Chart entered : 12 May 1979
Chart peak : 62
Number of hits : 30
Scotland's biggest band make their first showing at the end of the seventies. I tend towards those who argue that the more successful they got the worse they became although it actually took a while for their early stuff to win me over.
Simple Minds emerged out of a punk band called Johnny and the Self-Abusers in 1977. The band were the idea of two obscure Glaswegians Alan Cairnduff and John Milarky who brought in former schoolfriends singer Jim Kerr ( born 1959 ) and guitarist Charlie Burchill ( born 1959 ) to make it a reality. They in turn brought in the rhythm section from their schoolboy band Biba-Rom ! , drummer Brian McGee and bassist Tony Donald. Another guitarist Alan McNeil was drafted in by Milarky who as "Johnnie Plague" was lead singer.
The band played their first gigs in the spring of 1977 then got a deal with Chiswick who released their first single "Saints And Sinners" It's very much punk-by-numbers specifically Devoto-era Buzzcocks and gives little clue that two of their number were headed for stardom.
The single's chances were not helped by the band splitting into two on the day of its release. Milarky and McNeil went off to form The Cuban Heels who eventually got a deal with Virgin but never cracked it. The ex-Biba-Rom guys renamed themselves Simple Minds from a line in The Jean Genie and quickly recruited two new members in guitarist Duncan Barnwell and classically-trained keyboard player Michael MacNeil ( born 1958 ) . They quickly ditched the punk trappings in favour of make-up and a sound based on the artier end of glam, Roxy , Bowie and Sparks. They soon built up a reputation live and were approached by Bruce Findlay a record store owner who wanted to manage them. Findlay also managed Zoom Records for Arista and was able to get the band a deal with the parent company early in 1978.
Donald go cold feet and quit that April. Barnwell suggested that his friend Derek Forbes (born 1956 ) replace him. Derek had been playing in The Subs who had just released a single "Gimmee Your Heart" on Stiff, a more controlled punk effort somewhere between The Skids and Stiff Little Fingers. Nevertheless Derek agreed to join Simple Minds and the Subs were never heard from again.
Having his mate in the band didn't prevent Barnwell getting the chop in November 1978 and the five piece line up stayed together until 1981. Their debut LP "Life In A Day" produced by John Leckie came out in April 1979 with the title track released as a single a month later.
"Life In A Day" passed me by at the time - it probably owed its place on the chart to an Old Grey Whistle Test appearance - but stands as a fascinatingly flawed item. There's an obvious debt to Roxy Music; it has been compared to Editions Of You slowed down and set to a robotic rhythm. Michael's double-handed keyboard riff dominates the sound as Jim , with less overtly Scottish vowels than later , sings of paranoia and pursuit as time slips away. Despite Leckie's track record it isn't well produced with Jim sounding like he's calling out from the next room while the phasing on the guitars is overdone. Nevertheless I like it and am just about to order the album,
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