Personalities | Simple Minds | Eighties | Rock

(Vocal/instrumental group, 1977–present)

Formerly known as Johnny and The Self-Abusers, Glaswegians Jim Kerr (vocals), Charlie Burchill (guitar), Derek Forbes (bass), Mick McNeil (keyboards) and Brian McGee (drums) took on board the experimentations of Krautrock and Brian Eno for their second album Real To Real Cacophony (1979). They gently sloughed off their weirder tendencies over their next two albums, before 1982’s New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) chimed with the era’s love of melodic, but mildly arty synth-pop. The album went to No. 3 and housed their first hits ‘Promised You A Miracle’ and ‘Glittering Prize’. It also gained them a foothold in America, which they exploited with 1984’s Sparkle In The Rain and US chart-topper ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’. Once Upon A Time (1985) kept up the momentum, as they vied with U2 as the world’s No. 1 stadium rock band; but by the early 1990s Jim Kerr’s anthemic pop was beginning to date.

Styles & Forms | Eighties | Rock
Personalities | Slayer | Eighties | Rock

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley

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