Some songs couldn’t possibly have come from any other decade than the 80s. We all know the type – huge, anthemic, singalong classics. The type of song you scream along to until it feels like your lungs are on the verge of bursting. This song is undoubtedly one of those.
The artist
As scarcely believable as this is, Simple Minds formed in 1977, one of the UK’s greatest music cities – Glasgow. Yes, you read that correctly – 1977. Singer Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill were childhood friends. Joined by keyboardist Mick MacNeil, bassist Derek Forbes, and drummer Brian McGee, they took their name from a line in David Bowie’s The Jean Genie. The band were keen to retain the raw punk spirit of the time, whilst injecting a greater degree of musicality than the typical punk three-chord songs. About that original aim, Kerr says ‘From the moment we first heard a DJ playing the 12-inch version of Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’, I knew we had to find a local musician with a synthesizer. As we got going, we soon realised there were a clutch of other bands, like Siouxsie And The Banshees, The Cure, and Magazine, who were also moving away from punk.’
The band found a manager, Bruce Findlay, and experimented with a more expansive sound than typical bands of the day. They released their debut album, Life In A Day, in April 1979. Two more albums swiftly followed; Real to Real Cacophony later that year, and 1980’s Empires and Dance. In what proved to be a hugely productive period for the band, certainly in terms of recorded output, three further albums were released: Sons and Fascination, and Sister Feelings Call, both in 1981 (originally released as a double album, before being released as two separate albums 1 month later), and New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) in 1982. The latter produced the band’s first big hit, Promised You A Miracle, and their subsequent album, 1984’s Sparkle In The Rain, including the brilliant Waterfront, started to cement their status as a global presence. This was rubber-stamped in 1985, when Don’t You (Forget About Me) went stratospheric, just prior to the release of the 3 x platinum selling album (in the UK) Once Upon A Time, featuring the hit singles Sanctify Yourself and Alive and Kicking…
Why I’ve chosen to write about this song
Primarily as it’s a truly classic song. So representative of the 80s and just utterly joyous. It’s a slow burner, with that subdued opening gradually building up to that wonderful and instantly recognisable chorus. Then, of course, there’s the outro. When the first “Bah da da da“ kicks in at the 4 minute 36 second mark, there’s no doubt we’re firmly in ‘scream it as loud as you can’ territory. As will be the case with so many songs I’ll write about here, this is a song I liked during the 80’s, though my love for it has grown during the years since. I now appreciate the fine art of crafting a perfect pop song much more than I did during my younger years, and Simple Minds were brilliant at doing this. I get really annoyed when people are dismissive of pop music, particularly when they claim ‘oh, anyone could write that’ (or other similar tosh). Really? If that is the case, and it’s that simple, crack on then. I look forward to coming back in a few hours and hearing your masterpiece. Writing pop music is as difficult to master as any other genre of music. I consider it to be a true artform and it’s why I have always loved, and always will love, pop music.
The video
The video consists of the band playing outdoors. I was certain this would have been shot somewhere in Scotland, with rolling hills, a vast body of water, and a waterfall figuring quite prominently, though I was wrong. It was shot near the town of Hunter, at North-South Lake in the Catskill Mountains of New York State. It’s a decent enough video – not groundbreaking or widely regarded as one of the decade’s very best, but still decent enough. Though, as someone who is scared of heights, my one abiding memory of it is just how close they’re stood to the edge of that rockface. My legs turn to jelly just watching it – health & safety rules were clearly much more relaxed in the 80s!
The stats
Released in October 1985, the song debuted at number 12 and hit a peak of number 7 two weeks later. It stayed in the chart for 9 weeks in total, dropping out in early December. It hit the lower reaches of the chart again later that month, though never troubled the top 40. This is one of those instances where I expected a classic song such as this to have reached a higher position. However, there are many examples of this within the 80s – it was certainly the decade when many songs now considered to be classics didn’t chart as highly as we may immediately think.
When the song first charted, the number one song in the UK was Jennifer Rush’s The Power Of Love. When it reached its peak two weeks later, Rush was still number one. During its final week of that initial run (the 7th December 1985 chart), Wham’s I’m Your Man held the top spot. The number one album at that time was Now That’s What I Call Music! 6. Perhaps no surprise, given how hugely popular the initial albums in that series were in the run up to Christmas from the early-80s onward.
The cover version
Jeez, this proved difficult! For such a hugely popular song, there aren’t that many cover versions available. Sure, there are homemade videos aplenty on YouTube, but little in the way of decent professionally recorded covers. So, I’m going out on a real limb! Since my daughter was very young, I’ve always loved the lullaby versions of rock and pop songs. There are now hundreds of them, including this one. I find them strangely hypnotic and incredibly relaxing – this is no exception. Put your immediate concerns to one side and give this one a listen. You may just use it (and many others like it) to get you off to sleep sometime soon!
The wrap-up
Some songs I’ll write about here are showing signs of ageing. This one isn’t. It still sounds as huge and vibrant as it did 39 years ago. It never fails to make me smile, sing, and, when I’m home alone, spin around with my arms held wide, pretending I’m Jim Kerr in the video. It is the very definition of an 80s classic. Grab a brew, find a comfy chair, click play on that YouTube link, and sing your heart out for five and a half minutes – it’s pretty much guaranteed you’ll feel better at the end of it.
Best wishes.
Mick
