504 Hello Simply Red - Money's Too Tight ( To Mention )

Chart  entered : 15  June  1985

Chart  peak : 13

Number  of  hits  : 39 *

( * Don't  believe  the  Official  Chart  Company's  total  which  includes  the  Sunderland  FC  Supporters  Club  song  "Cheer  Up  Peter  Reid"  released  under  the  name  "Simply  Red  and  White" )

So  everyone  of  the  undernourished  throng  who  saw  the  Pistols  that  summer  night  was  empowered  into  action . Bernard  Sumner  and  Peter  Hook  of  Joy  Division  and  later  New  Order  were  there. So  was  Morrissey  again. The  gig  was  promoted  by  two  students  from  Bolton, Howard  Devoto  and  Pete  Shelley  whose  fledgling  band  Buzzcocks  played  that  night. A  young docks  clerk  Mark  E  Smith  saw  Buzzcocks, thought  he  could  do  better  and  formed  The  Fall, one  of  Britain's  most   subversive, unique   and  influential  acts  ever. Mick  Hucknall  was  there   and  so  energised  was  he  by   events  that, well  a  decade  later  he  made  some  horribly  dull  plastic  soul  records. Or  something. But  you  get  the  picture.
( Stuart  Maconie,  Pies and  Prejudice )  

Maconie's  assassination  of  Simply  Red   is  a  good  illustration  of   the  vitriol  that  has  been thrown  at  this  band   from  day  one. One  of  the  last  punks ( well  just  about ) to  make  good , Mick  Hucknall's transformation  into  a  white  soul  boy  seems  to  have  got  up  people's  noses like  few  others before  or  since.

At  the  time  of  the  Sex  Pistols  gig  to  which  Maconie  is  referring  Mick  was  a  young  art student  only  just  sixteen  so  not  really  in  a  position  to  form  a  band  straight  away. He  didn't get  The  Frantic  Elevators  together  until  1979. The  four  piece  band  released  their  first  single in  June  that  year  on  TJM  Records. "A  Voice  In  The  Dark " is  a  not  very  well  recorded melodic  punk  number  in  the  style  of  The  Undertones   and  not  bad  for  a  first  attempt. Peelie gave  it  a  few  spins. They  were  due  to  release  a  second  single  on  TJM  at  the  beginning  of 1980  but  fell  out  with  the  company  before  it  was  pressed.

The  band  moved  over  to  Liverpool  and  released  their  next  single  "You  Know  What  You Told Me"  on  Eric's.  A  post-punk  experimental  track  with  atonal  noises  and  a  toy  soldier  rhythm track  , the  closest  comparison  I  can  make  is  The  Flying  Lizards. It's  near-unlistenable  and  the only  positive  thing  about  it  is  that  it's  over  in  less  than  two  minutes.

By  the  following  year  they  were  heavily  reliant  on  Peel's  patronage  and  did  three  sessions   for  him. Peel  later  fell  out  with  Mick  after  being  criticised  in  a  Melody  Maker  interview  and thereafter  only  spoke  of  Simply  Red  to  deride  them. "Searching  For  The  Only  One"  was   their  only  release  of  the  year  on  Crackin  Up  Records. The  sound  isn't  quite  there  veering between  glam  rock  and  Joy  Division  but  it's  not  a  bad  song  and  now  his  voice  is  clearly recognisable.

Their  last  single  came  out  in  1982  ,the  original  version  of  "Holding  Back  The  Years"  with  a  tasteful  shot  of  Mick  putting  a  pistol  in  his  mouth  on  the  cover. The  song  refers  to  his  mother's  desertion  of  the  family  when  he  was  little  and  is  clearly  heartfelt. The  song  is  more  or  less  at  the  same  tempo  as  the  more  familiar  version  but  doesn't  have  the  "I'll  Keep  Holding  On"  refrain, that  space  being  occupied  by  some   Duane  Eddy  guitar  twanging.

The  band  eventually  called  it  a  day  in  1984. None  of  the  other  three  musicians  ever  became  part  of  a  Simply  Red  line  up.  Mick and  his  manager  Elliott  Rashman  started  scouring  the  Manchester  music  scene  for  new  recruits.

Some  of  Mick's  new  cohorts  were  more  experienced  than  he  was. Bassist  Tony  Bowers  was eight  years  older  and  first  surfaced  in  the  blues  band  Blind  Eye  in  the  early  seventies. In 1974  he  joined  parody  rock  troupe  Albertos  Y  Lost  Trios  Paranoias  and  played  with  them   for  nearly  all  their  recording  career  including  the  minor  hit  single  "Heads  Down  No   Nonsense  Mindless  Boogie"  which  parodied  Status  Quo  in  1978.  AYLTP  were  a  big  live draw  and  were  supported  in  their  time  by  The  Stranglers, The  Police  and  Blondie  but  never sold  many  records  their  satire  too  sharp  and  clever  for  The  Barron  Knights'  audience.

With  the  band's  recording  career  at  a  standstill  Tony  jumped  ship  in  1978  to  join  a  new  group  being  put  together  by  Tony  Wilson  called  The  Durutti  Column  from  the  ashes  of  punk  act  Fast  Breeder. The  drummer  was  Chris  Joyce  a  21  year  old  from  Chorlton. They  played  on  the  two  tracks  "Communication "  and  "Thin  Ice"  that  appeared  on  the  first  Factory  release  the  "A  Factory  Sample"  EP. Both  sound  like  Magazine  on  Mogadon. Along  with  guitarist  Dave  Rowbotham  , Tony  and  Chris  then  left  both  band  and  label at  the  prospect  of  working  with  producer  Martin  Hannett.

They  formed  a  new  post-punk  outfit  The  Mothmen  with  ex  AYLTP  member  Bob  Harding  as  singer. Their  debut  single  "Does  It  Matter  Irene  ? "  was  released  in  November   and  couldn't  really  have  been  released  at  any  other  time  with  its  horror  movie  chorus  and  spectacularly  abrasive  guitar  break. The  band's  momentum  stalled  after  that  with  Chris  going  off  to  work  with  Pink  Military  and  Rowbotham  playing  with  Pauline  Murray  and  the  Invisible  Girls. They  were  brought  back  together  by  a  young  Adrian  Sherwood  who  released  their  album  "Pay  Attention ! "  on  his  fledgling  On-U Sound  label. The  band  then  signed  for  Do  It  but  had  teething  problems  there  as  their  first  single  "Show  Me  Your  House  And  Car"  was  pulled.

They  eventually  put  out  a  new  single  "Temptation"  in  October  1981  sounding  like  a completely  different  band  with  a  smooth  Bowie-does  disco  number  on  which  Tony  usefully shows  his  prowess  with  a  funky  bass  line. They  released  another  album "One  Black  Dot"  and a  single  "Wadada"  which  I  haven't  heard  before  splitting  up  in  early  1982.  Chris  joined  the world  music  collective  Sons  of  Arqa   and  played  on  their  1983  album  "Wadada  Magic".

The  other  recruits  were  Fritz  McIntyre  , a  keyboard   player  from  Birmingham, Tim  Kellett, a  young  trumpeter  who'd  just  had  a  brief  stint  in  Durutti  Column  and  a  guitarist  called  Fryman  who  was  soon  replaced  by  Sylvan  Richardson. They  were  signed  by  WEA.

"Money's  Too  Tight  ( To  Mention ) "  was  a  minor  hit  for  U.S. R & B  duo  The  Valentine  Brothers  in  April  1983  after  some  airplay  from  David  Jensen. Its  tale  of  kitchen  sink  poverty  is  unusual  for  pointing  the  finger  directly  at  the  man  at  the  top  , geriatric  U.S.  president  Ronald  Reagan. It's  a  good  song  but  it's  grounded  by  a  very  lumpen  synthesised  bass  line  that  squelches  its  way  through  the  track.

Nevertheless  Simply  Red  drew  immediate  flak  for  taking  it  on,  from  critics  who  didn't  like the  idea  of  pale  white  boys  ( apart  from  Fritz ) covering  a  recent  R &  B  track. I'll  stick  my neck  out  and  say  they  improved  it. Tony's  supple  playing  removes  the  bass  line  problem  and Mick  stays  pretty  faithful  to  the  vocal  melody  while  adding  a  ragged  anger   that's  missng from  Billy  Valentine's  smoother  delivery. Mick's  long  stint  on  the  dole  during  the  Frantic Elevators  years  actually  gave  him  more  feel  for  the  lyric  than  the  Valentines  who  had  a comfortable  berth  as  part  of  the  touring  company  for  The  Wiz   in  the  years  before  they  cut the  disc. The  band  also  jettisoned  the  laboured  rap  at  the  end  in  favour  of  an  ad  libbed section  taking  the  line  "Did  the  earth  move  for  you  Nancy ?"  from  a  recent  Spitting  Image sketch.  The  best  thing  about  the  record  though  is  Fritz's  keyboard  part  , those  melancholy chords  providing  the  structure  for  Mick  to  work  around.

I  remember  them  doing  this  on  Top  of  the  Pops  where  they  allowed  Mick  to  do  a  live  vocal.  My  mum  objected  to  the  performance  because  Reagan  was in  hospital  at  the  time  and  she  thought  it  was  bad  taste  to  attack  him  while  he  was  down. I  guess  she  didn't  realise  the  song  was  about  people  who  couldn't  afford  to  go  to  hospital  in  his  America.

Alas  Simply  Red  would  rarely be  this  good  again.