Power Hour: Simple Minds
In Trance as Mission
How about another Power Hour playlist to get you through the middle-of-the-week slump? I tweeted the other day asking if anyone had suggestions for bands who were unfortunately overshadowed by their major hits, and my pick was the Scottish band Simple Minds. Yes, of “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” fame.
I love that song, and I love The Breakfast Club, but for a long time I just assumed that was the kind of music their discography was made up of - bombastic synth-pop. A casual glance into their later work pretty much confirmed my suspicions, but years ago someone had recommended Real to Real Cacophony (1979) to me on Twitter and the rest, as they say, is history.
So with that in mind, I have crafted a 60 minute playlist with the sole purpose of introducing their early-to-mid-career run to people who may only know them from their big soundtrack hit. To me, Simple Minds have one of the most impressive runs of post-punk/art-rock/synth-pop records in Real to Real Cacophony (1979), Empires and Dance (1980), Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call (1981), New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84) (1982) and Sparkle in the Rain (1984). My pick for their masterpiece would be 1980’s Empires and Dance - it truly blew me away the first time I heard it.
The songs on the record are elegies, nervous studies, flippant reflections, mysteries, overall an arbitrary concatenation of images. Singer Jim Kerr interprets life as dull unease, a struggle against impossible odds, a shabby pathetic failure, a series of disconnected encounters, rumours and giggles. Myth, mess and mistake.
NME on Empires and Dance, September 13th (1980)
If you’re a fan, let me know your picks and if I’ve missed some of your fav tracks in here. And tweet at me with your feedback on bands whose discographies were overshadowed by their hits! Let me know your thoughts.
Have a great day, and enjoy the music.
Tracklist: