Alive and kicking - Simple Minds - 1985

Simple Minds

Alive and kicking

Simple Minds

Fonte: ondarock.it

La parabola dei Simple Minds è quella di tante band della new wave partite da ambizioni sperimentali e approdate a un pop-rock da classifica (e non), inesorabilmente condannato all'oblio. Come per tanti di questi gruppi, nati all'alba degli anni 80, in piena era "new 

romantic", anche a loro resteranno attaccate nei secoli dei secoli le odiose etichette di "vacui", "pomposi", "insinceri", in opposizione alla musica "dura e pura" delle band alternative del periodo. Scopo di questa scheda, invece, è cercare di sfatare i luoghi 

comuni della critica indiesnob, rivalutando il senso di una carriera che - almeno nella prima parte - ha offerto notevoli spunti d'interesse, e non solo sul piano della ricerca melodica e della cura negli arrangiamenti.

La fiammata punk che incendia Londra nel 1977 si propaga rapidamente anche nella vicina Glasgow (Scozia), dove un anno dopo, dalle ceneri di Johnny & The Self Abusers (autori del brioso singolo "Saints And Sinners") nascono i giovanissimi Simple Minds. La formazione, 

che prende il nome da un verso della "Jean Genie" di David Bowie ("He's so simple minded"), è inizialmente un terzetto: al cantante e leader Jim Kerr (1959), si affiancano il chitarrista Charlie Burchill (1959) e il tastierista Mike McNeil (1958). I tre hanno già un 

contratto con la Zoom, una piccola etichetta di Edimburgo distribuita dalla Arista, per la quale pubblicano l'album d'esordio Life In A Day (1979). Come per i loro "cugini" Magazine, Ultravox e Japan, però, del (post-)punk resta solo un'ombra, destinata a essere presto 

seppellita sotto massicci strati di synth. In realtà, i veri numi tutelari di questa nidiata sono soprattutto i pionieri elettronici tedeschi (Kraftwerk, Neu!) e l'immancabile David Bowie. Dei primi, i Simple Minds riprenderanno soprattutto le sonorità pulsanti e ossessive, del secondo l'attitudine glamorous e lo straordinario talento melodico.

Grezzo come quasi tutti gli esordi, ma illuminato da una brillante verve compositiva, Life In A Day è uno dei dischi più interessanti di questo primo scorcio di new wave. Kerr e compagni (cui si aggiungono Derek Forbes al basso e Brian McGee alla batteria) riescono 

a costruire eleganti architetture elettroniche attorno a un pugno di melodie romantiche, via via stravolte da arrangiamenti sempre fantasiosi e sovraccarichi, nel senso più Roxy Music del termine. La title track, ad esempio, è un piccolo capolavoro, con il canto struggente di 

Kerr e la chitarra tesa di Burchill a disegnare la linea melodica di base, e McNeill a impreziosirla con intricati ghirigori di organo e tastiere. Questo uso fantasioso dell'elettronica, abbinato all'incredibile facilità nel cesellare ritornelli pop, torna nell'altro 

gioiello "Someone", dal piglio fatalista e decadente alla Bowie, ma anche nella languidamente ultravoxiana "Destiny", nella orecchiabile "All For You" e nella più complessa "Sad Affair", che alterna le sferragliate di chitarra a inserti di synth e sassofono.

La vena sperimentale del gruppo si esprime al meglio anche sulla lunga distanza, negli otto minuti della teatrale "Pleasantly Disturbed", forte di un uso straniante degli archi e di un tamburo incessante, e negli oltre sei minuti di "Murder Story", versione oscura del glam-

rock dei Roxy Music, con un testo che sembra quasi rievocare le sindromi claustrofobiche del Bowie berlinese: "I get nightmares of places people go to meet/ It's so apparent when I walk in the door, That I'm all alone/ There's no one home and no one wants me anymore/ 

So claustrophobic if I stand in one place". L'incalzante "No Cure", invece, rielabora un precedente brano chiamato "Cocteau Twins" e al quale si ispirerà per la scelta del nome proprio la band di Elizabeth Fraser. Il singolo è però "Chelsea Girl", che ruba il riff alla "Temporary Thing" di Lou Reed, un altro riferimento-cardine della band.

Griffato da una copertina monocromatica nera, il successivo Real To Real Cacophony (1979) vira verso un sound più ostico e minaccioso à-la Wire, meritando la definizione di "album meno commerciale mai distribuito dalla Arista". Il tentativo di conquistare una 

reputazione di band d'avanguardia, con i piedi piantati nell'art rock dei 70 e lo sguardo proiettato in un futuro techno, risulta spesso velleitario. Due strumentali come "Cacophony" e "Veldt" appaiono soprattutto sterili esercizi d'avanguardia (meglio, semmai, su questo 

versante, "Film Theme"). Ma la stupenda melodia ipnotica di "Factory", la raggelante "Reel To Real" e la suadente "Changeling", sospinte da incessanti folate di synth e da una sezione ritmica implacabile, lasciano già presagire la traiettoria lungo la quale si muoverà il gruppo negli anni a venire.

L'insuccesso commerciale di Real To Real Cacophony induce però la band a correggere la rotta. Nel 1980 esce così Empires And Dance, l'album più "dark" dei Simple Minds. Manifesto di questo nuovo corso è il travolgente singolo "I Travel", che, dietro le cadenze 

da discoteca, nasconde un certosino lavoro sul ritmo, tra percussioni ossessive, pulsazioni reiterate di synth e vortici elettronici d'ascendenza kraut-rock (Neu!, Faust). L'altro singolo estratto, "Celebrate", ha una struttura più lineare, con i timbri possenti del basso e la voce 

tetra di Kerr in primo piano, ma testimonia appieno il clima decadente e paranoico che si respira nell'album. Un clima che passa anche attraverso le tastiere tecnotroniche e i saliscendi thriller di "Capital City", il duetto da cabaret surreale tra Kerr e il recitato 

femminile in francese di "Twist/Run/Repulsion", le percussioni orientaleggianti di "Today I Died Again" e l'allucinazione para-industrial di "Room". L'abisso "oscuro" del disco, però, sono i sette minuti di "This Fear Of Gods", un cerimoniale straniante che si consuma tra 

tintinnii di campanelli, tastiere marziali, ritmiche tempestose, chitarre acide e un sax sintetico, con il canto di Kerr quasi soffocato nei riverberi. Solo il breve interludio di "Kant-Kino" allenta per un attimo la tensione. Empires And Dance segna un altro passo avanti 

nella sperimentazione della band, oltre ad attirarle le simpatie di Peter Gabriel, che la porta con sé nel suo tour europeo.

Source: oldies.com

Timeless and epochal, Simple Minds was formed in January 1978 by Jim Kerr (9 July 1959, Glasgow, Scotland; vocals), Charlie Burchill (b. 27 November 1959, Glasgow, Scotland; guitar), Tony Donald (bass) and Brian McGee (drums). They rose out of the 

ashes of Glasgow punk outfit Johnny And The Self-Abusers who, in true anarchic fashion, deliberately folded on the day their debut single ‘Saints And Sinners’ was released. A second guitarist Duncan Barnwell and keyboard player Michael MacNeil (b. 20 July 1958, 

Glasgow, Scotland) were recruited through newspaper advertisements, before Derek Forbes (b. 22 July 1956, Glasgow, Scotland) replaced a disaffected Donald. The numerous upheavals of this initial era were completed with Barnwell’s departure. During this time, they 

did manage to record an impressive demo that caught the attention of New Musical Express writer Ian Cranna. This key exposure gave them immediate notoriety, and they quickly established themselves as one of Scotland’s hottest new attractions. Kerr soon charmed other music journalists with his charisma and precocious banter.

Simple Minds were subsequently signed to Zoom Records, an Edinburgh-based independent label marketed by Arista Records and run by Bruce Findlay, who shortly afterwards became the band’s full-time manager. ‘Life In A Day’, the band’s debut single, 

broached the UK charts in March 1979 while the attendant John Leckie-produced album reached number 30. Critics were divided over its merits, although a consensus deemed the set derivative. Within weeks, the quintet began decrying their creation and embarked on a 

more radical direction. Real To Real Cacophony unfolded within the recording studio in an attempt to regain an early spontaneity and while this largely experimental collection was a commercial flop, it reinstated the band’s self-respect and won unanimous music press 

approbation. Empires And Dance was released in September 1980. The set fused the flair of its predecessor to a newly established love of dance music and reflected influences garnered during European tours. It included ‘I Travel’, a pulsating travelogue which became 

a firm favourite throughout the club circuit and helped engender a new sense of optimism in the band’s career.

Now free of Arista, Simple Minds were signed to Virgin Records in 1981, and paired with producer Steve Hillage. The resultant sessions spawned two albums, the full-length Sons And Fascination and the mini-LP Sister Feelings Call, which were initially released together. 

It became the band’s first UK Top 20 entrant, spawning three minor hit singles with ‘The American’, ‘Love Song’ and ‘Sweat In Bullet’ and began Simple Minds’ transformation from cult to popular favourites. This very success unnerved Brian McGee, who abhorred touring. 

In August 1981 he was replaced by former Slik and Skids drummer Kenny Hyslop (b. 14 February 1951, Helensburgh, Strathclyde, Scotland), although the newcomer’s recorded contribution was confined to ‘Promised You A Miracle’. This powerful song reached number 

13 in Britain, and proved popular in Europe and Australia where the band enjoyed an almost fanatical following. Although Mike Ogletree joined on Hyslop’s departure, a former musician, Mel Gaynor (b. 29 May 1960, London, England), eventually became the quintet’s 

permanent drummer. All three musicians were featured on New Gold Dream (81, 82, 83, 84), which peaked at number 3 in the UK album chart. Here the band began harnessing a more commercial sound, and they achieved a series of hits with the attendant singles, 

‘Glittering Prize’ and ‘Someone Somewhere (In Summertime)’. A sixth collection, Sparkle In The Rain, united the quintet with producer Steve Lillywhite, inspiring comparisons with his other protégés, U2. ‘Waterfront’, a brash, pulsating grandiose performance, and ‘Speed 

Your Love To Me’, prefaced its release, with the album entering the UK chart at number 1. The set also featured ‘Up On The Catwalk’, a further Top 30 entrant, and a cover version of Lou Reed’s ‘Street Hassle’, a long-established group favourite.

Kerr’s profile reached an even wider audience when he married Pretenders’ singer Chrissie Hynde in 1984, but their relationship could not survive the rigours of constant touring and being in different parts of the world. The following year Simple Minds, with new bass 

player John Giblin, chose to record in America under the aegis of Jimmy Iovine and Bob Clearmountain. It was during this period that the band contributed ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’ to the soundtrack of the movie The Breakfast Club. The quintet remained ambivalent 

about the song, which was written by Keith Forsey and Steve Schiff, but it paradoxically became a US number 1 when issued as a single. Although the band initially vetoed a worldwide release, they reneged in the light of this achievement whereupon the record 

became a massive international hit and confirmed their world-beating status. However, the track did not appear on the ensuing Once Upon A Time that, despite international success, drew considerable criticism for its bombastic approach. Three tracks, ‘Alive & Kicking’, 

‘Sanctify Yourself’ and ‘All The Things She Said’ nonetheless reached the UK Top 10, with the former also making US number 3, while a concurrent world tour, documented on Live In The City Of Light, was one of the year’s major events. The proceeds of several dates were 

donated to Amnesty International, reflecting a growing politicization within the band. They had also been one of the many highlights of 1985’s legendary Live Aid concert, with Kerr clearly relishing the moment.

In 1988, Simple Minds were a major inspiration behind the concert celebrating Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday, but although a new composition, ‘Mandela Day’, was recorded for the event, Simple Minds refused to release it as a single, fearful of seeming opportunistic. 

The song was later coupled with ‘Belfast Child’, a lengthy, haunting lament for Northern Ireland based on a traditional folk melody, ‘She Moved Through The Fair’. This artistically ambitious work topped the UK singles chart in February 1989 and set the tone for the 

band’s subsequent album, Street Fighting Years, their first studio set in four years. Although it provided the band with their fourth UK chart-topping album in a row and achieved platinum status within five days, sales then dropped rather dramatically, reflecting the 

uncompromising nature of its content. Two further singles entered the UK Top 20, ‘This Is Your Land’ and ‘Kick It In’, while The Amsterdam EP, which included a cover version of Prince’s ‘Sign ‘O’ The Times’, reached number 18 at the end of the year. This contradictory 

period closed with the rancorous departure of Giblin and MacNeil, the latter replaced by Peter Vitesse, and the ending of the band’s ten-year association with Bruce Findlay and Schoolhouse Management.

Simple Minds entered the 90s with only Kerr and Burchill remaining from the original line-up. Gaynor, Vitesse and new bass player Malcolm Foster (b. 13 January 1956, Gosport, Hampshire, England) completed the line-up on Real Life, which saw the band re-

introducing more personal themes to their songwriting after the political concerns of previous albums. The new material, including the Top 10 single ‘Let There Be Love’, recaptured the band’s trademark grand, epic sound. Kerr married Patsy Kensit in January 

1992, although the couple would split-up only a few years later. During the same year, Gaynor left the band, leaving Kerr and Burchill to complete their next album with a host of session players. The highly commercial ‘She’s A River’ preceded 1995’s Good News From 

The Next World, the band’s final album for Virgin. After another lengthy hiatus, Kerr, Burchill and a returning Forbes released 1998’s Néapolis, an album that marked a determined effort to recreate the edgy, electronic style of their early 80s work. While not always successful, it 

did at least indicate a band once again willing to take a few chances. In 2001, they were signed by Eagle Records, and released Neon Lights, an album of cover versions including ‘The Needle And The Damage Done’ (Neil Young) and ‘All Tomorrow’s Parties’ (the Velvet Underground). A new studio album followed in 2002.