Rock Artist Management

History

Charlie Burchill and Jim Kerr formed a punk band in 1977. They were heavily influenced by Lou Reed, and after one unsuccessful single as Johnny & the Self Abusers, they shuffled the line-up to include former Abusers Brian McGee on drums and Tony Donald on bass guitar, the latter of whom was quickly replaced by Derek Forbes. In addition, keyboard and synthesizer player Mick MacNeil was also recruited. The band's name was changed to Simple Minds.

Simple Minds's debut album, Life in a Day, took a cue from fellow Post-punk forebears Magazine, and was somewhat self-consciously derivative of the late-70s punk boom, with AOR crossover potential not unlike that of The Cars. Life in a Day was exactly the kind of music Arista wanted to promote, being the album released by Zoom Records, owned by the band's manager, Bruce Findlay.

While still categorised as 'rock', Simple Minds' second release, Real to Real Cacophony, had a darker edge, and announced some of the New Wave experimentation that would become the band's trademark sound over the next two albums. These innovations included the occasional use of unconventional time signatures, and minimal structures based around the rhythm section of Forbes and McGee.

The next album, Empires and Dance, was a far more radical departure, and signalled the influence of Kraftwerk, Neu! and similar European artists. Indeed, during this period Simple Minds promoted themselves as a European band, not a Scottish or UK band. Many of the tracks on Empires and Dance are extremely minimal, and feature sequenced keyboards. McNeil's keyboards and Forbes' bass became the main melodic elements, and Burchill's guitar was heavily processed. With this album, Kerr began to experiment with non-narrative lyrics. While not consciously so, Empires and Dance was essentially Industrial in its aesthetic, and preceded by a couple of years the industrial-pop crossover of Cabaret Voltaire's album The Crackdown. The band's label, however, demonstrated little enthusiasm for such experimentation, and in 1981 Simple Minds switched from Arista to Virgin.

Simple Minds first release on Virgin was actually two albums: the Steve Hillage-produced Sons and Fascination and Sister Feelings Call. The latter album was initially included as a bonus disc with the first 10,000 vinyl copies of Sons and Fascination, but it was later re-issued as an album in its own right. Sons and Fascination perfected the formula that began with Empires and Dance, and showcases the band's musicianship during their most prolific period. Indeed, the band's musical virtuosity set their orientation somewhat toward the realm of progressive rock, and distanced them from the flippancy of many other New Wave musicians. The album impressed Peter Gabriel enough that he selected Simple Minds as the opening act on several European dates, which increased the band's visibility. "Love Song" was an international hit (reaching the Top 20 in Canada and Australia) and the instrumental "Theme for Great Cities" proved so enduring a composition that it was later re-recorded in 1991 as a B-side to the single "See the Lights". These minimalist, dance-oriented compositions, like those of Neu! before them were examples of man-made trance well before trance itself.

It was also in this period that the ground-breaking visual aesthetic of Simple Minds' product was established, masterminded by Malcolm Garrett and his chameleon-like "Assorted iMaGes". Characterised, at first, by hard, bold typography and photo-collage, Garrett's designs for the band would later incorporate pop-religious iconography in clean, integrated package designs that befitted the band's idealized image as neo-romantic purveyors of European anthemic pop.

Simple Minds' sixth studio album, New Gold Dream , released in 1982, was a significant turning point for the band. With a slick, sophisticated sound thanks to producer Peter Walsh, and similarly sumptuous design by Malcolm Garrett, Simple Minds were soon categorised as part of the New Romantic outgrowth of New Wave (along with Duran Duran and others), and the record generated a handful of charting singles including "Promised You a Miracle" and "Glittering Prize", which both hit the UK Top 20 and Australian Top 10. In addition, jazz keyboardist Herbie Hancock performed a synth solo on the track "Hunter and the Hunted".

Despite the success of the album, some early Simple Minds fans criticised the band's more commercial orientation. While some tracks ("Promised You a Miracle", "Colours Fly and Catherine Wheel") continued the formula perfected on Sons and Fascination, other tracks ("Someone Somewhere in Summertime", "Glittering Prize") were undisguised pop. The album's direction no doubt was influenced by the departure of drummer Brian McGee, who had tired of touring.

The formula that had defined Simple Minds' New Wave period had run its course, and the next record, Sparkle in the Rain, was a complete departure.

Produced by Steve Lillywhite, who also produced U2's first three records, Sparkle in the Rain is an aggressive, rock-oriented album in much the same vein as U2's War. U2 frontman Bono was quoted in the official Simple Minds biography The Race Is the Prize as saying the "glorious noise" sound and feeling achieved on the Simple Minds album was one to which his band aspired. The eventual result of this shift in musical direction gave rise to hugely successful singles like "Waterfront", which hit number one in a few European countries and remains one of the band's signature songs to this day, as well as "Speed Your Love to Me" and "Up on the Catwalk".

Now after 30 years Derek and Brian have reunited to perform songs from their time as Simple Minds.

Derek Forbes

(born 22 June 1956, Glasgow, Scotland) was the bassist from the album Life in a Day through to their hit, "Don't You Forget About Me". His departure from the band was due, apparently, to stylistic musical differences with the rest of the band during the recording of "Don't You Forget about Me" and prior to the release of "once Upon a Time". Forbes reunited with the band briefly during the recording of "Neapolis".

Forbes' athletic walking basslines were the driving force behind Simple Minds' New Wave period albums. This is most evident on Sons and Fascination. With Sparkle in the Rain, a more standard rock sound supplanted the minimalistic, groove-oriented sound of preceding albums, and Forbes' bass playing took a back seat.

Derek Forbes started his musical career in the UK Subs. He contributed to the singles "Gimme your heart" and "Party Clothes".

After Simple Minds, Forbes went on to play in number of other bands, including Propaganda and Oblivion Dust.

Brian McGee

(born in 'the Gorbals', Glasgow, Scotland, 8 March 1959) is a Scottish drummer who played in different bands like Simple Minds and Endgames.

He met future Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr at Holyrood R.C. Secondary School, and joined him and guitarist Charlie Burchill from the same school in the band Biba-Rom! around the mid-1970s, while still at school.In 1977, they formed the punk band Johnny and the Self Abusers, whose name changed to Simple Minds.He was present on the albums Life In A Day, Real To Real Cacophony, Empires and Dance and Sons and Fascination. In September 1981, he left Simple Minds after having tired of constant touring and life on the Road. He soon returned to the road and joined Endgames, replacing Douglas Muirden. After two albums, the band dissolved in 1985. By that time, he, along with former Simple Minds bandmate Derek Forbes, joined Propaganda, remaining until 1995.

Brian is now back perfoming all the great songs he helped create alongside Derek and the boys over 3 decades ago.

Tour Dates

2010

Febuary

14th - 21st Unavailable

March

8th - 21st Unavailable

April

Friday 30th Festival Compiegne France.tba

May

Saturday 8th Unavailable

Friday 21st Martletts Hall, Burgess Hill.with special guest Dave Sharp

July

Tuesday 20th Ypres Town Festival Belgium

Saturday 31st New Quay Music Festival. South Wales

August

Saturday 28th Upton Town Festival. with special guests Animals and Friends with Spencer Davis, The Blockheads, and Boomtown Rats tbc.