History Music / SimpleMinds

** "Saturday Girl" left off "Street Fighting Years" and "Good Night" left off "Real Life" were both tracks with full lyrics omitted for being too similar to other tracks on already long albums that still had to fit on vinyl. In an odd decision, the vinyl version of "Street Fighting Years" omitted the last track "When Spirits Rise", yet reprised all three tracks from the Ballad Of The Streets EP (including the cover of PeterGabriel's well-known "Biko").

** "Bittersweet" and "Liason" are a subversion; they were liked and played live by the band, but only included on Big Music's deluxe edition as the group wanted to make the deluxe worth buying for fans (The previous LP Graffiti Soul's CoverAlbum Searching For The Lost Boys disc is largely regarded as inessential and didn't sell as well as the group intended).

** Jim addresses "Belle" in every verse of "Colours Fly And Catherine Wheel".
* GreatestHitsAlbum: Several, beginning with ''Themes For Great Cities'' and ''Celebration'', though the songs on there weren't hits. First hits album was ''Glittering Prize 81/92''.

* RevolvingDoorBand: Numerous bassists and drummers.

* CutSong: "League Of Nations" and "Sound In 70 Cities" were cut from the original CD release of Sons And Fascination / Sister Feelings Call for space reasons, though reinstated on the remaster.

** In addition to their two cover albums they also released a lot of studio covers as B Sides in the ''Cry'' and ''Black And White 050505'' period, in addition to the non-album "Children Of The Revolution" released as a German exclusive.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In contrast with the band's 80s pop hits, they sounded more like Music/JoyDivision on their early albums.

* SynthPop: ''Life in a Day'', ''New Gold Dream''.

* WordSaladLyrics / WordSaladTitle: Most of the lyrics and song titles on Sons And Fascination/Sister Feelings Call. "In Trance As Mission," "Seeing Out The Angel," "Wonderful In Young Life" and "70 Cities As Love Brings The Fall" are good examples, but even songs with easier to understand titles like "Careful In Career," "League Of Nations," and "Love Song" have gratuitous WhenIsPurple content.

* TitleTrack: "Life in a Day", "Sons and Fascination", "New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)", "Once Upon a Time", "Street Fighting Years", "Real Life", "Graffiti Soul", "Big Music"

* UncommonTime: Most of their songs are in good old 4/4, but exceptions include "Naked Eye," "Citizen (Dance OF Youth)," "White Hot Day/Bass Line," "East At Easter," and "Kick It In."
* WordSaladLyrics / WordSaladTitle: Most of the lyrics and song titles on Sons And Fascination/Sister Feelings Call. "In Trance As Mission," "Seeing Out The Angle," "Wonderful In Young Life" and "70 Cities As Love Brings The Fall" are good examples, but even songs with easier to understand titles like "Careful In Career," "League Of Nations," and "Love Song" have gratuitous WhenIsPurple content.

One American who did take notice was filmmaker Creator/JohnHughes, who convinced them to record a song for his next movie, ''Film/TheBreakfastClub''. To Simple Minds, it was a lightweight pop song; but to Americans, "Don't You (Forget About Me)" [[note]]Written by Keith Forsey, who did the music for ''{{Flashdance}}'', and Steve Schiff, guitarist for Music/NinaHagen[[/note]] was romantic gold, and it became their biggest U.S. hit. The band found themselves with a BlackSheepHit, and spent many years dismissing it.

One American who did take notice was filmmaker Creator/JohnHughes, who convinced them to record a song for his next movie, ''TheBreakfastClub''. To Simple Minds, it was a lightweight pop song; but to Americans, "Don't You (Forget About Me)" [[note]]Written by Keith Forsey, who did the music for ''{{Flashdance}}'', and Steve Schiff, guitarist for Music/NinaHagen[[/note]] was romantic gold, and it became their biggest U.S. hit. The band found themselves with a BlackSheepHit, and spent many years dismissing it.

'''Simple Minds''' are a [[LongRunners long-running]] Scottish rock band, centered on singer Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill. They began as part of the PunkRock and [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]] movement of the late [[TheSeventies 1970s]], and rose to become one of the iconic bands of TheEighties. In Europe, they can still draw a crowd; but in America, they are known almost entirely for a BlackSheepHit they didn't even write, "Don't You (Forget About Me)", which became famous for its appearance in ''TheBreakfastClub''.

* BoleroEffect: "East At Easter" from ''Sparkle in the Rain''.

* CanonDiscontinuity: The lead track from the Amsterdam EP, a cover of Prince's Sign Of The Times, has never appeared on one of their singles compilations or albums, despite being a hit. The band were embarrassed by it and prefer to use its B Side Let It All Come Down instead. However, the full single appears as part of the Themes box sets, still in print.

** Sun City - Dance To The Music on ''Live In The City Of Lights''

* HiddenTrack: The band included an unreleased excerpt of the long track A Brass Band In Africa on the 12" single of Speed Your Love To Me, after the Extended Mix fades out. CD issues append this to the end of the Extended Mix. Other parts of A Brass Band In Africa can be found on the 7" and 12" singles of Up On The Catwalk and on the Sparkle In The Rain album as Shake Off The Ghosts.

** The original artwork for Real Life was also dark blue, and had a small design in the middle as well as the title. Later pressing reversed the front and back cover so it was a picture of the band on white.

** ''Life in a Day''(Art Punk),

** ''New Gold Dream'' (Similar to Sons And Fascination but shorter and with more viable singles)
** ''Sparkle in the Rain'' (A bridge between the new wave of New Gold Dream and the stadium Rock of Once Upon A Time).

** ''Real Life'' (A combination of Street Fighting Years and then current pop music)

** ''Our Secrets Are The Same'' (More rock based than Neapolis)
** ''Neon Lights'' (A CoverAlbum in the modern electronic style of Cry)

** ''Graffiti Soul'' (A fusion of the sound of Sons And Fascination with that of Once Upon A Time and the pop sensibilities of Black And White 050505. Fans usually consider this a return to form.)

* PrecisionFStrike: Their cover of "Rockin' In A Free World" actually adds one.

** "Let The Children Speak" from ''Real Life'' is a vocal rearrangement of the instrumental "Theme For Great Cities" from ''Sister Feelings Call''. Theme For Great Cities '91 is a completely new recording of the track that is somewhat like an instrumental "Let The Children Speak" would be but with more rave influences.

** "Moscow Underground" is based around a riff in the band's 2004 cover of "White Light, White Heat". As this cover was only released in Italy as part of a rare Vodafone compilation, not many fans noticed.

-->"Waterfront"

In early '79, they recorded their first album, ''Life in a Day''. Sales were disappointing, and the band quickly [[CanonDiscontinuity dismissed]] it as sounding too much like their influences (Music/DavidBowie, Music/{{Genesis}}, Music/RoxyMusic, and the Punk and New Wave around them). Their next album, ''Real to Real Cacophony'', was dark, moody, and experimental. It sold even less than ''Life in a Day''. Their third album, 1980's ''Empires and Dance'', was proto-{{Industrial}}, sold poorly again, and this time Arista had had enough and they were transferred to Virgin Records.

During the three years of fame and touring that followed ''Once Upon A Time'', the band took an interest in politics. This led to their only UK #1 single, "Mandela Day", and their next album, ''Street Fighting Years''. ''Street Fighting Years'' addressed political topics from [[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra Apartheid]] to UsefulNotes/TheTroubles to the BerlinWall. Musically, it brought back the subtlety of ''New Gold Dream'', though with acoustic rather than electronic instruments, creating a Celtic folk-rock sound. Once again, work took its toll, and Giblin and Gaynor both left during the recording sessions. ''Street Fighting Years'' rose to the top of the UK album charts, but America didn't want to hear about the worries of the world.

During the three years of fame and touring that followed ''Once Upon A Time'', the band took an interest in politics. This led to their only UK #1 single, "Mandela Day", and their next album, ''Street Fighting Years''. ''Street Fighting Years'' addressed political topics from [[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra Apartheid]] to TheTroubles to the BerlinWall. Musically, it brought back the subtlety of ''New Gold Dream'', though with acoustic rather than electronic instruments, creating a Celtic folk-rock sound. Once again, work took its toll, and Giblin and Gaynor both left during the recording sessions. ''Street Fighting Years'' rose to the top of the UK album charts, but America didn't want to hear about the worries of the world.

Mel Gaynor returned for ''Real Life'', a sequel to ''Street Fighting Years''. It went to #2 in the UK, but the U.S. shut the door on Simple Minds, this time for good. Gaynor left again in '92, and since then Simple Minds has officially been a duo of Kerr and Burchill. Their last album of the stadium rock era was 1995's ''Good News from the Next World''.

* Andy Gillespe (keyboards)

During the three years of fame and touring that followed ''Once Upon A Time'', the band took an interest in politics. This led to their only UK #1 single, "Mandela Day", and their next album, ''Street Fighting Years''. ''Street Fighting Years'' addressed political topics from [[TheApartheidEra Apartheid]] to TheTroubles to the BerlinWall. Musically, it brought back the subtlety of ''New Gold Dream'', though with acoustic rather than electronic instruments, creating a Celtic folk-rock sound. Once again, work took its toll, and Giblin and Gaynor both left during the recording sessions. ''Street Fighting Years'' rose to the top of the UK album charts, but America didn't want to hear about the worries of the world.

Kerr and Burchill were friends since childhood. In 1977, they joined a punk band called Johnny & The Self-Abusers, which released one single and broke up. Kerr and Burchill, along with Self-Abusers bandmates Tony Donald (bass) and Brian [=McGee=] (drums) renamed themselves Simple Minds, after a line in the DavidBowie song "Jean Genie". The next year and a half saw much touring and a demo tape. Mick [=MacNeil=] joined on keyboards, and Donald was replaced by Derek Forbes on bass. They became known for their live act, and were signed to Zoom, a division of Creator/AristaRecords.

Kerr and Burchill were friends since childhood. In 1977, they joined a punk band called Johnny & The Self-Abusers, which released one single and broke up. Kerr and Burchill, along with Self-Abusers bandmates Tony Donald (bass) and Brian [=McGee=] (drums) renamed themselves Simple Minds, after a line in the DavidBowie song "Jean Genie". The next year and a half saw much touring and a demo tape. Mick [=MacNeil=] joined on keyboards, and Donald was replaced by Derek Forbes on bass. They became known for their live act, and were signed to Zoom, a division of Music/AristaRecords.

Kerr and Burchill were friends since childhood. In 1977, they joined a punk band called Johnny & The Self-Abusers, which released one single and broke up. Kerr and Burchill, along with Self-Abusers bandmates Tony Donald (bass) and Brian [=McGee=] (drums) renamed themselves Simple Minds, after a line in the DavidBowie song "Jean Genie". The next year and a half saw much touring and a demo tape. Mick [=MacNeil=] joined on keyboards, and Donald was replaced by Derek Forbes on bass. They became known for their live act, and were signed to Arista Records.

In early '79, they recorded their first album, ''Life in a Day''. Sales were disappointing, and the band quickly [[CanonDiscontinuity dismissed]] it as sounding too much like their influences (DavidBowie, Music/{{Genesis}}, RoxyMusic, and the Punk and New Wave around them). Their next album, ''Real to Real Cacophony'', was dark, moody, and experimental. It sold even less than ''Life in a Day''. Their third album, 1980's ''Empires and Dance'', was proto-{{Industrial}}, sold poorly again, and this time Arista had had enough and they were transferred to Virgin Records.

They hired ex-{{Pretenders}} bassist Malcolm Foster and session drummer Andy Duncan, and went on tour, but as the tour was ending, Mick [=MacNeil=] announced that he needed a break. This turned out to be a BerserkButton for Kerr and Burchill, and the ensuing argument meant that what could have been a temporary break turned into a permanent leave. For many fans, this was when Simple Minds JumpedTheShark; [=MacNeil=]'s HeroicFantasy-evoking keyboards were essential to the band's sound. But the show would go on.

Constant work took its toll on another band member, Derek Forbes, and he was replaced with former Brand X bassist John Giblin. With guest vocals from {{Chic}}'s Robin Clark, they released ''Once Upon A Time'', which conspicuously did not include "Don't You". What it did have was stadium-friendly rock, which brought in a lot of new fans, and gave them their only 'proper' U.S. hit, "Alive And Kicking". The tour produced a live album, ''Live in the City of Light''.

Simple Minds is a [[LongRunners long-running]] Scottish rock band, centered on singer Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill. They began as part of the PunkRock and [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]] movement of the late [[TheSeventies 1970s]], and rose to become one of the iconic bands of TheEighties. In Europe, they can still draw a crowd; but in America, they are known almost entirely for a BlackSheepHit they didn't even write, "Don't You (Forget About Me)", which became famous for its appearance in ''TheBreakfastClub''.

->''Get in, get out of the rain, I'm goin' to move on up to the Waterfront\\
Step in, step out of the rain, I'm goin' to walk on up to the Waterfront\\
Said, one million years from today, I'm goin' to step on up to the Waterfront\\
Get in, get out of the rain, Come in, come out of the rain''

In early '79, they recorded their first album, ''Life in a Day''. Sales were disappointing, and the band quickly [[CanonDiscontinuity dismissed]] it as sounding too much like their influences (DavidBowie, Music/{{Genesis}}, RoxyMusic, and the Punk and New Wave around them). Their next album, ''Real to Real Cacophony'', was dark, moody, and experimental. It sold even less that ''Life in a Day''. Their third album, 1980's ''Empires and Dance'', was proto-{{Industrial}}, sold poorly again, and this time Arista had had enough and they were transferred to Virgin Records.

** "Careful In Career" from "Sons And Fascination/Sister Feelings Call."
* CatchPhrase: Jim Kerr's shouts of "Let me see your hands!!" During live performances.

** PeterGabriel's "Biko" on ''Street Fighting Years''

** PeterGabriel's "Biko" on "Street Fighting Years"