WHAT'S SO FUNNY ABOUT PEACE, LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING?
John Leckie, producer of the first three Simple Minds albums is quoted as saying "Most bands involved 4 or 5 blokes with huge egos, and typically they all want things their own way. Trouble is they rarely agree on what that way should be. In that sense, as a record producer dealing with all of that, trying to keep everybody happy etc, so as to ultimately get the job done. You need real skills as a mediator, but also as a psychologist. A psychiatrist even. “
I agree that deciding that you want to get up on a stage, is probably proof of a larger than average ego.
Remarkably though, I still recall those egos involved with early Simple Minds not seeming to clash that much at all.
Truth is, I struggle to memorise any particularly huge drama's or fights, likewise no major artistic disputes back in the Leckie era of Simple Minds?
Was it all peace and love then? Not at all.
The odd skirmish certainly took place.
An occasional boozed-up squabble here and there, most definitely.
Arguments rarely involved a dispute about music however.
More than likely it would occur over something silly.
A game of cards perhaps.
Once or twice there'd be a clash over who could win the attention of a pretty girl.
But that was about it?
And by the next day all arguments were usually forgotten about.
With a list of clients that includes The Beatles and Pink Floyd, Muse and Radiohead, XTC and Magazine, plus a ton more. I'm sure that there are hundreds more quotes from John to which I would nod my head in agreement. Few could possibly know that much more than him about bands, and how to achieve the best results within a recording studio. This quote though? It just doesn't fit with the early incarnation of Simple Minds - who incidentally played our debut live gig some 41 years ago tomorrow.
Fact is. We knew that we would all play an important part, and that those parts needed to fit together seamlessly.
No need for any hierarchy either. We were all novices, all students keen to learn how to make records.
Bruce Findlay, our manager at that time, would in any case bring any unsettled matters to a head. His enlightened opinions would carry a lot of weight always.
Older and wiser, he had no agenda other than what he thought was best for Simple Minds.
So no extra physiologists, peacemakers, or psychiatrists were needed in our workplace back in those days then.
We settled or own disputes, and with John Leckie, we had the best possible teacher present in the room.
How lucky we were!
Pic. Simple Minds live in Turin, Italy 1980 - thanks Lio Conte Fly Marani
Jim, do you remember when I showed you this picture together with some others in the backstage during the Neapolis Tour in Pesaro on May 30th 1998 and then I brought them to you in Milano, Forum 3 days later ? Anyway, I would like to thank you for this post and for mentioning me; finding those photos and having the chance to give them to you personally was a real pleasure and an honor. Thank you!
And let that be testament to you Jim.You don’t have to have an ‘ego’ to be the front man. Just a decent human who has the drive to succeed , the skill to write amazing music and lyrics and the ability to convey enthusiasm and determination, to others that you can do what ever you want if you work hard enough. ⭐️❤️⭐️
Incredible Pic Lio Conte Fly Marani. Thanks always to Simple Minds for your brilliant music
Can't have been as bad as Hooky/Sumner when he produced New Order!! o.O
I could have used Leckie in on the marketing meeting I had yesterday that resulted in me turning in my resignation letter (because I couldn't listen to the bullshit for one more precious second of my life... as the last 4 years feel like they have been robbed from me wasting my existence in a useless profession)... some arbitration would have been nice. On that note... since I am on the job hunt... I am blasting "Empires and Dance" as I post this. I prefer listening to it on my home stereo instead of my headphones at work... although my dog is not quite the fan of the obtuse random synths.
By the way... A squabble over a game of cards? Heated rounds of Old Maid? Can’t imagine it! No one dared argue with the undisputed ping pong champion of Toryglen, right? 🏓🏓
Great pic!! I survived my Freshman year of high school listening to "Real to Real.." and "New Gold Dream" repeatedly. With New Gold Dream, the tape snapped. I cracked open the cassette, used a tiny piece of masking tape to tape the break back together. "King is white and in the Crowd" had a crazy sounding point in the song after my "edit", as did Someone Somewhere in Summertime". :)
John Leckie - what an awesome producer. We owe him a huge amount of thanks for his wonderful work with Simple Minds!
😎 Torino thank you.. even if the story tells that wasn't that great night to remember right Jim? 😉 I'm reading your post now . Greets from that town which is loving you very much lately instead (Glad to read you my hero of the day... I've lost a close friend yesterday and...😣 ...me heart is bleeding .. i wish i can have a kind of Bruce Findlay on my side me too ...).
Beautiful man Bruce Findlay . How he dealt with the mad fans with humour and compassion I don't know . I remember him arranging a phone hook up with you to a radio station in Scotland where you were being interviewed and you kindly chatted to me in the ad breaks :)
Enjoying these great memories of the early days. Here's to making great memories for years to come!
Men can argue and immediately forget about it and carry on as usual, women however...... 🙄
I love the Minds version of that song (despite what you may think, Sir - I do love quite a few SM versions of others’ songs - *avoids using the C word* - not THAT one - the one that rhymes with “other”)
I lost my temper with a librarian recently (after saying to me in a condescending way "Come back and I'll show you how to use the self check out PROPERLY") F***ing librarians!!! And don't get me started on doctor's receptionists!!!
I’ve found my light in the darkness of insanity...... Simple Minds, there are no stars who shine brighter 🎶❤️🎶⭐️
☮️💟🕉♑️ After 4 decades they should have been well balanced! And Your Saturn in Capricorn helps 💜✨ Stars will lead the way
41 years...the past tells the future, and so we are in 2019...till the bitter end Love my Music Simple Minds🙌🏼
I have never thought of any member of Simple Minds as egotistical. I’m sure that’s why you’re still making music.
Nothing wrong with Peace, Love and Understanding. There isn't enough of these...
Timely post Jim, band members, egos and all wanting their own way, bit like politicians and Brexit!
Hi Jim. I played in the same band for 25 years and not one word was spoken in anger, nor any arguments or "musical differences". Everyone was equal in music choices and decision making, although we all had different musical tastes. It helps.
Love the picture, reminds me of when things were a little more peaceful on earth 💃
Jim this pic is still waiting for a signature pretty please
Live simple minds sound awesome
DO ANYTHING YOU WANT TO DO
With the sun barely risen in the Cote D'Azur, our conversation had begun an hour or so earlier.
Still in our Christmas bathrobes, sipping orange juice, BBC Radio 4 on in the background, I decided to quickly go take a shower.
On return to the kitchen 10 minutes later, he was now perched on a stool at the small breakfast table. Teeth blackened, biting on a two day old - toasted baguette - badly burned. He began telling, a thrill in his voice, and crumbs all over the normally spotless floor, that a radio report had just mentioned Elvis and Marlon Brando.
"You have no idea what it was like. It was mayhem. When those types first appeared. Jerry Lee, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, the whole gang from America. There was nothing before them. Nothing. All the music prior belonged to our parents. Britain was a drab, old place. The war might have finished 10 years before, but it still seemed that we were waiting for the lights to come back on. Waiting for something. Even if we did not know what it was? And then suddenly. There it was!
The very thing that every teenager seemed to be waiting for. Elvis and Brando."
Shaking his head, visibly still in awe as he said those names. Of course I chuckled. It is funny to hear an 83 year old complain. "All the music belonged to our parents."
"They were our messiah's. I had no respect for my teachers. And I certainly had no respect for the bullying priests at Saint Bonaventure's. I loved my Dad, but my mother was a distant and cold hearted type."
A look of sadness flickered across his eyes as he spoke that last sentence. That look then disappearing only seconds later. He continued.
"I suppose it must have been like that for you when you first heard punk rock? Was there a record among all of the punk stuff, one that made you want to jump and down and go mental? There must have been one? Probably many, but what was the very first that made you want to do that. Can you remember?
"Of course I can Dad." I replied.
"And I will never forget you demanding me to, "Turn that crap off!" each time I played it. In fairness, I would play it endlessly."
At that point, a huge smile came across his face.
I picked up my headphones, offering them to him, and pressing play.
Waiting for about half a minute.
And then with his feet tapping and his head moving in time.
He laughed and said.
"Oh I f*cking remember this."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK8pAfhC4Rk
I think my mum was much cooler than my dad. Afterall my dad was a vicar!! But my mum had all the Beatles albums, Rubber Soul was a particular favourite of mine as 6 or 7 year old. Then I discovered the Sex Pistols and Blondie!! And the rebellion started at 8 :)
Reminds me of a time when I was playing My Way by the Sex Pistols. My wee mammy came running in "what the hell is that. Turn it off quick before your Da hears it, he'll go mental" 😂😂😂😂
Here in my office 8:53 am drinking black coffee I'm laid back on my chair I have Houston on and the music starts for hunter and the hunted and a tear drops (I love it so much) I think one day a son and father will do that very same thing but it will be any song you have sung and it will be a moment they will never forget. Your amazing ox 💕💕😘. Also reminds me of my dad, he loved those singers loved Chuck berry going across the stage with that quitar 😊Xx
My Mum knew better than to complain cos if she did the volume went up a notch lol
I love the way you write these posts Jim. So human; so interesting. I seriously can't wait for your auto-biography! Come on - you know you want to. 😀
Best place to listen to music without being told to turn it down or turn it off is my car, every day to work and back full volume!
I see a pattern emerging with burning food 😂
Dont we still follow what our Mums and dads listened to .. I remember my parents listening to , johnny okeith, chuck berry , bill haley , oh they where the Christmas partys!! Until we grew and got our own taste in music. The earliest I remember was ABBA , yes we had the tape , the bed pillow & posters.. for everyone else it was elvis , bay city rollers, but not for me , my nan asked me what i wanted for my 10th birthday .. a Queen tape .. so i got Night of the Opera .. although i didnt really understand the music , it was something no one else seemed to like ( at the time) .. while my mums taste changed to Black Sabbath, Led Zepplin & Pink Floyd ... i could never get into it.. My real love of music came in the 80s, i still believe there will never be another time when music will ever be that great!!
I battered my mam into submission playing SM. Nearly 80 she still jokes about it today.
Having older siblings take all the brunt of “turn that racket off” was great. Mum was never really one for that anyway. She actually seemed to like most of the music we liked...which was cool. Her stories of telling me about Johnny Ray coming to Oz and causing a frenzy was fun. I think it mostly left her pretty bemused and amused such displays by girls. She wanted to hear the music. I’m with her on that one.
Actually thinking my kids grew up on Simple Minds on repeat . Gabi used to sing New Gold Dream in her sleep . The kids would want to watch their cartoons but I wouldn't turn the music down . God I was a hideous mother 😉❤️
Let's turn this around. My Mum who is now 95 years old playing to me on the stereogram Buddy Holly!
My Dear Old Mum loves to recall her meeting with Clarke Gable it was during the war years in Nottingham at the Market Square. Her and her friend were going to see a movie. He was dressed in uniform . He stopped chatted and wished them well with a handshake. Needless to say her older sister was so envious.
My life motto... Had my BIG Birthday yesterday and from now on I don't really bother anymore. 😀😀 Great story dear Jim Kerr. Your dad is a winner!!
Oh the floor. I feel your pain. 🤦🏻♀️🤣 My Dad still rolls his eyes when we have a family get together and my brother and I end up bouncing to SM! Isn’t that right Paul Harper? 😂 xx
Yeah- the gateway to punk. I had forgotten all about this song, just had a listen- sadly I'm sure it will pop up on a tv advert for banking or insurance at some point. With regard to Simple Minds, I saw you at the Roundhouse around 2006-ish. Early evening gig, mostly full of city people with gratis tickets. Very summer night, we danced all night and not many others even new what you were playing. We emerged into a full monsoon and got soaked to the skin. We drove through the high street and the girlfriend stripped topless to take her bra off- great memories..
That's what early morning breakfasts should be about, Jim - interesting conversations covering anything and everything! The first 'pop' song bought in my parents' household was 'Stranger on the Shore' (Acker Bilk). I did buy 'Do Anything You Wanna Do', but considered it more rock & roll than punk at the time.
I can so relate to your story! My Dad is the same age & did the same shouting to 'turn that racket down' - usually SM or Gary Numan non stop playing! Aren't Dads great! Tell him dont eat burned toast - apparently its not good for you (mine wld do the same tho). Precious times ♥️
Love love love that story Jim ! Cracking funny, sweet with a pinch of positive nostalgia , love it ! Lovely morning breakfast like I like them, and I m smiling to imagine you both in your Christmas robes aww haha :) ♥♥♥♥
Côte d‘Azur..seen „To Catch a Thief“ last weekend. Another great old one - Cary Grant. And of course one of the most beautiful woman - Grace Kelly. Hanging around with your dad at this place isn’t so bad 😀😎😇 the opposite! Have a good time there! 🎸🎶🍀
My music is the one from the 80s, SM, Depeche Kode and so on... and my parents were the same to tell me to stop it everytime they heard it because 'no one wants to hear that crap, why don't you listen to some good german music?!' Well, as for me there was no good german music, so I played it even louder :-)
Great story, your pop is funny, and what a great song. Elvis, and Ann Margret , doesn't get any hotter then that.
I live your stories about your Dad. My Dad was like that too. He passed away 3 years ago at 91 years old. I miss our conversations dearly. Cherish those moments Jim.
I’m meeting my 83 year old Mom for breakfast today .. she loved Elvis and Motown and my parents always had music on.. my Dad passed when I was 25 and I miss him terribly .. when I was 7 I really loved Rod Stewart and much to my Moms dismay he bought me Do You Think I’m Sexy ... it was such an awesome thing to do cause he didn’t like it and it was over the top for my somewhat conservative parents ... I loved him for it❤️.. he would always dance with me to Depeche Mode and he really liked Colours Fly... he hated my multicolor hair styles combat boots and leather but I never doubted his love for me
That made me smile. It was lovely meeting him in Atlanta & Nashville. Have a great day. 💜
Live Shows
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2020
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Simple Minds
