Simple Minds

40 years ago this month, Simple Minds continued their Once Upon a Time Tour across Europe, following the major commercial success of the album.

"Certain records when you’re asked to look back, you get an instant emotion: some you have a little wince and there are others where the instant reaction is to bring a smile to your face, and I have that with Once Upon A Time. It was the album we wanted, it was the album we felt we needed. It was such a pleasure to do. When we actually got down to recording and working with Jimmy and Bob, it was summer in America and every day the stuff coming out of the speakers sounded great. When you look back now it’s only eight tracks so it’s probably the most compact record we made." - Jim

Photos by Guido Harari

#OnceUponATime40

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Simple Minds

The last remaining Soundwaves Art prints created from the soundwaves of “Alive & Kicking” are being re-released this holiday season.

Each piece has been hand-signed by Jim, Charlie and Soundwaves artist Tim Wakefield, and all profits go to ‪@NordoffRobbinsUK‬, the UK’s largest independent music therapy charity, enriching the lives of people with life-limiting illnesses, disabilities and feelings of isolation.

There are only a few signed artworks available, making this a great opportunity to give a meaningful gift while supporting a wonderful cause.

www.soundwavesartfoundation.com/collections/simple…

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Simple Minds

Visit the Simple Minds Official Shop via the link below for gift ideas this holiday season.

store.simpleminds.com/

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Simple Minds

Wishing a very happy birthday to Charlie Burchill today!

Photo by ‪@ToddeVision‬

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Simple Minds

This month in 1979, Simple Minds released their second studio album, 'Real To Real Cacophony'.

"We all started to think about it. Real To Real Cacophony was searching and trying not to be The Boomtown Rats. The Paul Morleys of this world began to come on board and see us as one of the cooler bands. It was an abstract album, to say the least." - Jim

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Coming Soon

Join the Simple Minds mailing list to get early access to 30% off selected items in the official store: www.simpleminds.com/newsletter/

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Simple Minds

THE BAND PLAYED ON "Bands don't necessarily die so much because they run out of songs, they die when the founders run out of energy."
Simple Minds formed in the Southside of Glasgow 48 years ago this week. Hundreds of songs and thousands of gigs later, still going strong as ever.

Pic: Trent Barboza

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HOMESICK BLUES!
Homesick in Sicily while watching the scenes from a wet and bitterly cold Hampden Park, Glasgow.
More so considering Charlie went to school within walking distance of the old stadium. So great to see the place explode with joy last night.
Huge congratulations to Scotland's national football team on qualifying for next year's World Cup!
Jim Kerr

P.S. Less homesick this morning. Sun is up and going out hiking with a t-shirt on. Scotland t-shirt today maybe?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEh_N...

www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/scotland-denm…

Photo Credit: The Independent

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 86

Simple Minds

A BRUISED BUT BRILLIANT STORY !
"There’s a line in Our Secrets Are The Same that hits harder than any chorus Simple Minds ever wrote: ‘We never set out to be famous. We set out to get out.’ That, to be blunt, is the heart of Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill’s joint memoir — a bruised but brilliant story of an almost fifty-year friendship that built one of Britain’s most successful, and often misunderstood, bands. From their pioneering art-rock days through the ’80’s stadium pomp, the confusing ’90s and their re-emergence as a world-class live band, the pair tell their story in alternating voices, with a tension that is often palpable. Kerr, ever the philosophical frontman, writes like a man still trying to understand how he arrived at this point, whilst Burchill’s sections are often drier and, at times, a contrast to Kerr’s. Between them, you feel the uneasy chemistry that fuelled the band’s rise — and very nearly tore it apart. The story isn’t always pretty; there’s ego, exhaustion, label interference, and the demise of many relationships along the way.

Their story follows the band from their working-class Glasgow backgrounds to brushes with Bowie, comparisons, friendships and rivalry with U2 to their political support for Nelson Mandela. In places, the book hums with regret. The lost years of the late ’90s — when the title Our Secrets Are The Same was mooted for an abandoned album — become a metaphor for everything the band tried to say but couldn’t. But this isn’t just a story of two rock stars, but one of two sons, brothers, partners, and parents who have never forgotten their roots, with Kerr stating “I know him better than I know anyone, including my family,” when talking about their relationship.
The book is written in an appealing way, with enough humour and anecdotes to keep the reader engaged. There’s genuine wit too: tales of record execs in Armani suits panicking over ‘too many minor chords,’ or hotel-room feuds defused by cups of tea and gallows humour. Our Secrets Are The Same proves a tough, soulful read from two survivors who’ve learned that the truest anthems are the ones you share in your head after the crowd has gone home.

Dave Roberts: www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk/

Our Secrets Are The Same (Jim Kerr & Charlie Burchill) was published by Constable in October 2025: www.simpleminds.com/

pic: Chris Leslie www.chrisleslie.com/

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Simple Minds

A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS

With the almost infra-red heat of summer already a distant memory, a perfect coolness now reigns supreme.
The sun might not have risen yet, but I have, inexplicably I'm in a mood to listen to Morrissey - a man for all seasons - covering Roy Orbison's operatic 'It's Over.'
For the heavy tourist season here in this part of Sicily is indeed truly 'over' for this year at least.
And while elsewhere around the world, once the last seasonal visitors leave and seaside towns everywhere feel suddenly ghostlike and forlorn.
That's not the case here in Taormina where blues skies continue and the otherwise mysterious and brooding Mount Etna, its peak now covered in fresh fallen snow, looks more startling than ever.
Gazing out from the terrace of Villa Angela, that effect can be summed up in one word.
An adjective that describes something that gives strength, energy, and vitality.
The word is... Invigorating.

Nevertheless. As summer fades into autumn or winter gives way to spring, inevitably a subtle sense of loss mingled with anticipation is in the air - a blend of nostalgia for what’s ending and hope for what’s next to come.
Chances are that wherever in the world you go, you'll find that seasonal shifts do create a strong sense of melancholy.
The same kind of melancholy I tried to capture within the lyrics of Simple Minds, 'Someone Somewhere In Summertime.'
The song's vibrant, shining bright intro, contrasting with the lonely verse atmosphere that follows.
Much like the contrast in the earth's seasons itself.

Jim Kerr


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3yNA...

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