There were many different bands during the 80’s. But many didn’t reach the success that Simple Minds did during this time. Their hit song “Don’t You Forget About Me” is in one of the biggest hits in the 80’s Breakfast Club further cementing their influence in pop culture.
Simple Minds started out as a punk band in 1977. Just as that band released their first single the band disbanded and Guitarist Jim Kerr and Bassist Charlie Burchill started the band we know today as Simple Minds. They later got with the manager Bruce Findlay where on his independent label they released Life in a Day which can be best described as an energetic concoction of synthesizers and punk guitar.
Now with more experience in the music making scene they were now in they released The American on their newly joined label Virgin. They then broke through to the wider public with their first UK Top 10 album New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84). This album includes the bass driven single Glittering Prize which has over driven electric guitar riffs and dreamy cloud-like synths. They added new drummer Mel Gaynor and had guest musician Herbie Hancock, a big time jazz musician, on Hunter and the Hunted.
By 1985 the group had recorded the hit Don’t You (Forget About Me) which was recorded for the movie Breakfast Club which was a box office hit and helped pave the road for the rest of their career. During the 90’s, the band wound down releasing only a few albums. Kerr is quoted as saying, “We hadn’t stopped between 1977 and 1989, then, as a new generation emerged – The Stone Roses, Blur, Oasis – it was time for us to wind down a little. There was no desire to make music and, to be honest, I wasn’t sure where we fitted in anymore.” Though even the feeling of being out of place didn’t stop the band from making more music as they released the album Black & White 050505 in May 5th, 2005.
Still to this day they make music with their newest album, Direction of the Heart, being released just last year in 2022. Many bands such as Manic Street Preachers and Moby have stated Simple Minds as an influence. The impact they’ve caused on the pop scene is still felt to this day.
