Simple Minds 2009 - Charlie Burchill (guitar), Jim Kerr (vocals), Mel Gaynor (drums), Eddy Duffy (bass)
Simple Minds Marathon
Some Sweet Day 2008 kicks off on the 28th august 2008 on WBWC. WBCB is a non-commercial, educational, FM radio station licensed to Baldwin-Wallace College under the authority of the Federal Communications Commission. WBWC operates in stereo on a federally assigned frequency of 88.3 megahertz with an operating power of 4000 watts. Studios, transmitter, and offices are located on the second floor of the Strosacker College Union, 120 East Grand Street, in Berea, Ohio. WBWC serves its city of license, Berea, as well as the college and surrounding communities broadcasting a minimum of 18 hours a day, 365 days a year.
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On behalf of European media (radio/online/print), OLIVER TANSON® provides a wide range of services related to the showbusiness industry: from planning and conducting interviews with highly acclaimed worldwide stars (in music, film, TV, stage, sports, etc...) to providing event photography of the highest quality.
Pinkpop Classic 2007 (in The Netherlands) was a large success! Bands like MARILLION, WILLY DeVILLE & TIE, STEVE HARLEY & COCKNEY REBEL bringsyou back to the eighties. With in the prospect for pinkpop Classic 2009, Simple Minds are already Booked according to Jan Smeets.
The original members of Simple Minds are due to work together for the first time in 27 years when they enter an event that many never thought would happen again, Brian McGee, Derek Forbes, Mick McNeil, Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill, have set their aim on producing at least two new tracks that could be released later this year. Regarded by both Jim and Charlie as a 'nice experiment', particularly as it falls within their 30 year anniversary, the week-long reformation is being viewed as one of many 'let's see what happens' ideas that they look forward to working on over the course of the next year. Jim Kerr said 'Of course I am excited with the prospect of working with the original line - up once more. I had always believed that the day would come when we would get the opportunity to do so. The last time we worked together was on our Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call album, featuring songs like The American, Themes for Great Cities, Love Song etc, and it is still considered by many as among our best ever work. We have a lot to live up to, but we intend to have some fun attempting to do just that.'
You can find out more news regarding the session in June at simpleminds.com
Orwell Music
Orwell is a French band that has released three albums on different Indie.(labels in several countries like France, Japan, Thailand, UK, US)
This band has just recorded a cover of Speed Your Love to Me/Simple Minds.
Orwell has just released a free E.P. with some cover versions of obscure or underrated titles from between 1980 and 1984.
Anyone can download it for free on there website : www.orwellmusic.com
Patricia Jude Francis Kensit Healy
Born on 4th March 1968. In 1992 she married Jim Kerr, lead singer of Simple Minds. During her second marriage she gave birth to her first child, James in 1993. In 1997 she married Liam Gallagher from Oasis. Kensit and Gallagher had a son, Lennon, named after John Lennon. They divorced in 2000.
EX-WIFE CHRISSY HYNDE
Christine Ellen Hynde
Born 7 September 1951 Akron, Ohio, United States. Singer-songwriter, guitarist, bandleader THE PRETENDERS
Instrument(s) Rhythm Guitar, voice.
In 1984 she married Jim Kerr, and had a daughter, Yasmin Paris Kerr, with him in 1985. They divorced in 1990.
Johnny & the Self abusers
Biography by Andy Kellman
Johnny & the Self Abusers were one of Glasgow, Scotland's few punk bands, albeit a rather bizarrely entertaining one. Hailing from the city's south side, their gigs featured their own light show, replete with DayGlo skulls. They also looked the part, wearing generous amounts of makeup; one of the singers, who often went by the name Pripton Weird, lacked eyebrows. Signed to the Chiswick label, the group released one single in late 1977, Saints and Sinners. Inner turmoil busted up the band around the time of its release, dividing it into two factions: Alastair Mackenzie, Michael McNeil, Donald and John Milarky formed the Cuban Heels; while Charlie Burchill, Brian McGee, and Weird (better known as Jim Kerr) formed Simple Minds.
Jim Kerr,made a tribute to recently deceased film director John Hughes (born:18 February 1950, Lansing, Michigan, USA/ died;6 August 2009, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA) Hughes used in the 1985 the song:'Don't You Forget About Me from the band in his film: The Breakfast Club. It meant the absolute breakthrough for the group in America. During the forthcoming tour Hughes will be honored by the band every night when they play live.
Jim's parents
»-(¯`v´¯)-»
Jim about Emmanuel Jal
I don't in general listen to much music in periods when we are working intensely on our own but I have been impressed by Emmanuel
Jal. A future world star if ever, least if Peter Gabriel is to be believed - and lets be honest when is Gabriel ever wrong. Emmanuel
nontheless impressed so many at last week's Hyde Park extravaganza. Check him out for yourself right here.
Jim McDermott - Drums (2006
Mark Schulman - Drums - Good News from The Next World Tour (1994-1995)
Malcolm Foster - Bass Guitar (1989-1995)
Peter-John Vettese - Keyboards (1990)
Lisa Germano - Violin - Street Fighting Years Tour (1989)
Robin Clark - Vocals - Once Upon A Time Tour (1985-1986)
Sue Hadjopolous - Percussion - Once Upon A time Tour (1985-1986)
Mike Ogletree - Drums (1982)
Kenny Hyslop - Drums (1981-1982)
Jim's Diary 25-03-2008
The Light Poured Out Of Them...
Personally, it is the alternative highlights that somehow linger most strongly for me. What I mean by that for example is that while I cannot really remember what or how I was feeling as we counted down the seconds backstage prior to the Live Aid show at JFK Philadelphia. I can on the other hand somehow never forget how over the top excited I was on hearing from our manager Bruce Findlay that we would get the chance to open as support act for Magazine on what would be our first tour of the UK.
READ MORE
MAGAZINE 1977-1981
Magazine was an English Post-punk group active between 1977 and 1981. The band was formed in Manchester by Howard Devoto after he left Buzzcocks in 1976. In April 1977 he met guitarist John McGeoch and they began writing songs which would become the first Magazine material. They recruited Barry Adamson, Bob Dickinson and Martin Jackson to form the first line-up of the band, which signed to Virgin Records. Bob Dickinson left shortly after the release of the band's first single "Shot by Both Sides" and was replaced by Dave Formula. "Shot by Both Sides", the chorus of which shared the same progression as the Buzzcocks' "Lipstick," reached the top 50 in the UK singles chart. Its cover was an early example of the goth influence in punk.
Following a tour to promote the first album Real Life, Jackson left and was replaced briefly by Paul Spencer and then John Doyle. In 1979 (with Simple Minds as support act) the second album, Secondhand Daylight followed. Devoto left the band in 1981, and after a brief solo outing and two albums with Luxuria he quit music to become a photo archivist. SIMPLE MINDS AS SUPPORT GROUP FOR MAGAZINE
- 20 Apr 1979 Edinburgh Clouds
- 21 Apr 1979 Aberdeen University
- 22 Apr 1979 St Andrews University Simple Minds
- 23 Apr 1979 Manchester Apollo
- 25 Apr 1979 Newcastle City Hall
- 26 Apr 1979 Hanley Victoria Hall
- 27 Apr 1979 Birmingham Odeon
- 28 Apr 1979 Southampton Guildhall
- 28 Apr 1979 Southampton Gaumont
- 29 Apr 1979 Oxford New Theatre
- 30 Apr 1979 Bristol Colston Hall
- May 1979 Hemel Hempstead Pavilion-Cancelled-
- 1 May 1979 Exeter University
- 2 May 1979 London Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine: Evolving from the late-'60s art-rock movement, Roxy Music had a fascination with fashion, glamour, cinema, pop art, and the avant-garde, which separated the band from their contemporaries. Dressed in bizarre, stylish costumes, the group played a defiantly experimental variation of art rock which vacillated between avant-rock and sleek pop hooks. During the early '70s, the group was driven by the creative tension between Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno, who each pulled the band in separate directions: Ferry had a fondness for American soul and Beatlesque art-pop, while Eno was intrigued by deconstructing rock with amateurish experimentalism inspired by the Velvet Underground. This incarnation of Roxy Music may have only recorded two albums, but it inspired a legion of imitators ?not only the glam-rockers of the early '70s, but art-rockers and new wave pop groups of the late '70s. Following Eno's departure, Roxy Music continued with its arty inclinations for a few albums before gradually working in elements of disco and soul.
Biography by Greg Prato
There's a reason why many consider Iggy Pop the godfather of punk ?every single punk band of the past and present has either knowingly or unknowingly borrowed a thing or two from Pop and his late-'60s/early-'70s band, the Stooges. Born on April 21, 1947, in Muskegon, MI, James Newell Osterberg was raised by his parents (his father was an English teacher) in a trailer park close to Ann Arbor, in nearby Ypsilanti. Intrigued by rock & roll (as well as such non-musical, monotonous, and mechanical sounds as his father's electric razor and the local automobile assembly plants in Detroit), Osterberg began playing drums and formed his first band, the Iguanas...
OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark) emerged from the dynamic music scene of Liverpool in the late 1970's. Founder members Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys had originally been inspired by German bands such as Kraftwerk and Neu. Working with radio sets and home made synthesisers, Humphreys and McCluskey created their own music.
Robin Clark is an american vocalist best known for her 1980s work with UK band Simple Minds. She has also performed vocals on numerous other tours and albums, including work with David Bowie and Luther Vandross amongst others. She is married to guitarist Carlos Alomar..
Once Upon a Time is the eighth album by Simple Minds, released in 1985. For Once Upon A Time and its subsequent world tour the band also featured Robin Clark as an additional lead singer, and she was heavely featured in Simple Minds music videos at this time.
Born in London is an English musician. He is best known as the long time drummer for the rock band, Simple Minds.
Gaynor joined Simple Minds in 1983 as a session drummer for the New Gold Dream album (as a recommendation by the record producer, Pete Walsh) then later joined the band permanently for the New Gold Dream tour, as a replacement for Mike Ogletree. Except for a brief stint away from the band after the Real Life tour in the early 1990s, he has been the band's drummer to the present day.
Derek Forbes. Born 22 July 1956. Derek Forbes was one of the founding member of Simple Minds. Derek also toured and recorded with Propaganda and Spear of Destiny and is now he is a member of the Scottish group FOUR GOOD MAN.
Ben Jones speaks to Simple Minds' Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill about their upcoming album Graffiti Soul, listening to the album and discussing the tracks with them.
Hot on the heels of their 30th Anniversary Celebration Tour that saw them playing to over a quarter of a million people during their sold out 2008 European/UK arena tour, and their performance at Nelson Mandela’s 90th Birthday concert in London’s Hyde Park, Simple Minds are about to enter the most prolific period within their extensive career with the highly anticipated brand new album ‘Graffiti Soul’ due for international release on May 25th by Universal Music Records label.
Their 15th studio album, ‘Graffiti Soul’ was initially written on location in Rome, Sicily, Antwerp and Glasgow. Simple Minds then returned for the first time in almost three decades to the famous Rockfield Studios where the Scottish group originally recorded their earlier seminal albums 'Real To Real Cacophony', 'Empires And Dance' and sowed the seeds of 'New Gold Dream'.
Thank you Jim, Charlie, Mel, Andy and Eddie.
You have made Pinkpop Classic 2009 FANTASTIC!
The people just loved it and so did i ;-)
By Claudia(blueangelblues
Cash For Kids
Simple Minds have announced that they are to play an exclusive, special one-off concert at Glasgow’s ABC1 venue in early December with all proceeds being donated to Radio Clyde’s Cash for Kids charity.
The concert will take place at the 1250 capacity venue on Sauchiehall Street on the night of Sunday 7 December with tickets priced at £35. All profits will go to the charity which launched its Christmas Appeal yesterday and raised £1.6 Million last year to help under privileged children throughout Scotland.
Anyone who registers on www.simpleminds.com will be eligible for ticket presale from 9am, Wednesday 8th October. Tickets to the general public will go on sale at 9am, Friday 10th October.
Jim Kerr said, 'As a benefit concert the ABC show presents us with the opportunity to work with Radio Clyde on their annual’s Cash for Kids campaign. Within that we would like to encourage and congratulate them and their listeners for their continued efforts that over so many years have raised so much for local children’s charities.
Radio Clyde’s Programme Director, Paul Saunders said, 'We’re absolutely thrilled that an iconic band like Simple Minds who have sold millions of records throughout the world have made this generous offer of support for Radio Clyde’s Cash for Kids. It’s a brilliant gesture from the band. It promises to be a night that none of us will forget and will surely help thousands of disadvantaged children in the West of Scotland have a better Christmas'.
Interview
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GRAFFITI SOUL
ALBUM TRACKS
Moscow Underground
Rockets
Stars Will Lead the Way
Light Travels
Kiss and Fly
Graffiti Soul
Blood Type O
This Is It
30TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR UK
Simple Minds will take a break from the preparations of their new album to celebrate their 30th Anniversary with a series of six rare UK concerts during November and December.
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Thurs Nov 27th Manchester MEN Arena.
Fri Nov 28th Birmingham NEC.
Sat Nov 29th London Wembley Arena.
Mon Dec 1st Sheffield Arena Tuesday.
Tue Dec 2nd Cardiff Arena.
Wed Dec 3rd – Newcastle Metro Radio Arena
Thu Dec 4th Glasgow SECC.
Sat Dec 6th – Belfast Odyssey Arena
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National Credit Card Hotline 0871 424 4444 or
book online at www.ticketline.co.uk
Simple Minds will record the tracks for their new album in Rockfield Studios, Wales, throughout the month of August.
It is bound to be a rather emotional return as Rockfield is where the band recorded some of their fledgling and most innovative work,
specifically both their second and third albums -Real to Real Cacophony, Empires and Dance.
With Jez Coad who co produced the bands last album Black and White 050505 returning to fulfil the same duties, drummer Mel Gaynor and
bassist Eddy Duffy will join founder members Charlie Burchill and Jim Kerr - both of whom have spent the last few months writing the set of
new songs that are due to be recorded. Andy Gillespie will add additional keyboards.
Legendary mixer Bob Clearmountain is set to complete the finishing work at his own Mix This studios in Los Angeles and the album when
completed will be ready for international release within the early months of '09.
Rockfield Studios Wales
In 1965 Rockfield was acknowledged to be the first residential recording studio in the world.
The now famous studios have played host to many of the world’s biggest artists - Rush, Oasis, Iggy Pop, Nigel Kennedy, Simple Minds and in 1975 was the primary studios used by Queen for the recording of the greatest pop record of all times ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.
Nelson Mandela was incarcerated in 1964 for being one of the primary leaders of the liberation movement against apartheid in South Africa, and for his impassioned stance on the rights of everyone to live in freedom.
For now, we want to celebrate the 90th birthday of Nelson Mandela... If you want to buy standard tickets to this once-in-a-lifetime concert, then simply register your details here and we will send you a password and presale link when the onsale date is announced..read more
12 may BBC Radio 4: Glaswegian musician Midge Ure goes back to the city of his childhood to explore his musical roots, and ask why Scotland has been such a hotbed of musical talent over the years, in the first programme of this new, two-part series.In part two, Midge explores the Scottish music scene from the early Eighties onwards. When the punk movement hit in the late Seventies, it had a huge impact on the Scottish rock and pop scene and showed a younger generation of musicians that they could both be successful and base themselves in Scotland. Midge talks to Simple Mind's Jim Kerr about their legacy.
From Simple Minds to an international screenwriting prize John Milarky has won the 18th annual Hartley-Merrill Prize for Intl. Screenwriting for his script "The Strangest Thing."
Milarky was a founding member of Simple Minds in 1977. They started off as a punk outfit known as Johnny and the Self Abusers, and Kerr and Milarky shared vocal duties. But there were tensions from the outset and he left at the end of that year, not long after the change of name.
Three decades after the momentous split with Jim Kerr and company, John Milarky finally looks set to make a major impression on the world of showbiz at the age of 48 - as a film writer.
Glasgow-born Milarky has beaten entrants from all over the world to win a top international screenplay award, which will take him to Hollywood and put his film The Strangest Thing on the fast track to box-office success. If all goes well, the film is likely to be shot in the Highlands next year.
Villa Angela: a dream come true While on tour with rock group Simple Minds in 1995, Jim Kerr the lead singer of the famous Scottish band arrived on this Mediterranean island and fell hopelessly in love not only with this most romantic destination, but also with the warmth of the Sicilian people and their passion for life.
Aided and inspired by the vision of his friends, Antonio & Giovanni Chemi & Family, the dream of creating an intimate hotel where others could also come to enjoy the magic Mt Etna and the wonder of Taormina's Teatro Greco was born. It is well known locally that from day one to it's final completion, the greatest attention to detail was used in the aim of creating a Villa with an ambiance that would befit it's unique position in Taormina by transmitting only the real essence of Sicilian life.
Brian McGee (drummer), drummer with the bands Simple Minds, Engames and Propaganda.
singer and guitarist of Plow United. Brian first met Jim Kerr in the playground of Holyrood Catholic school. Brian had a copy of Ziggy Stardust and a home-made Wizzard keyring. Jim asked if Brian would make him a Bowie one. “And he did and he didn't skin me for it. He gave it to me for nothing.”
The owner of a drumkit, he became the drummer in the school band, Biba-Rom!. His parents also owned a pub, which gave the fledgling musicians a place to rehearse.
He became the drummer in Johnny And The Self Abuers after a recommendation from Jim.
The group’s prankster, he also suffered from a short temper, throwing a wellington boot through the front window of John Milarky’s house. He was also the only member of the group who could drive, and ended up being their tour driver.
After the split of Johnny And The Self Abusers, he continued with Jim, Charlie and Tony in Simple Minds.
In May 1978, he was asked to transfer to The Subs as a replacement for Ali MacKenzie, but he didn't have to make a decision as The Subs soon completely fragmented.
He drummed on four albums but was never comfortable with touring. In the end, unhappy being away from home for increasingly long periods, and having just married, he left the band after recording Sons And Fascination. In later interviews, he admitted that he totally regretted his decision shortly after making it.
After a stint working in his parents pub, he join Glasgow band Endgames.
(info found on Dream Giver Redux)
formermember Mick MacNeil
(born 20 July 1958, Glasgow) was the keyboardist for the Scottish band, Simple Minds, best remembered for their UK #7/US #1 hit single, "Don't You (Forget About Me)". He left the band in 1989, for health reasons. He then released the album People, Places, Things on his own record label, Mixrecords. He is now the keyboardist with the band Fourgoodmen.
Interview by Georgina Reid
The Sun, Thursday, March 2, 2000
Picture the scene. A number one album, a number one single and a sell-out tour.
That was the moment Mick MacNeil got on a plane and turned his back on supergroup Simple Minds. He fled a hotel in Brisbane at dawn with his beautiful wife Hannah. And, as he flew off into the sunrise, he felt nothing but utter relief - he had made his great escape. Ten years of struggle and turmoil fell from his shoulders as Mick MacNeil roared off into the future without a backward glance. The keyboard star with Scotland's biggest rock band was free! He had wanted to leave in true Thelma and Louise style - only he wanted to grab his freedom on a Harley Davidson. The working class lads from Glasgow had struggled for 10 years but were at the peak of their fame. Founding members singer Jim Kerr, guitarist Charlie Burchill and Mick, had made it. They were on THE BIG ONE, a megabucks tour which would rocket them to super-stardom. But Mick had already made his decision to quit Simple Minds months earlier in 1989...read more
Mark former drummer GUN
Jim's brother Mark Kerr was the drummer for the Scottisch Band GUN til 1997.
25 april 2007 Jim's Diary
It is inevitable if you go to Australia that you will come across some of the most spellbinding art created by the country's Aboriginal people. Each time I visit I am usually lucky enough to come across something or other from the aborigine culture that I buy and bring back with me. This last time however, it was not a commodity; rather it was the appeal of the following words that struck deep. "Our Dreaming never ends. Unlike other men, for us what happens once, happens again and again! This is the law. This is the power of the song and the songlines. Through the singing we keep everything alive. Through the songs ¡K the spirits keep us alive."
Great Lyrics - What's The Point In Even Trying?
Barely ever watching television it means that I was probably the last man in the country to see it, nevertheless David Bowie - a favorite of mine - showed up in one show during the last series of a wonderful BBC comedy called Extras.
In the sketch he ends up sitting in at a piano in a trendy club. The hilarity begins when he parody¡¦s himself singing a completely inane song called 'Little Fat Man'. As a piece of fun, it was superb and a charming act from Bowie.
However what struck me more was that if I ignored the ridiculous lyrics, this daft ditty was to my ears the best piece of music from Bowie I had heard in a very, very long time. In fact maybe even with the goofy words, this was still exactly the kind of piano ballad sound that I have been hoping Bowie would return to since he stopped playing with it around the period of his "Hunky Dory" album.
That Bowie could the sing those words and keep a straight face was impressive enough. But strangely enough the feeling I get on reflection is that perhaps it is so - and that people with such good voices as Bowie, Chrissie Hynde and Bono to name a few. Probably could sing something as mundane as a telephone directory and it would still really touch you in a profound way. A daft thought maybe, but maybe also true! Neon Bible.
With so much music around and so much of it pretty good at the very most in a pretty average sort of way, it is then of course difficult not to jump with joy when a band as unique as Arcade Fire seemingly appear meteoric from nowhere. Their debut was a glorious effort and their relatively recently released second album trailblazes further.
Neil Hanlon the frontman of the Divine Comedy - quite a genius himself in my books - recently reported on the impact of seeing Arcade Fire play live in Dublin. "This small army of players stormed the stage, and to my childish elation, tore into No Cars Go. I had never before seen or heard anything like it. Instantly all the tiresome singer-songwriters, dodgy guitar bands and stadium bores I have had to endure over the years instantly melted away. I abandoned decorum and danced like a loon!"
Seems that Arcade Fire not only live up to their hype, they demolish it!
JK
