Simple Minds

A couple of weeks ago there was the Nelson Mandela 90th Birthday Concert from Hyde Park on TV. One of the groups performing at the show were Simple Minds. They seem to have been off the scene for so long that I didn't even know they were still going, mind you I don't know if I can tell you what "the scene" is supposed to be these days anyway. Although the song they played - Mandela Song, or something like that - was not much good it reminded me of the early '80s and the time when, at least for a short period, Simple Minds were vital, if not brilliant. This period culminated in their New Gold Dream album from 1983 or 1984, I can't remember the exact year, but whichever it was there is no denying the fact that the album is a quiet masterpiece; it more than delivered on the promise of their two releases prior to that, Empires and Dance, Sons and Fascination / Sister Feelings Call.

Since the Mandela concert I have bought a copy of the remastered edition of New Gold Dream and I am happy to say that it sounds just as good now as it did all those years ago when, on summer evenings, I used to play it incessantly on my Sony Walkman, being taken off deep into the realms of my imagination by the wonderful music it contains. Their next album after New Gold Dream was the Steve Lilywhite produced Sparkle in the Rain and compared to the subtlety and beauty of it's predecessor it was simply horrific; it served as a forewarning of the vacuous stadium rock bombast they were to release throughout the rest of the 1980s and beyond. By then however they probably didn't mind the fact that as far as the critics were concerned they were outcasts; they had become mega-successful, and the bucks were rolling in, hell they even on a par with the likes of U2 for a short while.

In a way, Simple Minds serve as a good example of how so many things in my life from the 80s began with such immense wonder and promise, suggestive of endless possibilities, only to finish up as something I could hardly bear the sight of by the end of the decade. It has taken a long time to recover from the disappointment, but the good news is that enough water has passed under the bridge it is now possible to go back to those times and what came out of them without any hang ups, without any fears of getting caught in the swirl of conflicting emotions. It is possible to appreciate all the invention, the feelings of hope and (dare I say it) intimations of immortality that works such as New Gold Dream contained and realise that they are in no way undiminished. Play it in a thousand years and it will still sound fantastic.