Simple minds is a Scottish group created in 1977 by Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill. A third member - Michael MacNeil - will have a significant part in the success of the group and his departure in the early 90s will have a lasting impact on the latter. Originally, the band was called "Johnny & the Self Abusers" and will release a single Single that will go completely unnoticed. The name "Simple Minds" is taken from David Bowie's song "The Jean Genie" (‘He’s so simple minded he can’t drive his module ....). It was in 1979 that things accelerated with the release of the album "Life in a day", an album which met with great success across the Channel. But it was the year 1982 which saw the group for the 1st time propelled to the top of hits with the now legendary album "New Gold Dream" from which the flagship Singles "Promised you a miracle" and "Someone somewhere in summertime" would come. 1984 saw the release of the album "Sparkle in the Rain" which confirmed the group's rise with the single "Waterfront". 1986 will be the year of planetary consecration with the titles "Don’t you (forget about me)" and especially "Alive and Kicking" from the album "Once upon a time". Album which remains to this day their biggest success. 1989 will see the release of the now legendary "Mandela day", a strong message on a then controversial situation in South Africa. Other successful albums will be released later including "Street fighting years" in 1989, "Real life" in 1991 and "Good news for the next world" in 1995. Three albums worn at arm's length respectively by the Singles "Belfast child", "Let there be love" and "She's a river".
And the adventure will continue during the following decades with the release of other albums, but these will be far from reaching the enormous success encountered by those released during the 80s and 90s.
Simple Minds will remain one of the major groups of the 80s with one of the most extensive discography and the production of a large number of titles that will have marked contemporary musical history... To discover or rediscover...
Discography (among others ...) :
70s Decade :
• Life in a day 1979
80s Decade :
• Love song 1981
• Sweat bullet 1981
• Promised you a miracle 1982
• Glittering prize 1982
• Someone somewhere in summertime 1982
• Waterfront 1983
• Speed your love to me 1984
• Upon the catwalk 1984
• Don’t you (forget about me) 1985
• Alive and kicking 1985
• Sanctify yourself 1986
• All the things she said 1986
• Ghostdancing 1986
• Belfast chilld 1989
• Mandela day 1989
• This is your land 1989
• Kick it in 1989
• Let it all come down 1989
90s Decade :
• Let there be love 1991
• See the lights 1991
• Stand by love 1991
• She's a river 1995
• Hypnotized 1995
• Glitterball 1998
• War babies 1998
2000s Decade :
• Dancing barefoot 2001
• Homosapien 2001
• Cry 2002
• Spaceface 2002
• New sunshine morning 2002
• One step closer 2002
• Too much television 2005
• Home 2005
• Stranger 2006
• Different world (Taormina.me) 2006
• Rockets 2009
• Stars will lead the way 2009
2010s Decade :
• Broken glass park 2013
• Honest town 2014
• Spirited away 2014
• Midnight walking 2014
• Magic 2018
• The signal and the noise 2018
• Sense of discovery 2018
2020s Decade :
• Act of love 2021
• Vision thing 2022
• First you jump 2022
• Vision thing 2022
• Planet zero 2022
• Solstice kiss 2022
Tracks :
1979...the very very very beginnings. It's hard to imagine seeing them the incredible career that awaits them and yet they will become in a few years one of the greatest groups of this end of the 20th century...
1981...the group grew, matured and produced a first big hit. It must be said that with such potential, we suspected that the group was going to take off at one time or another...
1981... the confirmation of an obvious, extraordinary talent capable of great things. The future will prove it and how !
1982... the HUGE hit that will change everything. No more playing with the little ones, welcome to the big leagues. The group will make a sensational entry on the international music scene thanks to this title and prove in a masterful way that they had everything they needed to reach the highest level !
1982...1981 was the year of the hatching of the group to the International. 1982 will be that of the first planetary hits and this is only the beginning because the sequel promises to be enormous to say the least...
1982...the MARVEL ! A year 1982 which ends in apotheosis with what will surely remain as one of their best titles. A talent that now hits the mark on every title !
1983...the group reaches its total and full maturity. He delivers here what will undoubtedly remain as one of his most successful titles and is positioned de facto as one of the leading groups of the moment !
1984 ... and what about that one ! The ramp-up is done year after year and the result is more and more breathtaking !
1984 ... once again, proof of limitless talent with this new world class title. The Interplanetary Class !
1985 ... the year of transcosmic hits ! Starting with this first. A year that will undoubtedly remain the best vintage of the group. HU-GE !
1985...the title of the ultimate consecration. This title makes them definitively enter the musical legend of the 80s, a well-deserved recognition. MAS-TER-FUL !
1986...they too deserve beatification for all the good they have done to our ears ! 1986 got off to a flying start and showed once again that in the middle of the 1980s the group was literally walking on water !
1986...a sequel once again of high quality. Quality, with them, is a constant even if this title will experience a level of success a little less than its predecessors...
1986 ... a new triplet of hits. After 1982, it was the turn of 1986. A group which obviously likes even numbers...
1989...the year of humanist and protesting titles. An astonishing and quirky end of the decade, far from the star system but which will see them win two new prestigious stars to add to a prize list that already contains a lot...
1989...a new proof with this humanist hit as a fireworks display to celebrate the end of the decade. A decade that will have seen them literally explode at the highest level thanks to a truly extraordinary talent !
1989 ... a year also under the sign of lyricism and sweetness. They will definitely have gone through all extremes ...
1989...a year where everything is mixed up. The exceptional like everything coming. There, we would rather be in everything unfortunately...
1989...a sumptuous ballad to end this decidedly very prolific year. A year 1989 which sees them in top form and which above all augurs well for a most interesting sequel !
1991...a change of decade that happens in ideal conditions with a new top hit with this title. All is well in the best of worlds !
1991...for the moment the group manages to compete with the surging House and other Nirvana which 'outdated' him somewhat. No worries for now but hope it lasts...
1991...certainly, the group no longer has the same level of success as during the 80s but he continues on its merry way. Slowly but surely...
1995...the last notorious hit. This time, it is indeed the last, at least compared to what they experienced during the 80s. Afterwards, they will still manage to land some great hits afterwards...
1995...a last fine performance during the 90s that it would have been a shame to ignore. A decade of the 90s which will have been a little more complicated to manage than expected in the end...
1998...they land this 'little' hit at the end of the decade, a title which once again shows that they are still there. It remains to be seen what they will offer us next...
1998 ... come on, we are ending this decade with one last piece of choice. Not necessarily their best but once again with certain quality !
2001...there they are, then, in this new 2000 decade. With as an appetizer this revisited version of Patti Smith's title dating from 1979. A nice version but which will not bring much more than the original...
2001...business picks up somewhat with this new title. But we're not going to lie to each other, the best years are now behind...
2002...that will not prevent them from achieving several fine performances during this new decade. Including this title which offers them a big hit with the direct consequence of a reinforced desire to continue the adventure...
2002...the big hits will alternate more and more with other titles which will pass, them, 'through'. This title will be part of it unfortunately...
2002...this one won't do any better. Yet the quality remains, it is clear. But the group finds it more and more difficult to exist in the midst of competition from little youngsters who are on average 20 years younger in age...
2002...even if the level of inspiration is no longer as high as in previous decades, what they continue to offer largely holds up. So we take !
2005... not much interesting for almost 3 years and here they are again in this year 2005. Back in a relative form, insufficient in any case to get a hit with this title...
2005... this one on the other hand will know a much more favorable destiny. Their second big hit of the decade but which could unfortunately be the last of this level...
2006...the group will have to be content with a few small hits here and there, but the time for planetary mega hits is well and truly over. Hard law of the trade...
2006...that in no way prevents the group from continuing its adventure in its own way and in the style that suits him well. Afterwards, rightly or wrongly, that's something else...
2009...we lost sight of them for 3 years and here they are back at the very end of the 2000 decade. A winning comeback on this one because this 2009 vintage will remain as a good vintage, it is clear...
2009...thanks to this winning comeback, the group shows the whole world that we will have to count on them in the years to come. An exceptional longevity !
2013...as expected, here they are again a few years later. Even if the success achieved will be more limited at least on the Singles side, what they offer us today is of an stunning quality level. What talent !
2014... with each title we tell ourselves that it may be the last and each time they impress us with what they are still capable of delivering. And it's not over, far from it...
2014...the inspiration is back and allows the group to come back to the forefront. Who could have imagined in 1979 when they started that they would still be there in 2014 and in what way ?!
2014...a great and big year 2014 with a plethora of titles of more than certain quality. The group has been able to reinvent himself and it shows, especially it can be heard !
2018...it is certain that they no longer produce as many titles as before, but the little now produced is more than enough for our happiness. At least they continue to produce and that's the main thing !
2018... we are already at nearly 40 years of presence on the international music scene. Admittedly, this decade will have seen them demote in the planetary hierarchy but they are still there, which is not the case for a bunch of groups that started at the same time as them...
2018...they will have been able to cross all eras, all styles and all fashions. Only the most talented will have succeeded in this performance and there are not many of them, that's for sure...
2021...and here they are starting their 6th career decade, who would have thought ! And it is almost certain that we will see them again later because you have to know, with them, nothing is ever over !
2022...we suspected that the adventure would not end there again. A group with truly extraordinary talent and which absolutely does not change over time, incredible but true...
2022...one really wonders how their inspiration manages to renew itself to such an extent. You still have to remember that they started their career in 1979 !
2022...would surprise me if most of the bands born today have such a long career. A real feat...
2022... so when is the next one ? We know that they will inevitably come back one day when the others, it's just a matter of time as they say...
2015 ...Top Bonus : surely one of the most beautiful live versions of the Wonder !
2023...a timeless title which will undoubtedly remain as their masterpiece and which crosses time in a masterful way...
Top Bonus : 2023...when 2 legendary groups have a little jam together...
Wiki :
Official Website :
Greatest Hits :
Discography :