Formed in 1977 by Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill, Simple Minds (hailing from Glasgow, Scotland) were previously known as Johnny And The Self Abusers. Under that name they released one single ('Saints And Sinners') and played various live shows between February and November 1977 before they changed their name to Simple Minds.Simple Minds initially signed to Arista who recorded and released their first three albums. The musical changes Simple Minds went through in these first three albums shows how diverse their song range is. Tracks to compare would be 'Chelsea Girl', their first s ...read more
Formed in 1977 by Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill, Simple Minds (hailing from Glasgow, Scotland) were previously known as Johnny And The Self Abusers. Under that name they released one single ('Saints And Sinners') and played various live shows between February and November 1977 before they changed their name to Simple Minds.Simple Minds initially signed to Arista who recorded and released their first three albums. The musical changes Simple Minds went through in these first three albums shows how diverse their song range is. Tracks to compare would be 'Chelsea Girl', their first single with hints of Johnny And The Self Abusers, and I Travel an almost disco sounding track.Virgin Records saw the potential in the band and in 1981 signed them up. The first Virgin Records release Sons And Fascination/Sister Feelings Call was a double album, but later released as two single albums - Sons and Fascination and Sister Feelings Call.They first found noteable success with New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84), which is still regarded as their best album by some fans.They have had great commercial success in Europe and across the world since then (in the 80’s and early 90’s they sold 30 million albums worldwide). In the United States, however, they are known primarily for 'Don’t You (Forget About Me)' which was used in the soundtrack to the film The Breakfast Club and went to number one. Ironically it is one of few songs recorded by the band that they didn’t write themselves. « hide
