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As a band on the ascent in the early 1980s, Scottish alternative rockers Simple Minds began cracking the North American market at college radio with singles including 1982\u2019s shimmering \u201cPromised You a Miracle\u201d and the anthemic \u201cWaterfront\u201d from 1984 album \u201cSparkle in the Rain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite major success in Europe and elsewhere, mainstream acceptance in the U.S. remained elusive.<\/p>\n
A&M Records made a rare admission. \u201cThey basically said, \u2018We blew it,\u2019\u201d says singer Jim Kerr. \u201cThey told us, \u2018Your band\u2019s happening everywhere else. The next one, we\u2019re here for you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Simple Minds\u2019 fortunes rocketed in 1985 with three major events that are commemorated on the Alive and Kicking Tour, which visits Chicago on Friday.<\/p>\n
The first milestone was the February 1985 release of \u201cDon\u2019t You (Forget About Me)\u201d on the soundtrack for director John Hughes\u2019 film \u201cThe Breakfast Club.\u201d Although the song was a No. 1 hit and became an emblematic song for the decade, the band was skeptical when approached with the opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything sounded good until [the label] said, \u2018We have the song,\u2019\u201d says Kerr. \u201cWe said, \u2018Hang on a minute. We write our own songs.\u2019 We were not so jumping up and down at the idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
The band\u2019s mood improved upon meeting the creative team including Hughes and songwriter Keith Forsey.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur attitude became, \u2018Nothing ventured, nothing gained,\u2019\u201d says Kerr. \u201cWe gave it the Simple Minds treatment. By the end of that afternoon, it felt like we had lightning in a bottle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIf you\u2019re going to do something as long as we\u2019ve done this, nothing goes on the up and the up and the up. That\u2019s just life itself. Some records turned out exactly as you wanted. Others slipped through your fingers, and didn\u2019t quite get what you had in your mind.\u201d \u2014 Simple Minds\u2019 Jim Kerr<\/i>\n <\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
In July 1985, the band performed at Live Aid in Philadelphia. The three-song set at JFK Stadium reached an unprecedented global audience via television.<\/p>\n
The chiming sound of Charlie Burchill\u2019s guitar during opening song \u201cGhost Dancing\u201d was echoed two years later by U2\u2019s \u201cWhere the Streets Have No Name.\u201d In his book \u201c60 Songs That Saved My Life,\u201d Bono wrote that without Simple Minds, \u201cI don\u2019t believe there would have been an \u2018Unforgettable Fire\u2019 or a \u2018Joshua Tree.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Kerr is magnanimous toward his Irish friends in U2.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone was rubbing off onto each other,\u201d he says. \u201cBeing Irish and Scottish, we got on like a house on fire as people. Not only did we share the Celtic blood, we shared a lot of the same idealism, and we had that big sound. The Waterboys had some of it as well. Big Country, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fall 1985 saw the release of the band\u2019s seventh studio album \u201cOnce Upon a Time,\u201d which scaled the charts with the stirring \u201cAll the Things She Said\u201d and soulful \u201cSanctify Yourself.\u201d The album\u2019s euphoric No. 3 single \u201cAlive and Kicking\u201d gives the band\u2019s current tour its name and has encapsulated Simple Minds\u2019 essence for 40 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always felt thankful as a writer that the music I got to work with had good, strong melodic content and came with a certain uplift,\u201d says Kerr. \u201cThere was something feel-good about it, even when we were trying to be dark and dangerous back in the art-rock days. I like the fact that our thing not only makes me feel good, but you can feel the vibe in the audience. It\u2019s spiraling upwards.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simple Minds are halfway through their 20th<\/sup> album, following 2022\u2019s \u201cDirection of the Heart.\u201d Kerr expresses the band\u2019s enthusiasm for new music, even if fortunes don\u2019t match the success attained 40 years ago.<\/p>\n