The reviews for the new album have been mixed. As expected, the UK press haven't had anything good to say about it at all, whilst the reviewers on mainland Europe have better things to say.

Even though the Q reviewer hated the album, its a pity that he couldn't even inform the readership of the changes within the Simple Minds camp (the collaborations with Gordon Goudie, Vince Clarke and Planet Funk) and the diversity of the album (when compared with their nineties output).

Even his throughaway comment about the 'tired 12-bar blues' should've been expanded - since when has Simple Minds ever been associated with a 12-bar blues? Opportunity for some constructive, informative writing missed.

The amazon review hits the nail on the head.

That the opening bars to Cry finds Jim Kerr opining "It's difficult to love you when you do the things you do time and time again" almost implies that the hideously unfashionable Simple Minds are once again anticipating getting stabbed in the buttocks by poison pens and have decided to save their critics the bother by writing the reviews for them. Well, if that's the case, they've done themselves a little bit of an injustice. The good news--and from this world, not the next--is that Jim Kerr has not reneged on his commitment to making an indecently modest pop record, one where any delusional notions of stadium rock empires are held in check and where melody is a stronger currency than reverb and hot air. Although the cleaner-than-a-kitchen-showroom production is out of step with the contemporary, scuffed-up sounds of "now"--Simple Minds remain hamstrung by their own outmoded brand of professionalism-- Cry has more than enough decent tunes to entice persons beyond the well-creased folds of their fan base. Indeed, sparklers such as the Vince Clarke-penned instrumental The Floating World (a satisfying instance of Eurosynth deja-vu), the insouciant strum of Lazy Lately, the slight but rotation-friendly Spaceface and the typically traditional fare of One Step Closer all cajole the listener into thinking the unthinkable, that 2001's Best Of Simple Minds compilation may have arrived a tad too hastily. Happily, Cry is more of a cause for joy than tears. Kevin Maidment amazon.co.uk Coming to a half empty stadium near you... These are testing times for Simple Minds. After last years bewildering album of techno-rock cover-versions, this, their first original album in four years, is a disappointing concoction of half-baked ideas and stale ingredients. Listening to B-side standard tracks such as The Floating World, one can only conclude that stylised Euro-disco isnt Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill's forte. On Spaceface and New Sunshine Morning, Kerr's lyrics say nothing grandiosely, while Slave Nation is a tired 12-bar blues. The single Cry is much better, but the inclusion of two versions only serves to cement a sense of creative stalemate. Seems that, in jettisoning a band set-up in the studio, Kerr and Burchill have stripped their music of their spark. 2/5 James McNair Q Magazine

---

Cry was released in Holland last Friday. The limited edition packs were available in the shops.

Sadly, and this appears to be reflected in opinion throughout Europe, there has been little promotion of Cry by Eagle evident in any music based publication. Jim has been spotted in Holland and Spain doing promo work, but the record company didn't even manage an advert in Q magazine.

---

More dates for the US leg of the tour have been added here.

Q magazine further show their incompetence with the following piece of blurb for the tour:

"...So welcome back Simple Minds, with their 12th album imminent, plus a covers EP which includes a version of Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart..

I'm really looking forward to that.

---

The Cry single charted at number 47.

Considering that it received no UK airplay (that I know of), and no UK promotion (no posters or adverts), then number 47 is reasonable. At least the (odd) video has received plenty of rotation on VH1.

---

There's a Simple Minds special on Studio Brussel today.

The whole album will be broadcast during the day, along with some special comments from Jim.

Unfortunately, it looks like we missed Jim on Dutch Radio 2 yesterday, where he gave an interview about the new CD.

Cry is also being pushed on Dutch Radio 3 by Ruud de Wild. He mentioned that they have their 'original' drummer back which he's very happy about (so is obviously a fan) and will be giving away tickets soon.

---

BBC Radio Scotland will broadcast a history on the band on Monday, at 4.05PM BST. (We're switching to British Summer Time on Sunday which is one hour ahead of GMT).

Entitled "Silver, Gold and Platinum", DJ John Cavanagh will profile Simple Minds with contributions from Jim Kerr, Bruce Finday, Steve Hillage and Tony Stewart.

(It isn't known if this is new material or a revamp of Anne Nightingale's 1989 documentary on the group, but this one claims to be up-to-date, so it has to cover their ninties work and Cry.)

More information here.

The programme lasts 55 minutes.

All the credits for Cry have been added to the Cry page.

The album packaging is much glossier than Neon Lights, including a 24-page booklet. On each page is a single line from Jim (reproduced here on 8th March), with artwork based on unused Neon Lights photos, pictures from the Dancing Barefoot video, and behind the scenes shots from the Proms concerts. Interestingly the new pictures of Jim and Charlie, reproduced here on the 1st and 2nd March, are not used.

5000 numbered limited edition packages will also be released. This version of the album is housed in a digipak sleeve (not unlike the singles) with the 24-page booklet tucked into the sleeve. The Cry video is included as a bonus, and the whole package is enclosed in a slip case.

---

The Cry Single was released in the UK last Monday. At the time of writing, the UK chart poisition isn't known, although it was in the thirties in the mid-week chart. Which is better than expected, given the lack of promotion evident (either in the music press nor on the radio).

The video has been aired a few times on MTV Europe and VH1.

For the collectors, two CD-acetates are circulating. A single track varient, and a three-track (which corresponds to the first single). Details about the three track can be found here.

---

More tour dates added including several in the USA.

At the end of last year, Simple Minds were considering a joint world tour with INXS. Although that has failed to materialise, a few dates co-heading with INXS are still going ahead. These appear at the end of the USA leg of the tour.

Several new dates have also appeared in Denmark. Simple Minds are playing the "Grøn koncert" (Green Concert), a small series of festival dates running across the country. Several local bands are included, plus a foreign name - obviously the Minds this year.

The shows are sponsered by Tuborg Beer and all the proceeds of the concert go into a trust fund for a charity.

---

A brief interview with Jim was included with You Magazine (with the Mail On Sunday, 17th March 2002).

It was the usual round of questions about ex-wives and family, and only mentioned the album and the band in passing.

Oddly the only photo they could find was one from Q Magazine taken for the promotion of Néapolis.

One question caught my eye:

Q: Is this a Frank Sinatra-style comeback?
A: I guess so. We sort of missed out on the 90s. We never quit or retired, but around three years ago we came close; I felt the commitment had gone. Now the fun's come back?

So, when did they come close to jacking it all in? Néapolis or Our Secrets Are The Same?

---

Just in time for the release of Cry, Virgin are apparently repackaing their recent Best Of.

The super audio version (long promised since its release in November) has finally appeared, with copies starting to circulate. It should be in the shops in the UK today.

And another version, this time with a selection of live material, has been announced on various retail sites. More news as it surfaces.

Part of the Cry single package was released in Holland yesterday.

This is a two-track CD single in a card sleeve with the silver design. Stripped down two-track CD singles have been popular in Europe since the mid-ninties (examples are given in the discography for She's A River, Hypnotised, Glitterball and War Babies.)

This two-track (Eagle/PIAS 122.0218.124) couples Cry with the non-album track Lead The Blind - more information can be found here.

Another two-track single is expected on the 18th March, which will pair Cry with The Garden.

---

I've updated the list of radio stations to bombard to promote the Cry single. This includes new radio stations in Australia, UK, Chile and Belgium.

It's working. Studio Brussel have put Cry on their hot list.

The writers credits' for the songs on Cry album are listed below, along with one line comments from Jim. It isn't until you see these credits, that you can appreciate how many people were involved with this great album.

1. Cry

"Try singing a song... spoken in slow motion... make it a murmur... vain glorious"

Written by: Jim Kerr, Maggionara, Nicita, Tignino and Pat Lego

2. Spaceface

""Talking to the stars, no time to idle wars, big on aviation and love's levitation"

Written by: S. Kelly and Jim Kerr.

3. New Sunshine Morning

""Magical properties, coffee and cool mountain air, Toarmina Sicily"

Written by: Jim Kerr, Maggionara, Nicita, Tignino and Pat Lego

4. One Step Closer

""I settle down, I watch the dust, I read the book with all the rules that must... sets the time, sets the pace, then takes me closer, one step closer to that place"

Written by: Jim Kerr and Planet Funk

5. Face In The Sun

"Stripped to the bones, raw and ragged, dying slow as the Death Star"

Written by: Mark Kerr

6. Disconnected

""Only in my dreams I feel protected... this is reflected in all that I believe"

Written by: Jim Kerr, Kevin Hunter and Gordon Goudie

7. Lazy Lately

""And while I erode I know that you are strong... with the heat of a gun"

Written by: Charlie Burchill and Mark Kerr

8. Sugar

"Satori, benediction or elixir"

Written by: Charlie Burchill and Jim Kerr

9. Sleeping Girl

"From medieval Nippon to the Ginza beau monde...we love a sleeping girl"

Written by: Jim Kerr, Maggionara and Nicita

10. Cry Again

"Same scene, same story except this time the avatars are here"

Written by: Jim Kerr, Maggionara, Nicita, Tignino and Pat Lego

11. Slave Nation

"Acoustic guitars and synthesizers, overpowering brasslines, conspire to drag us down deeper into a warmer darker underworld."

Written by: Jim Kerr, Kevin Hunter and Gordon Goudie

12. The Floating World

"Coming from the heart of Boy Wonder, haunted by the smiling ghost of Billy McKenzie... goldfish swimming in blue pools... and the world is moving on"

Written by: Vince Clarke.

The album was produced by Jim Kerr assisted by Gordon Goudie except for Lazy Lately and Sugar which were produced by Charlie Burchill and One Step Closer which was produced by Planet Funk.

---

Reports have come in that the single Cry will be released this Friday (8th March) in Holland.

The posters with the bronze and silver editions feature pictures of Jim and Charlie respectively, backed with pictures of the Simple Minds community from the official site.

All times have been added for the 'B-sides' of the singles. For What It's Worth is a great cover, and probably a left-over from Neon Lights (it shouldn't have been left!) whilst Lead The Blind is great - full of those classic Simple Minds sounds with a shouted chorus. "Easy Show!". Shouldn't be a B-side.

Vince Clarke's remix of Homosapien will please fans of eighties-style remixes. In fact, it sounds like pure Yazoo with Jim singing vocals.

Further information about the single can be found here

---

The new video has been seen a few times on VH1 (in particular on one show called New To VH1). Reports range from 'weird' to 'incomprehensible'.

The video does not feature the band, but a bunch of mime artists.

---

More tour dates have been added including Switzerland and the USA.

The first announced USA date is in Kelseyville, California. More information can be found here.

---

There will be a Simple Minds Special on the Dutch music channel TMF on the 12th March. It will start at 21:00 CET. You can mail your top five videos to playwin@tmf.nl.

Some elements of the Dutch press were critical that Simple Minds didn't play live at the award. For the record, some of the reasons were:

Jim had just recovered from a bad bout of flu.
The rest of the band had been rehearsing without him.
It wasn't practical (for the seven minutes allocated stage time).
And you get the real thing in April, May and June!

---

More radio stations to blitz here. New additions include stations for The Netherlands, Finland, France and the USA.

Omroep Venray (Radio Venray), a local radio station in the Netherlands, will be playing Cry tonight (18:00-19:00). Their e-mail address has been added to the list.

---

More tour dates added: including one in Aberdeen (which currently kicks off the whole tour) and several in Spain.

Pioneering Eighties band Simple Minds are adding two more dates to their tour of the UK in April. This will be the band's first major UK tour in seven years and will promote their new album Cry, which is being released on April 1. The new tour dates are Aberdeen Music Hall on April 15 and Edinburgh Usher Hall on April 16. Singer Jim Kerr told the Daily Record: "It feels the right time to be producing new music and touring live again." Daily Record

---

The Dutch band Kane will be supporting Simple Minds during the German leg of the tour.

This guitar based band also played at the Edison Awards.

You can find out more about them on their website.

---

There have been some additions to the Marketplace.

Australian and French radio stations have been added to the radio station list - and check it out for another new picture of Jim and Charlie.

---

Another tour date added: Edinburgh, Usher Hall.

"Feel free to spread the word amongst your network of Minds' fans/contacts about the show."

"The more emails I get - particularly from abroad - the better the show is going to get. Clyde 1 love that kind of thing. So if they think I'm being listened to around the world... the show could run and run."

"What I'm doing on Clyde 1 is pretty different from the daily chart fodder they broadcast, so I need all the friends and allies I can muster."

Billy Sloan

Contact details for Billy and Radio Clyde can be found in the list of radio stations.

However, things have been turned around.

Also, it would be great if you could get the network of Minds' fans to email the group's official website asking Jim and Charlie to come in and do a session on the show. I've asked them and they seem well up for it... but if the website is suddenly flooded with emails from around the globe requesting that they do a live session on Clyde 1, it can only help me achieve my goal. Give it a try. Billy Sloan

So, hit info@simpleminds.com with those requests. It would also be great to generate lots of threads on the official site's community or on the Yahoo! mailing list - we know Jim reads both forums.

---

Mel Gaynor, Jim Kerr, Charlie Burchill, Eddie Duffy and Andy Gillespie

Simple Minds accepted their Edison Award last night from Ruud Gullit.

They then mimed to Cry and Don't You (Forget About Me).

The show will be broadcast by TV2 on the 7th March.

---

Yesterday morning, Jim was interviewed by Radio 2 in Amsterdam. Speaking from his hotel room Jim spoke about 25 years of Simple Minds, the highlights etc., and the forthcoming awards show.

The interview finished with a play of Cry. (The first time in Holland).

---

More radio stations have been added to the list. Please keep them coming in.

People tell me that they've just been working through the list, e-mailing each in turn.

At the moment, I don't have any contacts for the USA, France, Spain and Italy. If you live in these countries, please send in the e-mail addresses of your national radio stations.

Incidentally, in a weird turn of fate, Rudy Léonet and Hugues Dayez (from Radio 21) played Death By Chocolate last Friday. Radio 21 is on the list - if they're playing the unreleased, unpromoted tracks, then let's get them backing the current single!

---

As mentioned by Mel Gaynor during his interview with simpleminds.com, plans are being made for the tour to continue to the USA.

More radio stations added to the list.

Many thanks to everyone from the Yahoo! mailing list and via private e-mail for the suggestions. Please keep them coming in.

After Jim's comments on simpleminds.com, many fans have been e-mailing radio stations around the world to persuade DJ's to play the new single.

Billy Sloan, journalist and DJ, and writer of the sleeve notes for The Early Years 1977-78 and The Best Of has already aired Cry and One Step Closer. After being hit with e-mails after discussions on the Yahoo! mailing list, he went on to play Spaceface, Disconnected and Sleeping Girl.

(You can listen on-line to his show at Radio Clyde on Sunday evenings. Check their website for scheduling.)

Jim also mentioned how suprised was when visiting Mark Goodier at BBC Radio Two last year. The station had been flooded with unprompted e-mails and ended up playing several Simple Minds songs.

So, I've collected some key UK e-mail addresses for Radio Stations and DJs from the Yahoo! mailing list. Many thanks to those who mailed them in.

E-mail them and get Cry on the radio. It deserves it.

And please send in more stations and contact e-mails. Every little helps.

---

Cry and One Step Closer can now be downloaded from www.audiogalaxy.com.

This is also home of several tracks from Our Secrets Are The Same.

You will need to download their satelite software to listen to the songs.

---

We all managed to miss Simon Mayo's interview with Jim during the promotion of Neon Lights.

Luckily it's still online here (and select Jim kerr from the "Audio" drop down box at the bottom of the page). Realplayer required.

---

Thanks for all the mails on the 'International Man Of Mystery', the guy on the right of the early picture of Simple Minds.

It turns out it was David Henderson, who was their sound engineer at the time.

Additions to the Neon Lights discography:

• New scans of all Neon Lights releases.
• New Dancing Barefoot press release
• Extra information about the Dancing Barefoot promos.
• New information about a German Neon Lights Sampler.

---

Additions to the Best Of discography:

• New scans of all Best Of releases.
• New information about the two Best Of album acetates.
• New information about the Sampler acetates.
• New information about the Spanish Sampler CD.
• Extra information and corrections to the album page - including some more thoughts on the new mixes.

The second Best Of actate reveals that The Real Life by Raven Maize was either a last minute addition to the commercial CDs, or that clearance hadn't been obtained by that time - since it's missing from the acetate track listing.

---

Simple Minds: Cry Single, Bronze Edition
Eagle EAGXA218

1. Cry

2. Lead The Blind

3. Homosapien [Remix]

Digipak with slit in left hand panel holding double sided poster of Jim Kerr.

---

At the moment, it's believed that the album cut of Cry is featured here.

Lead The Blind is a new exclusive 'B-side'.

And, the Vince Clarke remix of Homosapien finally makes an appearance.

Simple Minds: Cry Single, Silver Edition
Eagle EAGXS218

1. Cry

2. For What It's Worth

3. The Garden

Digipak with slit in left hand panel holding double sided poster of Charlie Burchill.

---

Again, it's believed that the album version of Cry will be used.

For What It's Worth is a Buffalo Springfield cover - lyrics have already been uploaded. (This could be a Neon Lights outtake).

Finally, The Garden is another exclusive 'B-side'.

---

The start of the Cry discography has started:

• Cry single discography including the bronze and silver editions.
• Cry album discography including promos and CD actates.

Joining Jim, Charlie and Mel on this tour are:

Eddie Duffy: The bass player from Our Secrets Are The Same and Cry. This won't be his first appearance with the Minds - he was on stage with them at their Kosovo gig in 1999. A huge Simple Minds fan, he learnt bass from the age of 12 by practising Premontion and Changeling bass lines.

Andy Gillespie: The new man on keyboards. Rosie Gain producer, worked at Sound Control in Glasgow (owning a recording studio there), worked with SLAM DJs and is a great keyboard player and programmer. A long time big Simple Minds fan, he's currently working hard on recreating Simple Minds tracks and sounds for the forthcoming tour.

---

A message to Eagle Records: The mix of One Step Closer on the Cry Sampler (EAGCDP 196) is far better than the mix on advance album acetae Cry (Not Final Master) (EAGCD 196).

Speaking as a fan, please master the album with the sampler version!

---

More tour dates added including France, Belgium and Italy.

---

A correction to the statement from the 7th February. Simple Minds will be performing one track at the Edison Awards - more mimed than live. But they will be there, and this will be the first chance for many to hear a song from the new album.

---

Added some corrections to the page for Our Secrets Are The Same including the complete track timings for the songs (not the Jordi broadcast versions).

---

Monster by Liquid People has started appearing in record shops - 12" copies have turned up. This instrumental of Changeling has been a club favourite for the last couple of months.

For those wary of remixes, I can confirm that Monster is an instrumental version of Changeling with the drum and bass higher in the mix. (How this can be considered a different song by a different group is beyond me!)

Mel Gaynor will be on drums for the forthcoming tour.

---

More confirmation about the Edison Award: the band will be playing one track live at the event.

See also: www.edisonaward.nl
(Click on "Pop" and then "Nominaties" on the left hand side.)

---

Two Spanish tour dates have now been added to the tours section

The Edison Award show will be broadcast live on Radio 2 in Holland. On March 7th it will be shown by the TV channel TROS.

Tickets are available. The band will be there, but probably won't be playing live.

---

Incidentally, Simple Minds will be returning to the Heinekein Music Hall in Amsterdam on the 3rd June.

More dates have been added to the tours section.

---

Unfortunately www.simpleminds.org still isn't ready.

However, can you help out? On that website, I've posted a picture of a very early line-up of Simple Minds. Does anyone know who the guy to the right is?

Please send in e-mail if you do.

My name is Jim Kerr. I'm the lead singer of the Scottish band Simple Minds, and I'm talking about our new album, which is called Cry. In April of 2002, Simple Minds will release their twelfth album of original material. The album in question is called Cry, and the album was recorded basically in the last six months of the year 2001. Primarily the album was recorded in Sicily and in Glasgow - Glasgow, of course, being the hometown of Simple Minds and Sicily, in southern Italy, is a place that, at least half of the time now, I reside. The fact is that it's been almost four years since Simple Minds last released an album of new songs. And of course, four years in the pop industry, is like an entire generation. That being the case, we felt that really to begin with any new momentum, it was imperative that we came back with an album that was, let's say, more focused than some of the work that we'd been doing in the mid-to-late nineties. For me it was important we came back with a pop album. And when I say a pop, I mean songs that are very heavy on melody, songs that are really tightly focused in terms of arrangements, and even as I look at the track listing just now, and indeed the length of songs, most of the songs come in under four minutes which, it's safe to say, is quite a change of direction for Simple Minds. Whenever I'm asked to describe the sound of the album, in a strange way for me, I have to say that the album is both contemporary sounding and, in doing so, is also just a bit retro. Anyone who's been paying attention to the popular dance charts over the last few months - certainly over the last year - may have noticed how increasingly a lot of modern music is borrowing from the eighties sounds. And it is no secret that Simple Minds is perhaps one of the groups being sampled most heavily. Which is very flattering. And similarly, some of those sounds, are coming, let's say, back into vogue. We ourselves have become more appreciative of early works - when I say early work I mean some of the albums we did prior to the breakthrough albums which featured songs like Alive And Kicking and Don't You (Forget About Me). Of course, in any modern recording, it's unavoidable to use some of the incredible technology that is available now, and we ourselves relied very heavily on that same technology, I think in the most positive sense. At certain times we three little studios on the go: one in Glasgow, one in Sicily and one in Dublin. And by sending music files through the `net and such, we were able to enlarge our group. And it's worthwhile to speak about that group because while the very name Simple Minds to some people does conjure up the image of a group, especially a live group, the truth is that the core of Simple Minds really revolves around my partner Charlie Burchill and myself. Although having said that, on this album we really opened the door wide in terms of the amount of people who joined in on the song writing and, indeed, the collaborations. The technology helped bring all that together. Of course, I would say that this is a vast departure in sound from the mid-eighties, bombastic, let's say stadium rock, Simple Minds. I think what is on offer here is a world apart. And, as I said earlier, if anything, this music probably reflects on the early albums like Real To Real Cacophony, Empires And Dance, Sons And Fascination, although I can hear elements of New Gold Dream in the album as well. Certainly, for my part, the early aim of the songwriting was to keep things as simple as possible, and at this point in time, I like the simple emotions and the simple lyrics. Big choruses. And when it comes to the lyrics, it's amazing when you work with people who perhaps English is not their first language (and I'm not talking about Scottish people here [laughs]), a lot of the collaborators, a lot of the stuff was done in Italy, and it's amazing how effective things can be when you stick to the most simple languages possible. The greatest thing for me recently, I have to say is, just to be happy once again, and excited by the process of making music. Cry was chosen as the album's title, not necessarily because as a song it summed up the entire album - in fact I don't think one song sums up this rather diverse album - but the Cry in question for me... It's not a cry of sorrow particularly, it could be a cry of joy. I just felt it was a very sharp and focused word. 'Cry' is a word and emotion that is understood universally. And again, in keeping things as simple as possible. It certainly leapt out as a potential album title. In terms of themes of the songs, there are songs like New Sunshine Morning, and One Step Closer, which if they're about anything in particular, they are probably about an idea of some sort of rejuvenation, rebirth, and I felt that in terms of getting involved in music again. It really did feel like a new burst of energy. And we certain hope that this leads to a new momentum, that Simple Minds can carry through over the next few years. We feel incredibly fortunate to have the kind of past that we've had, the kind of career that we've had, and there is nothing about that past that we would wish to change. But for the first time in a long time, we are equally excited about the music we are presently making, and indeed the songs that are still to come. Jim Kerr Cry sampler introduction.

Cry album sampler
1.	Jim's Introduction	(7.10)
2.	Cry	(3.56)
3.	Spaceface	(3.33)
4.	One Step Closer	(5.58)

Cry
Hits from the start with an instant distinctive riff and now trademark, muted, almost whispered lyrics from Jim. Simple, stripped down, and very effective.
Killer chorus:
"You make me cry.
You make me cry again.
And you make me cry.
And the tears roll by again."
(Similar to: Slower, more refined, 'Jeweler To The Stars')

Spaceface
Gentle guitars in the background joined by minimal synths and textures in the foreground.
Killer chorus:
"She's a spaceface floating around.
My little spaceface floating around.
She's never coming down,
She's never coming down,
She's never coming down."
(Similar to: The Cult meets Babylon Zoo, but in a very restrained way - if that's possible.)

One Step Closer
Gorgeous majestic intro fades to white noise and gives way to a funky, quirky, irresistable, multi-textured groove. Charlie's guitar lines follow Jim's lyrics in the chorus. Neapolis texturing in the background. Permanent etching into the brain.
Killer Chorus:
" You'll take me one step closer, now I know you're there.
It's better now than never, now I know you're here,
You'll take me one step closer, now I know you're there.
Much better now than never, now I'll know you'll stay."
(Intro similar to : 'Belfast Trance' meets 'Real Life')

---

Hats off to DJs in Spain who have already aired the new single Cry (on Radio 3).

---

John 'OO' Fleming vs Simple Minds: Belfast Trance

Belfast Trance : Nebula BELF001
A1: New Vocal Mix
B1: Original Mix
12" in picture sleeve

Belfast Trance : Nebula BELFCD001
1: Vocal Radio Edit
2: New Vocal Mix
3: Dub Mix
CD in slimline jewel case and picture sleeve

Released last Monday.

---

Simple Minds will be honoured with an Edison Award at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam on the 27th February.

It isn't known if they will attend in person or play live.

(From what I understand, an Edison Award is similar to a Lifetime Achievement Award).

---

The first parts of the new Dream Giver site will start to appear on www.simpleminds.org Sunday evening.

It will be an incremental launch: as parts of the new site appear, parts of this site will be taken off line.

Rather than add chunks piecemeal (a discography there, and then a timeline, and then the family tree), the whole footprint of the site will be added first, and then built upon. The pieces for Biba-Rom!, Johnny And The Self Abusers and the Life In A Day album, single and tour will be uploaded first.

In fact, it will look like a Simple Minds site from 1979 (pretending that the world-wide-web existed at that time).

Right: Jim Kerr 'Red Eye' tour poster. It probably dates from 1979, possibly earlier. Jaine Henderson remembered designing and pasting up 'Red Eyes' around London, so could be one of the last examples.

Just one of the examples of new material appearing on the new site.

Promos for the Cry album have started to circulate.

These four track sampler CDs feature an introduction by Jim, followed by full versions of Cry, Spaceface and One Step Closer.

I haven't heard it, but here's some info from one fan who has:

"The three songs on the sampler are fantastic, all the critics on the egroup (and I'm counting myself in) can SHUT UP. It's their best work in AGES. Not that much electronic, just the stuff that's around these days to use and sounds great without taking the feel out of the song. The single "Cry" is SO GOOD! I hope they make a good video for it, not a cheap one like they did for "Dancing Barefoot".

"What I heard now is better than "Neapolis" (I didn't like the album) and "Our Secrets Are The Same" - (I though it wasn't bad but not really up there with the great) and certainly better than "Neon Lights" (which to me was a collection of songs they should not have messed with)."

"This is the album every fan was waiting for all these years and I'm not exaggerating! Like Jim said, KILLER CHORUS is main word to describe the songs.".

---

"'Belfast Trance' is John 'OO' Fleming's cheeky offering which started life as John's personnel homage to one of his favourite tracks & has ended up being signed by same label that host's the samples owners - Simple Minds (well, the dance division anyway!)."

"Originally doing the rounds early in 2001 on a limited edition white [see news archives in April], this new release sees a brand new vocal mix chucked into the package to give those who already have the original 'new ammunition' & those who don't a variation on the original they know & love."

"The Original Vocal Mix is a classic piece of chugging trance, slowly building up to the very atmospheric breakdown where electronica meets the Simple Minds classic 'Belfast Child' in a meeting of (ahem) great 'minds' to give all Crasher-ites & Slinky Kids the rush of their life."

"The New Vocal Mix has been toughened up somewhat with the addition of a more contemporary Trance feel. With arpegiated riffs and a more creative use of the vocal sample Mr. Fleming comes up trumps with a package that will appeal to a broad range of trance fanatics."

Belfast Trance was relesed on Monday, on 12" and CD formats. The 12" features the new vocal mix backed with the original mix. (Nebula BELF 001). More information on the CD when I get hold of one.

www.nebula.co.uk