Simple Minds - Once Upon a Time
Written by: Moti Kupfer
Release date - 21.10.1985
The Scottish band "Simple Minds" had been on an upward trajectory ever since it formed in Glasgow in 1977, yet few bands before or after them reached their commercial peak after such a relatively long stretch: seven albums and eight years from the start of their career.
Zoom in on the beloved band founded by two childhood friends, Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill, and inspired by David Bowie (the name "Simple Minds" comes from his song "The Jean Genie"), and you can see that their evolution from a dark-sounding new wave act, through a blend with pop music, brought a steady growth in exposure to audiences. Yet at the end of 1984, after wrapping up a successful tour of Australia, Europe, North America and Japan, the United States remained the last barrier the band had failed to overcome on its way to becoming the "U2" of Scotland.
The band regrouped to write new material for its next album and to prepare for a run of New Year's shows at Barrowland, where an impressive reception had been promised.
While digging through old demos and building new arrangements and melodies, the band was contacted by the musician Keith Forsey, a big Simple Minds fan, who wanted them to record a song for the soundtrack of "The Breakfast Club" called "Don't You (Forget About Me)". He sent them a demo of the song.
But "Simple Minds" frontman Jim Kerr didn't think the song suited them when he heard the demo. "No, we don't do other people's songs," Kerr explained.
The turning point came from an unexpected source. His then-wife, the musician and rocker at heart Chrissie Hynde, who had a phenomenal instinct for songs with potential, finally persuaded Kerr and his band to record it.
Once they had finished recording the song for the soundtrack, the members of "Simple Minds" quickly forgot about it, focusing on recording their next album, "Once Upon a Time", which was released on October 21, 1985.
But things have a way of connecting in surprising ways. "Don't You", which was never meant to come out as a single, not only ended up being released but also took the top of the American chart and opened the doors of the American market to Kerr and his bandmates. After the huge success of their Barrowland shows and the excellent reception they received there, the band set itself the goal of bringing Jimmy Iovine and Bob Clearmountain, who had been out of reach at the time, into the producer's chair for the new album.
The success of "Don't You (Forget About Me)" helped their cause and gave the band a welcome push and further exposure in the US.
Iovine and Clearmountain listened to the early demos, and Iovine even offered to back the final composition of "Alive and Kicking". The material sounded good, and the band built on songs like "Alive and Kicking" and "All the Things She Said", among others.
"Simple Minds" then moved to the United States, to Bearsville Studios in New York, but before continuing the sessions they managed to play one of the live sets at the Live Aid event.
The day after Live Aid, the band traveled to Bearsville Studios to finish recording and begin mixing, now under the full guidance of Iovine and Clearmountain. Iovine's experience in the American music business and his sensitive ear for an American hit shaped the sound of the album as well.
Working with Iovine and his New York connections brought many further advantages. The blue-eyed soul sound, as on Bowie's album "Young Americans", was hugely influential, and Iovine suggested hiring the same artists who had played on Bowie's record to guest on "Once Upon a Time" as well.
Iovine pushed vocalist Jim Kerr to deliver a more energetic performance in the studio, which fit well with Charlie Burchill's dominant guitar and the huge drum sound of Mel Gaynor.
Before long, Robin Clark, one of the backing singers on "Young Americans" and the wife of guitarist Carlos Alomar, arrived at the studio to record her distinctive backing vocals for "Alive and Kicking", "All the Things She Said" and "Once Upon a Time". Other backing vocalists brought in during the sessions included the Simms Brothers and Michael Been of "The Call".
"Alive and Kicking", a song written by the band, was chosen as the first single, and Jim Kerr had reason to celebrate on a personal level, too. He had married Chrissie Hynde in 1984, and the following year the couple had a daughter, Yasmin. The song is entirely about holding on to hope through life's hardships.
The cheerful melody inspired the optimistic lyrics, and Jim Kerr recalled: "We were in New York, it was summer, Manhattan. We could feel the band was really on the verge of a huge breakthrough, and I think the positivity and that idea of hope shaped the words."
The video was directed by the Polish director Zbigniew Rybczyński, who also worked on the video for the third single, "All the Things She Said", as well as on videos for Yoko Ono, the project of Alan Parsons and Lou Reed. It was shot in the northern Catskill Mountains with a crane camera that captured impressive panoramic shots of the area.
The title track "Once Upon a Time", which opens the album, begins with a glittering musical intro and the wonderful voice of Robin Clark, and drummer Mel Gaynor answers with powerful drumming that sets the tone for a joyful, energetic album.
The song takes up the theme of the changes that time brings as it races toward the future, with time itself imagined looking around at the world. It is also a reflection on God's justice and on why good people sometimes suffer while the wicked prosper.
"All the Things She Said", also the third single and a wonderful one, opens with repeating keyboards that correspond well with a video that repeats itself again and again, passing from one person to the next.
There is a call and response between the vocals of Kerr and Clark. One side testifies to how the world looks and the other describes how we would like it to be. One side says that everything and everyone is going straight to hell; the other says the opposite, that heaven is right around the corner.
Jim Kerr wrote the song after reading a story about Polish political prisoners who had been held in Russia since the end of the Second World War. "There was an interview with the wives of men who had been away from them for a long time, and some of the beautiful phrases the women used became a kind of backdrop for this song," Kerr said. Sue Hadjopoulos was brought in to play percussion on the song (she has played on albums by Joe Jackson and Cyndi Lauper).
The album's third track, "Ghost Dancing", draws part of its inspiration from the concept of the Ghost Dance, which experienced a revival in 1889 with the Paiute prophet and dreamer Wovoka. He proclaimed that the return of the dead and the removal of the white man would be hastened by dances and songs revealed to Wovoka in spiritual visions.
Kerr took this concept and combined it with reflections on the injustices of Western civilization. The song hints that there may be a better day if wrongs are righted in places such as South Africa, Ethiopia and elsewhere. Kerr also raises the unsettling point that reality and happy endings are not a foregone conclusion.
A song that many critics at the time described as inspired by Bruce Springsteen was "Oh Jungleland", which actually deals with poverty in the Third World and the universal desire to escape.
Its central image is a child named Hope who reaches out his hand and sees the northern lights above a district of tower blocks. Once again Kerr manages to balance the song's political message with the hope for a better day.
In "Sanctify Yourself", Kerr repeats a chant about self-control, love being all you need, sanctifying yourself and setting yourself free. A song about the process of sanctification, it surprisingly became a Top 10 hit in the UK and a Top 20 hit in the US.
Kerr said the gospel feel of the song was inspired by the music of "Sly & the Family Stone", which he called "no small influence on this song."
The album "Once Upon a Time" reached number one on the UK chart, and "Simple Minds" went on to sell more than two million copies of it worldwide.
The band embarked on a major world tour that would go on to see them playing stadiums in many countries and last well beyond a year.
On October 17, 2025, the album returned in a 40th-anniversary edition, with a five-CD box and red vinyl. The box collects the album, B-sides, mixes and "Live in the City of Light". For the first time, the vinyl edition adds "Don't You (Forget About Me)", absent from the original album. This is a reissue of the 1985 album, not a new studio release.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music
"Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog
Comments