubicle waiting for the next call. Suddenly, you see a flash of white light and a box appears on your desk. Not knowing what's in the box or how it got there, you hesitate for a moment. Then, you notice the sparkle of glitter. It must be something special, right? Nothing like a sparkle to brighten up a rainy day. You decide to open it. This is what you see inside:

A royal crown sitting atop a heart-shaped pillow. You remove the contents from the box and set them on your desk. While your ancestors were from Scotland, they were bot town folk. There was no royal bloodline. Therefore, you cannot help but look at the items quizzically. Why did you receive these? Who sent this glittering prize? Was this some sort of cruel joke? You decide to gently pick up the crown and put it on your head. Suddenly, out of no-where, you hear this song . . . .

It seems that somebody up there likes you. You sit in your chair begin to drift off to sleep; slipping into the new gold dream.

Nothing like a mug of beer on a warm Scottish day in Glasgow. The calendar on the wall indicates that the year is 1977. A young Jim Kerr is talking to his friend Charlie Burchill about a fiery new English band called The Sex Pistols. Ironically, the 2 never saw the band perform. Nevertheless, they decided to form a band called Johnny and The Self Abusers. Songs like 18-18, Saints and Sinners, and Dead Vandals came from those brief sessions and performances. By autumn 1977, they re-named themselves as Simple Minds. Despite the name change, they initially kept their punk style with the release of their first album Life In A Day. Between late 1977 and early 1978, there was a revolving door of guitarists and bassists for Simple Minds. The "Original" line-up during the recording of Life In A Day was Jim Kerr: Vocals, Charlie Burchill: Guitar/Violin, Brian McGee: Drums, Derek Forbes: Bass, and Mick MacNeil: Keyboards.

Simple Minds made a quick departure from punk with the release of Real to Real Cacophony in November 1978. Jim Kerr was quoted as stating, ""We were so anxious to see Life In A Day in the shops, it was almost embarrassing. And afterwards we wanted it out, that's why we were so quick to produce follow-up." Gone was the raw guitar sound of Life In A Day. Melodic, atmospheric, and occasionally sharp, transwave keyboard sounds appeared on Real To Real Cacophony as well as some very innovative guitar work from Charlie. Changeling stood out as a single. As luck would have it, a very similar bass line could later be heard in Asia's song Cutting It Fine. I did inquire with Dave Gallant about that issue. Although he replied, he declined comment.

Simple Minds used Empires & Dance (1980) and Sons & Fascination/Sister Feelings Call (1981) to further cultivate and perfect their style. The latter was originally released as 2 separate albums, but they were later combined as one. Empires & Dance was more minimalist than its predecessor while Sons & Fascination/Sister Feelings Call was more lush with mesmerizing bass lines, melodic keyboards, and entrancing guitars. Their creative juices went into overdrive in 1981. If Simple Minds had more studio time and a better producer, they probably could have released 3 albums that year instead of 2 (again, later merged as 1).

By 1982, Simple Minds had perfected their style and it really showed with the tight songs that were released that year on their album New Gold Dream 81-82-83-84. To symbolize looking toward the future, the numbers were added to the title at the last minute. Wanting extra umph, Simple Minds replaced drummer Brian McGee with Mel Gaynor. This would turn out to be a great move for the band. The album also features a synth solo by renowned jazz musician Herbie Hancock during Hunter And The Hunted. Someone Somewhere In Summertime, Promised You A Miracle, and Big Sleep became live staples. Nevertheless, the entire album is strong. The longest track, The King Is White And In The Crowd, clocks in at just under 7 minutes. My personal favorites from the album are Promised You A Miracle, Big Sleep, New Gold Dream, and The King Is White And In The Crowd.

Sparkle In The Rain was a transitional album released in 1984. The band was gaining popularity. So, they sought to appeal to a wider audience without compromising their integrity. This lead to an album that's not quite as tight as New Gold Dream, but still had some very strong material such as Up On The Catwalk, Book Of Brilliant Things, Waterfront, and East At Easter. Speed Your Love To Me is also noteworthy. By sometime in 1985, Simple Minds had all but re-written Book Of Brilliant Things and extended East At Easter by tacking on a really cool instrumental section during their tours. Speaking of tours, I would like to take this opportunity to tell you that Simple Minds is very much a live band. Their studio releases put forth musical ideas, but these ideas take on a life of their own when performed live! Simple Minds didn't need to write complex epics to be a progressive band. Just listen to their live performances! Take a song like I Travel. Listen to an early live rendition from circa 1981. Then, listen to the 1983 Nijmegen, Netherlands performance of the song. Finally, listen to live renditions from the Good News From The Next World tour and their 2002 Cry tour. I Travel and many other Simple Minds classics have progressed over the years! All of those performances are very different. That's one attribute that makes Simple Minds such a great band! They definitely do not do cookie cutter performances of their music. They strive to keep it fresh and highly energetic from tour to tour.

I did not intend this to be a Simple Minds biography. Nevertheless, their formative years really show who these musicians are and that they are quite capable. For now, I will close with their 1985 release entitled Once Upon A Time. This is a tight album! Not a single weak track! Also, this is the first album that gives the listener a hint at their live energy. Original bassist Derek Forbes was replaced by John Giblin before the recording of Once Upon A Time. However, that didn't seem to hurt the songwriting. Did I mention that this is a tight album? This album had 2 chart toppers: Alive & Kicking and Sanctify Yourself. It would have had a 3rd, Don't You Forget About Me, but Simple Minds decided not to include it since the song was written by someone else specifically for use in a movie soundtrack. OK, so they didn't top the sundae with a cherry. It's still a delicious sundae! Ghost Dancing, Oh Jungleland, and I Wish You Were Here (definitely not the Pink Floyd song) are some of my personal favorites. This album, 2 years of touring, and a great 2 CD live set called Live In The City Of Light mark the peak of Simple Minds' popularity in the 80's.

One last thing to note . . . . Simple Minds and U2 were "rival" bands in the 80's. Not that they disliked one another. In fact, Bono appeared as a guest during a couple of tour dates. Yes, it was a friendly rival. Unfortunately, U2 won the promotional battle despite Simple Minds being the more talented band. Fans of U2 will no doubt flame me for that comment, but I've got to call it like I see it. I like U2. I like some of their material up through Achtung Baby. After that, they lost me. They became too commercial. Too much of a marketing machine. In other words, they had lost their musical integrity. Although some might say otherwise, I strongly feel that Simple Minds has always kept their musical integrity. They just didn't get near the promotion and funding that U2 has received. Yet, they are still alive and kicking today. In fact, a new album is due out this year.

Disclaimer: This post is based on truth and contains many facts about Simple Minds. It also contains the poster's opinions. Album titles, song titles, musicians and dates are true according to simpleminds.com and simple-minds.demon.co.uk. Other aspects of the story leading into the factual material, though based on truth, are fictional in nature.