"Blair and Gordon Brown made their careers from opposing Margaret Thatcher but as soon as they got in power they ruled as Thatcherites and celebrated it's author. They professed to a concern for the poor but enriched the wealthy. They joined George Bush and his administration in imposing their...
Bob Dylan and the Lotus Effect " Writing is a lonely thing. You cut yourself off from friends and family to find that necessarily quiet place in your mind. You have to disassociate and detach yourself from just about everything and everybody. I didn't like that...
A more well known writer than myself recently described songwriting as something akin to the following. "Writing a song" he says "is like digging a ditch, you constantly have to dig deeper, until you strike the vein, until you hit the nerve that makes you feel...
There are birthday parties and then there are birthday parties, nevertheless no matter how grand or how intimate I have always felt that it is nice to get an invite. Being so we were quite touched a few weeks ago when we got the call inviting...
I am often asked what are the definitive highlights throughout the years in Simple Minds, and well of course there are so many that instantly come to mind. But those obvious ones are. well, too obvious to mention, and so with that as an understanding...
In the end it was inevitable that we would not let the year ghost by without playing live. How could we? It is after all the year that marks 30 years of Simple Minds and although we would not want to risk going overboard too much...
For me the past year was one of those non years where we did not get to shout and bawl or make our noise anywhere to the extent that we live for. One of those standby years I suppose. It was also one where a...
November '77. It was precisely that month when our six month lark as Johnny And The Self Abusers finally came to a crashing and chaotic end following one last "justforthehellofit" set at Glasgow Art School. No one really remembers deciding why and when we would...
What satisfaction it brought just a couple of weeks ago when Nelson Mandela visited the centre of London to witness the unveiling of a proud statue commissioned in his honour. Mandela of course in the eyes of the world is viewed as the flesh and blood...
Chrissie Hynde (The Last Of The Great Independents) All of the artists I admire very few impress me more than Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders. To this day she is still one of the few artists that I would like to record with and I usually...
On a chilly enough Edinburgh night almost a year ago from now, we played what was to be the last concert date of our quite extensive Black and White tour. It was more than a blast! Set up bang in the middle of Princess Street Gardens...
I go running relatively early each and every morning if at all possible. Blessed with good health throughout my life to date, I began exercising regularly around ’94 when I wanted to get in shape for an up and coming world tour. Performing with Simple Minds...
