Simple Minds
| Simple Minds | |
|---|---|
Simple Minds performing in Oslo, Norway in February 2006
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Glasgow, Scotland |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Labels | |
| Associated acts | Johnny & The Self-Abusers |
| Website | Simple Minds Official site |
| Members |
Jim Kerr Charlie Burchill Mel Gaynor Andy Gillespie Ged Grimes |
| Past members |
Brian McGee Tony Donald Duncan Barnwell Mick MacNeil Derek Forbes Kenny Hyslop Mike Ogletree John Giblin Eddy Duffy |
Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band. They formed in Glasgow in 1977 and became the most commercially successful Scottish band of the 1980s. They achieved five UK number one albums during their career and have sold 30 million records worldwide to date. Despite various personnel changes, they continue to record and tour.
The band scored a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for their 1985 hit "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (UK #7, US #1, CAN #1), from the soundtrack of the film The Breakfast Club. Their other more prominent hits include "Alive and Kicking" (UK #7, US #3, CAN #3) and "Belfast Child" (UK #1, IRE #1, NLD #1). In 2016, they won the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection.
The core of the band is the two remaining founding members – Jim Kerr (vocals, songwriting) and Charlie Burchill (guitars, keyboards after 1990, other instruments, songwriting). The other current band members are Andy Gillespie (keyboards), drummer Mel Gaynor (who first joined the band in 1982) and Ged Grimes (bass guitar). Former members include bass guitarist Derek Forbes, drummer Brian McGee, and keyboardist Mick MacNeil.
The roots of Simple Minds are in the short-lived punk band Johnny & The Self-Abusers, founded on the South Side of Glasgow in 1977. The band was conceived by would-be Glasgow scene-maker Alan Cairnduff, although he left the job of organising the band to his friend John Milarky. At Cairnduff’s suggestion, Milarky teamed up with two musicians he had never worked with before – budding singer and lyricist Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill. Kerr and Burchill had known each other since the age of eight. After joining Johnny & The Self-Abusers, they brought in two of their school friends, Brian McGee on drums and Tony Donald on bass (all four had previously played together in the schoolboy band Biba-Rom!).
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