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1985's Smash-hit "Alive & Kicking" by Simple
Minds. This is my own video remix tribute
(re-edited on this catchy chorus as sample)
done from the rare US Maxi-Promo a.k.a.
'Extended 12" Mix'. only hope you'll really
like it... :)
Review.- Simple Minds is a rock band from
Scotland, which had its greatest worldwide
popularity from the mid-1980s to the
early-1990s. The band, from the south side of
Glasgow, produced a handful of critically
acclaimed albums in the early 1980s, and
later went on to produce some politically
inspired and critically praised work.
Founding members Jim Kerr (vocals) and
Charlie Burchill (guitar), along with drummer
Mel Gaynor, are the core of the band, which
currently features Mark Taylor on keyboards
and Eddie Duffy on bass guitar.
Charlie Burchill and Jim Kerr formed a punk
band in 1977. They were heavily influenced by
Lou Reed, and after one unsuccessful single
as Johnny & the Self Abusers, they shuffled
the line-up to include former Abusers Brian
McGee on drums and Tony Donald on bass
guitar, the latter of whom was quickly
replaced by Derek Forbes.
Simple Minds commercial first album, Life in
a Day, took a cue from fellow Post-punk
forebears Magazine, and was somewhat
self-consciously derivative of the late-70s
punk boom.
While still categorisable as 'rock', Simple
Minds' second release, Real to Real
Cacophony, had a darker edge, and announced
some of the New Wave experimentation that
would become the band's trademark sound over
the next two albums.
The next album, Empires and Dance, was a far
more radical departure, and signalled the
influence of Kraftwerk, Neu! and similar
European artists. Indeed, during this period
Simple Minds promoted themselves as a
European band, not a Scottish or UK band.
Simple Minds' sixth studio album, New Gold
Dream (81-82-83-84), released in 1982, was a
significant turning point for the band. With
a slick, sophisticated sound thanks to
producer Peter Walsh, Simple Minds were soon
categorised as part of the New Romantic
outgrowth of New Wave (along with Duran Duran
and others), and the record generated a
handful of charting singles including
"Promised You a Miracle" and "Glittering
Prize", which both hit the UK Top 20 and
Australian Top 10, continuing the band's
early success in that region. In addition,
jazz keyboardist Herbie Hancock performed a
synth solo on the track "Hunter and the
Hunted."
Despite the band's new-found popularity in
the UK and Europe, Simple Minds remained
essentially unknown in the U.S. The movie The
Breakfast Club changed all that. Released in
early 1985, this Brat Pack drama from
writer/director John Hughes was a box-office
smash and made household names of many of its
young stars, including Molly Ringwald, Judd
Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy and
Emilio Estevez. It also broke Simple Minds
into the US market almost overnight, when the
band achieved their only number-one U.S. pop
hit with the film's opening track, "Don't You
(Forget About Me)". Ironically, the song
wasn't even written by the band, but by Keith
Forsey, who offered the song to Billy Idol
and Bryan Ferry before Simple Minds agreed to
record it. The song soon became a
chart-topper in many other countries around
the world.
Taking advantage of their new-found
popularity, Simple Minds released their most
unashamedly commercial album, Once Upon a
Time, which was tailored specifically to
appeal to the stadium-rock sensibilities of
American audiences. Reviled by some long-time
fans yet embraced by millions of new
listeners and critically well-received, the
record reached number one in the UK and
number ten in the US, even though "Don't You
(Forget About Me)" was not included. The band
made it clear in interviews prior to the
album's release that they would not include
the song, believing that it would devalue the
rest of the album, which they felt could
stand on its own merits.
Once Upon a Time would go on to generate four
worldwide hit singles: "Alive & Kicking",
"Sanctify Yourself", "Ghostdancing" and "All
The Things She Said", the latter of which
featured a cutting-edge music video directed
by Zbigniew Rybczyński that used techniques
later employed in music videos for Pet Shop
Boys and Art of Noise. Because of Simple
Minds powerful stage presence and lyrics that
trafficked in Christian symbolism, the band
was criticized by some in the music press as
a lesser version of U2, despite the fact that
both bands were now heading in different
musical directions.
Simple Minds have secured a string of
successful hit singles, the best known being
its number one worldwide hit single "Don't
You (Forget About Me)", from the soundtrack
of the John Hughes movie The Breakfast Club.
Tags : 80's Simple Minds Alive and Kicking Extended 12" Mix UK Scotland 1985 Rock pop new wave music video remix tribute |
