I have been running (whether co-administrating or solely) various Simple Minds mailing lists since 1995. Guess how many people I’ve had to ban?

The answer is zero.

To be honest, I’ve been tempted a couple of times, but I’ve always felt the list administrator should be able to answer to the list as a whole, and on the whole no-one has upset the entire list. (The closest was an incident in 1999 where someone pretended to work for Virgin Records and fed us all false information. I left him on the list so he could enjoy everyone moaning at him.)

This brings me onto the simpleminds.com community.

My favourite poster was MrBelly, a sarcastic, cutting individual hiding behind the persona of a small kitten, whose sense of humour was so left-field as to be out of the football pitch altogether. Some of his posts could be taken as cruel, but on the whole, he was a beacon of light in a message board awash with nonsense, irrelevant posts and general off-topic chit-chat.

He’s just been kicked off the site.

I don’t know why – perhaps he overstepped a mark somewhere? But, this is what bothers me. I don’t know what he did. And with many of the frequent posters clamoring for his reinstatement, it seems that the ‘community’ is being ruled by an over-zealous admin, who will remove people of the site without giving reasons, despite the vocal majority clearly wanting him back.

The site was trolled badly earlier this year – and the removal of these individuals by the fresh new administrator was seen as a good thing by the community. But with the banishment of MrBelly, then I have to wonder if the administrator is listening to the community he/she serves anymore.

Goodbye MrBelly – you had me in tears of laughter with your ‘poem’. Now, there’s nothing worth reading there anymore.

The Best Of DVD advertised on Blackstar appears to be a red herring. But there's no smoke without fire, and it was probably a misreported Seeing The Lights DVD which is appearing in October.

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Simcoemedia were the firm who put together a demo One Step Closer video based on footage shot at the Liverpool gig. Simple Minds have decided not to pursue the designs, but Simcoemedia have put up a shot clip and some shots at here.

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In the last festival gig before their European tour later this year, Simple Minds acted as support for The Rolling Stones at the TW Classics festival. The set-list was:

One Step Closer
Love Song
See The Lights
Mandela Day
Ghostdancing-Gloria-Light My Fire
Don't You (Forget About Me)
She's A River
Alive And Kicking
New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84)
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Waterfront
Sanctify Yourself

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13th October will see SACDs of New Gold Dream and Once Upon A Time being released - according to Amazon anyway.

Dream Giver Redux has now expanded taking the Simple Minds story up to 1978. You'll find tour dates, press releases, press reviews, demo information and a break-down of the various line-ups over the year on the new site.

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A thank you to 2Fluid Creative - competition winner Colin Neary received his gold disc after nine months of waiting. It wasn't signed - but then again, a gold disc is a substantial prize in itself, and Colin is pleased with it.

The day counter on the front page of the site has now been removed as requested.

Brasov set-list:
One Step Closer
Love Song
See The Lights
Mandela Day
Ghost Dancing/Gloria/Light My Fire
Don't You (Forget About Me)
Belfast Child
She's A River
Alive And Kicking
New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84)

Encore:
Waterfront
Sanctify Yourself

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Tribute band Sample Minds will be back on the road in October on a mini-European tour:

03/10/03: Bielefeld, Germany
Irish Bar in the town-centre
21:30 - 1:30 with breaks
Admission: 3 Euros

04/10/03: Aalst, Belgium
Set length to be confirmed
Admission: See www.sparkle.be

10/10/03: Hamm Germany
Hoppegarden (great venue)
Start 21:30 (full set)
Admission: 5 Euros

11/10/03: Hamm, Germany
Hoppegarden festival as special guest
(only short set 8 songs) other bands mainly rock-covers, including Joe Cocker tribute.
Admission: 5-8 Euros

Sample Minds are highly recommended - catch them if you can.

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Theme For Great Cities is currently number 7 on the www.dotmusic.com download chart.

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Whilst mentioning how Richard X (vs Liberty X) was singing the praises of The Human League, an NME reporter wrote: "without putting a gun to their head some people are saying Simple f***ing Minds were good in their early days."

During a bio of Shaun Ryder, he mentioned seeing Simple Minds at the Hacienda. Not only content with that, a short clip of Promised You A Miracle was aired. (The programme was either on MTV 2 or The Amp).

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A recent posting to the YahooGroups mailing list updated the Simple Minds discography. It's long been known that the Canadian version of Sister Feelings Call is significantly different from the UK version - however, it wasn't known that Sons And Fascination is also different.

Therefore the discography has been updated, and the full listing of the Canadian Sons And Fascination can be found here.

You’re miles better at this Festival favourites The Proclaimers gave a massive thumbs up to newcomers Caledon. Scotland’s answer to The Three Tenors brought the curtain down on Balado last night with a stirring rendition of Flower of Scotland. And today Caledon release their single – a cover of Craig and Charlie Ried’s classic I’m Gonna Be (500 miles). Last night, the twins praised the newcomers. Craig said: “It’s a great version of 500 Miles and they actually sing it better than we do as they’ve got a far superior voice range.” Charlie joked: “Just don’t expect us to do a cover of any of their songs, as we couldn’t manage it!” This was the first year The Proclaimers played the main stage of the festival. But Craig admitted he was disappointed he didn’t see more TOPLESS fans in the crowd. He laughed: “There was one girl I was watching below the stage while we were singing who took her bikini off then thought better of it and put it back on again. I just wish we weren’t so restrained in Scotland and would just let it all hang out.” Meanwhile, football legend Ally McCoist missed out on a dream chance to close the festival last night. The music-daft former Rangers striker was asked by Caledon to play bass with them. He had been taking lesson from ex- Simple Minds bassist Derek Forbes who is now part of Caledon’s backing band. But Coisty had to duck out to take his kids on a family holiday to Canada as relation between the soccer idol and his estranged missus Allison begin to thaw. Derek said: “Ally was dying to do it and, after a few tips from myself, he’s not a bad bass player now. We had a late substitute offer from Ally’s old team mate Trevor Steven but I had to tell him ‘sorry Trevor, you’re not a patch on Ally’.” Russell Blackstock The Sun 14-7-03

Another member of Caledon is Mick MacNeil who was unable to make the festival as he was on holiday at the time. Whilst I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) was released back in July, the next single is going to be Flower Of Scotland.

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Grzegorz Michalski has compared his new Sparkle In The Rain remaster with the original, and has written another piece on the differences.

It is very technical and would be of use to those who want to understand the remastering process in more detail.

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On September 2nd, Universal Home Video will be releasing a DVD called The High School Reunion Collection.

It features Sixteen Candles, Weird Science and The Breakfast Club - of course Simple Minds recorded Don't You (Forget About Me) for The Breakfast Club.

For more information, and competition details, then check the link below:

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I've been quietly adding links to the new links section over the past couple of weeks. Check it out - there's lots of new sites to explore.

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Various new notes and trivia have been added to the album pages of Real Life, Good News From The Next World. Neapolis, Neon Lights and Cry.

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I've been asked if people can use Paypal to purchase the fanzine - I've therefore set up a private trial to see how it all works. If everything proceeds correctly, purchasing for the fanzine by credit card via Paypal will be up and running in the next couple of weeks.

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Two Russian MP3 CDs have recently been issued under the Home Collection banner. The first features the albums from Life In A Day through to Live In The City Of Light whilst the second covers Street Fighting Years to Cry.

Both CDs also feature artwork and a Word document of all the lyrics.

So, if you haven't purchased the remasters yet, but would like the complete album back-catalogue as low quality Russian tat then your luck is in.

Windows 95, 98 and NT only.

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BBC 6 featured I Travel as their "dodgy but great" track on the 21st August.

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The SACD of Cry gets a great write up here - it even made me consider purchasing a SACD player.

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Simple Minds Live at the Kings Docks Liverpool The last time I saw Simple Minds live was at The Royal Albert Hall, as normal they played their hearts out, which indecently was the 40th time I’ve braved the journey, the hangover and the wave of enthusiasm to start my own band, or at least get more into music. One of the biggest regrets in my life was seeing Simple Minds at Milton Keynes Bowl, June 21st 1986, not because I didn’t enjoy the gig, simply to the point, that every band I have seen up until today is just one big anticlimax. From U2 to Queen no singer has ever walked on a stage that has the same stage presents as Jim Kerr, believe me, even after all these years having such a strong opinions and avoiding passionate punch ups, I still swear and stand by these comments today. For all who have waited up to seven years in between tours to see Simple Minds, now is a good time with plenty to look forward to, sometimes I’m not sure what’s best actually seeing the boys live or the excitement and anticipation in waiting for the next electrifying gig. The band are now mid way through their European tour and tonight its Liverpool’s turn to host possibly the best live band in the world. The support band for this concert is China Crisis, playing to their hometown crowd. China played for around 45 minutes and it was great to here such great songs from the 80,s like Christian and Black Man Ray, in some respects they reminded me of The Little People (support for the Floating World Tour 2002), they were a wee bit diluted in the sense that the whole set seemed to lack in energy, I wouldn’t go as far to say it was elevator music, but if you sat in an arm chair with a good bottle of wine, it could have been home from home. The stage was like any other, which I was quite surprised as the venue in two giant marques, when your inside it kinda looks just like the NEC, none the less it was packed to the gills and the atmosphere was brilliant, building up nicely for tonight’s main event. The lights go down and all you could see was the silhouette of “Big Andy” at the keyboard, within a few seconds the intro to One Step Closer fills the room blending in with the loudest roar you could ever imagine. I don’t know where Jim gets his energy from but in the past at some concerts he walks on cool as ice, hands in the air and ready to rock, tonight he seemed to run on. He reminded me of an excited kid at Christmas. His smile was beaming and you could clearly see he was where he wanted to be. Charlie was also grinning like a Cheshire cat, its not about money or ego, these guys could of retired 20 years ago, like any drug, once your addicted you need more and more of the fix and they certainly got their fix tonight. The songs were played as good as I’ve ever heard; the 20 minute rendition of Ghostdancing was brilliant, featuring Gloria and The Doors classic Light My Fire. Simple Minds yet again came up trumps playing all the great songs spanning over a fantastic 25 years. Although the concert was brilliant there were a few things which could be improved upon. C Moon doesn’t work live, the band seemed to die a death when this song came on and so did the audience. I understand this song is a very deep song especially to the hard core of SM fans, me included, but it doesn’t work live. I also found the song selection a little disappointing, at the moment there doesn’t seem to be any continuity, the Floating world tour could have been seen as a greatest hits tour, it was close but the way this tours going its not going to do the band any favours long term. Jim and Charlie’s showmanship tonight was very apparent and for the first time it showed up the rest of the band. My biggest letdown was Eddy Duffy he’s such a talented bass player, but when it comes to using the stage and presentation he does let the band down. Tonight he looked as if he should have been playing with The Levellers, wearing ripped bell bottoms and the cheapest pumps money can buy. I can remember the days when Malcolm Foster would come on stage wearing shades and cowboy boots looking cool as f**k. Andy was sporting a green German camouflage jacket, which I thought was a little inappropriate and didn’t go with the Simple Minds image. Anyhow the music is where it matters and tonight was a fantastic concert, which made everyone leave with a huge smile. Jim seems to be getting better and better and after two hours of bliss Simple Minds are still the best live band in the world. Long may it continue? Except the website www.simpleminds.com, “Jim your web site is an embarrassment, sort it out mate” Jamie Sinclair

Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon was released on SACD earlier this year. On the 16th March, the Sunday Express asked various stars what they thought about it: "Despite the wonderful emptiness of Dark Side, the music, though always spacey, is never alienating. The reason being at the heart of Floyd, one always finds the enveloping warm of their blues roots" Jim Kerr

The setlist for Gampal was the shortest yet: One Step Closer Love Song See the Lights East At Easter Mandela Day Ghostdancing-Gloria-Light My Fire Don't You (Forget About Me) Belfast Child She's A River Alive And Kicking New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84) Waterfront Sanctify Yourself

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Simple Minds haven't visited New Zealand for over ten years now - but it's home of a play named after one of their songs.

"New Gold Dream, the first play by actor Michael Galvin (Dr Chris Warner of TV2's Shortland Street), is an anarchic romp following the course of New Gold Dream, a performance art group obsessed with 80s music, who shot to local fame before a disastrous gig plunged them back into obscurity and severed their friendships. Eight years later, their biggest fan is reforming the group for one big gig. Is the dream still alive?"

For booking information, check here.

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The convention organisers have received a thank you note from the Queen Mother's hospital:

Very many thanks indeed for your superb donation of £5,153.14p to our Special Care Baby unit here at the Queen Mother's hospital. Please be assured we will use this wisely to enhance the facilities that we provide for infants and their families using our service.

I was delighted to hear of how the fund-raising took place and would be grateful if you could thank all those involved in organising such a complex convention. Please thank all those who gave so generously to your fund-raising effort, and thank them on our behalf."

Kindest regards,
Dr. T.Turner
Consultant paediatrician.

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In a surprise 'early-Simple-Minds-actually-quite-good" move, Q Magazine gave Early Gold a rating of 4/5. Of course, in their opinion it all went wrong with Sparkle In The Rain onwards.

Simple Minds will be playing at the Golden Stag Music Festival in Brasov, Romania, on the 22nd August.

Both Mark Schulman and Jim have been interviewed by Todd for the show. Jim despite a dodgy line from Sicily had lots to say which is summerized below:

• Preamble: Andy Gillispe has suggested making the live shows longer. Jim said that's OK for Andy as he's got to jump around whilst Andy sits there by the keyboards. But there are so many songs they could play.

• Plans for this year: The promoters have asked for Simple Minds to keep the live momemtum going. So they had the choice of either working on the new record and get something out or keep the live thing going. With the music industry in crisis at the moment, and lots of back catalogue coming out, they thought that playing live would be best bet for this year. Which has been proven. And great fun.

• US Tour: Without a new record, on play on the radio, it's hard to get promoters to take a risk - well they would in New York and LA, or as a package with other bands [as with INXS]. If it was easy, and the figures added up, then they'd be there. It was great to touch base with America last year.

• 2004: Who knows? Every two months new suggestions come up. They'd love to tour the US - but it's not easy [see reasons above], but it's easy in Europe - the figures add up. He'd love to play with someone like The Cure. But nothing in the pipeline right now.

• Remasters: Neapolis has now officially been released in US as a remaster. Jim feels a little victory there - he wants the music to see the light of day. But it deserved a better chance.

• Double DVD: one disc of promo videos, one disc of Verona. It will be in 5:1 and have better sound. There's a department in Virgin that works for back catalogues where Jason Day, a fan of Simple Minds, is taking initiatives and being creative. They're doing all this work. The DVD is called Seeing The Lights. One disc will feature all the video promos of the singles - Jim isn't too proud of a lot of them! The other is Simple Minds at Verona which is one of the things they're most proud of. The director, Andy Morhan, made something ahead of its time and it's stood the test of time.

• Box set: It's going to include rarities that Virgin have got the rights to - radio sessions and shows and even the soundtrack to some television appearances. They've come up with outtakes and general stuff in the vaults. It's all been tidied up. The real crux is the inclusion of Our Secrets Are The Same. The question was: Should they go back and remix and touch it up and mess around? The answer was: No - leave it as it is. The sound quality has since been mastered - the Jordi broadcasts weren't mastered - so it'll sound much, much better. The box set will certainly be available in Europe and the UK - don't know about US and the rest of the world. Box set won't be too cheap either. For those wanting the DVD and box set outside Europe - get on line, get on Amazon.

• Simple Minds convention: We do conventions, we call them gigs. We're best when we're up on stage playing. Jim felt it would be weird for him to look at his life on a wall - he'd feel a bit odd. They totally appreciate the work and the amount of fun to be had at an conventions - but they're fan conventions for fans. The fans don't need them there - they get on fine without us.

• New album: Mostly Jim and Charlie's work but the door will still be open for other people. Sean Kelly [who wrote Spaceface] has written Light Travels - an incredible song. Jim and Charlie had made something of their own of it. There are twenty songs in the pot - some are 95% completed, some are 20% completed. They bundle up the ideas, don't listen for months, then the ones that will make it announce themselves when replayed. The album is influenced by their live work from last year. They won't be working much on the album this year - they'll wrap it up in January to April. Then, hopefully, the music industry will have settled down.

• Record label: There's been interest in the band from the majors again - but Jim doesn't know if it's right to sign to one or not.

• Mick MacNeil: It has been said he would be open to collaborating again. Jim mentioned that he's been much more enthusiastic and calling. Will say he's got a great piece of music and will send it... but then Jim will still be waiting nine months later - but that's Mick. He was a collosal input to Simple Minds in the past - but Jim has no idea how it would work anymore as a dynamic. Because it was good 16 years ago, it's alot to assume it would work. The first thing is the desire - perhaps he could work on a couple of songs, then an album, then a tour. Jim understands and is a fan - and hankers for the 'classic' line-up of other groups. The crux would be how Charlie and Mick would get on - people assume Jim holds the key, but Charlie calls the shots. Mick's keen for Jim to get to his house when he returns to Scotland to listen to new material.

• Derek Forbes: Jim also spoke of Derek's return to Neapolis - and how it didn't work out.

  Set-list: Great that Mandela Day is back. So thankful that they did write a song for Mandela Day. Kick Inside Of Me is back as well. Andy is pushing and shaking things up as new energy within Simple Minds. Almost the boss of the band now - pushing for things. He's a huge fan of Simple Minds - pushing to play the songs he loves to hear.

• New live material: Live recording has diminished as there are more live songs broadcast. [Jim didn't seem to know that the BBC Radio Wales broadcast had been postponed]. Then they go online and get downloaded. So those who want the live stuff have it out there. A new DVD live is top of the priority. But the crux is that you've got to get a great place.

• simpleminds.com: The infamous shop. It's coming. The thing that people want most is music - Simple Minds don't hold rights, but they're getting them back. So the shop will sell more than a few badges, when it sees the light of day.

Some Sweet Day 2003 kicks off tomorrow for 18 hours devoted to Simple Minds. This annual event has become a must-hear - with its mixture of singles, album tracks, rarities and B-sides.

And also check out the broadcast for who Todd's interviewing this year. You won't be disappointed.

The show starts at 7am (est) and on till 1am! Requests taken via email at request@wbwc.com and (day of show) via phone at 440-826-2187.

Tune in via Real Audio at www.wbwc.com. For more information log onto the online flyer at http://www.runninglate.org/marathons/sm.html.

The company who filmed Simple Minds at Liverpool Docks produced a promotional video of One Step Closer as an example of their work. The video has been sent to Jim and Charlie - but it isn't intended for commercial release - but it might appear on a website at some point.

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As for the DVD, further information should be appearing here.

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The BBC Radio Wales broadcast of the Liverpool show was pulled at the last moment. Radio Wales stated that "Mix problems means we have to reschedule later in the year.

Simple Minds were also filmed at Liverpool Docks, and an official promo video of One Step Closer has been produced.

At the moment, it isn't known what this will be promoting.

A Simple Minds DVD entitled The Best Of has appeared in the release schedules for the 15th September. There's no other information at the moment.

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The BBC Wales broadcast of the Liverpool gig will be an hour in length - so it looks like this will be a highlights show. It airs on the 9th August.

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This is a little out of date, being dated from October last year. Pity it was missed, we could've asked Brian about it at the convention.

"Jane's simply the best, say fans in band" A FOUNDING member of supergroup Simple Minds is aiming to top the charts with a new band - named after a television sports reporter. The Jane Lewis Fan Club was formed by ex-Simple Minds drummer Brian McGee after more than two decades in the musical wilderness. The group is hoping to hit the big time with music they describe as "good, trashy, three-minute pop". The band was named after one of its members became "fixated" with Jane, who presents sport on Scotland Today. Frontman Ian Walker said: "I think she's a lovely looking lassie." Glasgow-born McGee set up Simple Minds with Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill while they were at school in the mid-1970s. They quickly rose to fame, but he was forced to give up his rock and roll lifestyle in 1982 when he suffered serious health problems. Now the father-of-three is hoping to resurrect his musical career. He said: "It's not meant to be publicity-seeking in any way. It's just our rather strange sense of humour." The band, which includes guitarist Michael Hughes, 37, from the east end of Glasgow, is still looking for a manager and a record deal. Jane Lewis said: "I'm really flattered that they've chosen to use my name for their band and I wish them all the best. When they become successful, I'm looking forward to a cut of the profits." "But I really don't think of myself as a celebrity, and I don't think they'll shoot to the top of the charts on the back of my name." Daily Express Oct. 5, 2002

An interesting twist for the last show of July - New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84) was pushed into the encore, and Belfast Child returned in what was one of the shorter set-lists of the festival tour at the Festival Cornouailles in France.

The Liverpool gig has received rave reviews from fans, the atmosphere rocketting it into one of the best gigs ever.

The good news is that BBC Radio Wales recorded the gig - it's scheduled for broadcast on the 9th August, contracts pending.

A weird, but raving review from the Daily Post can be found here (where Charlie Birchall (sic) is described as "still looking as moody as ever".)

Another review, where the song titles are correct can be found here. Plus there's a pre-gig interview with Jim.

Herford, 20th July 2003 Opener ONE STEP CLOSER got the crowd going inmediately, definately a good choice to put this one in the setlist as gig opener. Whilst standing on the front again, I could clearly see that band where enjoying themselves and also the warm reaction from the public in Bonn. I TRAVEL and CHANGELING got the crowd "rain dancing", OK, for some of us "mad rain dancing". Jim spotted the "Bonn & Herford We Travel" T-shirts and this clearly pleased him, and during the song he pointed at us mindtravellers from Britain, Holland, Scotland, Belgium, Suisse; and sang "I travel, you travel, we travel.." And this wouldn¹t be the first time there was some nice interaction between the band an the audience. HYPNOTISED was quite a brilliant version, as was EAST AT EASTER! During Hypnotised, I held out my print out of the Bonn review and waved with it to Eddie, who has made me promise him the night before in Bonn, to write a review; so to prove it I showed it. He just couldn¹t stop laughing... Also Herford really liked MANDELA DAY, and the song again was dedicated to Nelson Mandela¹s birthday, but this time Jim didn¹t mention Bush, Blair & Co. LOVE SONG caused more singing and dancing in the rain, as was also the case for the song that always manages to set the place on fire: GHOST DANCING. Thist time the crowd already was singing GLORIA before Jim started his little introduction to that, but he didn¹t seem to mind. Also this time we got a short snippet of LIGHT MY FIRE aswell. And the place was indeed set on fire...The response of the Herford public really was fantastic, and this throughout the whole gig.. Since the setlist untill then was the same as the night before, I hoped for BIG SLEEP, following DON¹T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME... but that seemed to been removed from the setlist for Bonn. The song which followed Big Sleep in Bonn, was fortunately kept. C¹MOON CRY LIKE A BABY was being played and performed heavenly by the guys. And I couldn¹t keep my mad dancing under control and Herford saw some madman jumping up and down, singing along loudly to this song. Not only Eddie, who already knows how found I am on this song, but Jim spotted me as well, and continued singing in to my direction. And it was like we where singing a duet. Great. Brilliant. And awesome performance! During the song Jim also changed the lyrics into "It¹s still pissing down." Which was a fact LOL. But believe it or not, Herford and my fellow community minders who where there will confirm though, IT STOPPED RAINING after C¹Moon Cry Like A Baby. Pure magic! Whilst I was still Simple Minds heaven SHE¹S A RIVER was performed followed by ALIVE AND KICKING both like on most of the venues great crowd pleasers. NEW GOLD DREAM (81,82,83,84) got (woudn¹t we expect it differently) Herford dancing, and even mad dancing, singing along loudly. Definately also (again) a big highlight, and it has been said before, this 2003 live version really rocks as hell! As always, New Gold Dream concluded the main set. Only Eddie, Charlie, Mel and Andy came on stage, so this meant, that wonderfull instrumental top tune would be perormed again: THEME FOR GREAT CITIES! Yearh! Herford Rathausplatz was like in a trance. I thouhgt this was one of thier best performances of THEME. Jim came back on stage and SOMEONE SOMEWHERE IN SUMMERTIME was played, where Andy did a brilliant job again on the keys! Then came SEE THE LIGHTS, very subtile, very warm, very good. Now that it finally had stopped raining, Simple Minds and Herford sang "Come in come out of the rain." WATERFRONT!! Since we all know that 1+1=2, there was one song to go. So here was most of us hoping: "Please let it be The Kick Inside of Me". But SANCTIFY YOURSELF, poweful as ever was played. And then whilst most of us though "Wow, this is it, another great minds gig and already finished.. we saw the guys where not to leave the stage yet!!! And Jim making gestures towards the others, I think discussing if they would do another 1 or 2 songs;.. and we got THE KICK INSIDE OF ME!!!! Stunning. Brilliant. Rock & Roll. Even though Jim, was to late with his vocals one hell of version, with the band that gave all that they got (which is a lot)! And Herford went mad again! What powerful way to end a superb gig! Review by: C'Moon/Mark 20th July 2003

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Two extra dates, both in Septmber, have been added to the tour.

Simple Minds will be playing Istanbul on the 6th, before jetting back to Europe to play Werchter (just before The Rolling Stones) on the 7th.

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• Moon Guitars features details of a custom guitar built for Simple Minds
• Derek Forbes played at T in the Park and has been teaching Ally McCoist to play bass.
• Last October, Brian McGee formed a band called the Jane Lewis Fan Club.

More details about Derek, Brian and Mick MacNeil soon.

Bonn, 19th July 2003 The crowd, coloured with "Herford & Bonn ­ We Travel" and "Sparkle*" T-shirts, was getting inpatient and loud....waiting full exitement and expectation of a certain Scottish band to come on stage..... And whilst I still was wondering "are they going to open with Book Of Brilliant Things or are they to start with "One Step Closer again", the band went on stage and.... ONE STEP CLOSER was played, and we could diretly see: the guys are (again!) in optima forma... this was going to be one hell of a gig again. The overcrowded Museumplatz exploded (with a certain person on the front row whos¹s nickname starts with a C in particulary) as soon as the first notes of I TRAVEL where hit. Fantastic. And hot or not: you just HAD to dance to this one, but it was not over yet. CHANGELING was played and more (mad) dancing! At this time the fellowminds that also went to the Luxembourg gig already had something like "Yes! It¹s the Luxembourg setlist!" HYPNOTISED, powerful version and loudly sang along by the public. Followed by an again stunning EAST AT EASTER "we will rock you, rock you, little child." And o boy did they rock! Happy Birthday, Nelson Mandela, 85 he became earlier this week, so MANDELA DAY in this context is really the approriate song to sing, and Jim didn¹ forget to say some unpleasant words at the address of Blair, Bush and Berlussconi. LOVE SONG set the place on fire again, and it was already so hot! But of course it only could get much better, and also tonight GHOSTDANCING was one of the absolute highlights of the show. Also Bonn knows the lyrics to this song very well, and also is very familiar with GLORIA and LIGHT MY FIRE. Yes, also here the song was extended with these two rock classics. Rock & Roll ;-) The inevitable DON¹T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME followed. La la la, etcetera... BIG SLEEP, very moving and breathtaking. As good as in Luxembourg, and absolutely a highlight!!! Since I already knew now that is was going to be sort of the "Luxembourg set list" I knew what was to come right after BIG SLEEP... and for some unknown reasons it didn¹t took long at all for me recognising the song ;-) C MOON CRY LIKE A BABY really blew off my socks again, and the guy of the security looked a bit strange when I was jumping very high at a very moment,... "my song" again. And played so beautifully: guys why did you wait so long to give this song this brilliant live treatment? Eddie, I saw you laughing, hope I didnt bring you out of your concentration LOL. This song, of course, for me, was another highlight, but I do think that the crowd liked it a lot as well.. SHE¹S A RIVER was again a song that was louldy sang along by the public, and I think Jim did got the lyrics right this time :-p ALIVE AND KICKING featuring brilliant keyparts by Andy, and Eddie: Everything OK? Singing as high as that! Time to dance again, and a we where spoiled with a mindblowing NEW GOLD DREAM (81,82,83,84), in the version with the Goldreamer sample in it as played on the other gigs of this tour, Defintately one of THE if not THE best live versions of this song.!!! Where NEW GOLD DREAM always started the gigs on the Floating World Tour, it is now apparantly going to stay THE official closing song of the main set. But it was not over yet, of course. Encores time... THEME FOR GREAT CITIES was played again by our top musicians Mel, Charlie, Eddie and Andy. Time for Jim to put on a clean shirt, and there he was to sing us a brilliant SOMEONE SOMEWHERE IN SUMMERTIME. SEE THE LIGHTS was next, and Jim sang something like "Thank you Bonn" at the end of the song, and then run to Mel to give this men a bit handshake. And the set then was concluded with crowd pleasers (more mad and not so mad dancing!) WATERFRONT and SANCTIFY YOURSELF. Of course loudly sang along again. Carine Simon¹s little daughter came on the stage and offered the band members a yellow flower. That was so cute! And I guess that Simon Jr. Is also already a big Simple Minds fan, now isn¹t she Carine? A very powerfull and brilliant gig, the same setlist (with Someone Somewhere (In Summertime) added) as in Luxembourg, not the intimacy though, but a marvellous dynamic, as Kerstin puts it ³BONTASTIC² gig!!! Thank you again Simple Minds! After the gig we shortly spoke with Eddie, who asked me if I was going to write a review, well here it is, hope you enjoy it ;-). We also changed some words with Andy who, if all goes well, has promised us something for tommorrow! I would like to thank all lovely fellowminds, most of you I¹ll be seeing in a couple of hours, and of course Simple Minds for being Simple Minds. Review by: C'Moon/Mark Live Pictures: Peter Minnebo 19th July 2003

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"At long last, I'm delighted to tell you, that the sum of £5,353.14 was raised from the charity auction held at the recent convention. £5,153.14 will be going to the special baby unit at Yorkhill Hospital in Glasgow, whilst the remaining £200 has already been donated to Create Now, a charity based in New York, which helps disadvantaged children cope with such things as abuse, broken homes, learning difficulties etc.".

"I do sincerely apologise for the long wait, but, as most of you know, a bidder couldnt raise the cash in time for one of the lots so we had to auction it on eBay recently. But, in spite of this, you can be assured that all the money that you have raised, has gone to two great causes."

"For full itemised details of these, and the prices of each lot, have been uploaded onto the convention website at www.simplemindsconvention.co.uk."

"Congratulations to the winning bidders, and of course, many thanks go to those who took part as well."

Clive Johnson

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Stop the mistakes! This small colour advert appeared in the Sunday Express S:2 magazine on the 20th.

The set-list for Zurich followed that of Luxembourg - and featured the welcome return of Space and Love Song.

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Mel's back... online at last.

Launching a new site, malgaynor.com features the latest news, a biography, pictures, information about his kit and downloads of tracks from his solo album.

Whilst on the subject of links, the new updated link page also features Mark Schulman's site, loads of fanbase sites, and all the important download and retail sites.

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Some Sweet Day 2003 arrives Thursday August 14th 2003 - For 18 hours, WBWC 88.3FM Cleveland will feature the work of Simple Minds. Featuring all the hits, rare tracks, remixes and more - plus updates on the band's 2003 European tour, new album works and more. Featured giveaways of Cry and the 2CD set The Best Of. Also pending, interviews with memebers of the band!

Hosted by Todd Richards and Aaron Burke.

The show starts at 7am (est) and on till 1am! Requests taken via email at request@wbwc.com and (day of show) via phone at 440-826-2187.

Not in Cleveland? Tune in via Real Audio at www.wbwc.com. For more information log onto the online flyer at http://www.runninglate.org/marathons/sm.html.

Many thanks to Robert Juul for these great pictures from Randers.

Luxembourg was a real suprise, with the band stripping away the entire intro of their set-list and slotting in One Step Closer, I Travel and Changeling.

Hypnotised and Big Sleep also made their tour debuts, whilst C Moon Cry Like A Baby returned to the running order.

Right: At the start of the gig, Charlie came on with a saxaphone, and started the gig with a rude, rasping sax solo. The rest of the band rushed on quickly to shout "ONE STEP BEEYYYYYOOONNNND" as they kicked off the Madness classic, in a unexpected tribute to Ska and the Nutty-Boys.... well, the joker who wrote the set-list thought that anyway.

DenAtelier, 14th July 2003 And there they where, loudly applauded by the crowd: Andy, Jim, Charlie, Eddie and the best drummer in the world Mel. From the first note of ONE STEP CLOSER we already realised that this going to be THE gig... what a sound, what an atmosphere, what a crowd, what a band! Gig opener ONE STEP CLOSER sounded fresher then ever, and Jim sang beautifully. I was really glad to hear once again this song live, and I hope that on their other summer gigs they ‘ll included this song again to the setlist, since I stil think it is the best song of the Cry album. I TRAVEL was next, and however I didn’t had that much room to do so, the mad dancer in me was unleashed!!! I saw Eddie laughing at me... Well, he kept his promise: so I have to keep mine... More mad dancing causse CHANGELING came up. Brilliant!. It strikes me that thes “typically” keyboard orientated songs are just great with charlie’s guitar playing and the live drumming and bas playing. HYPNOTISED was the next song on the setlist and this was one hell of a live version... the only song on Good News For The Next World, I really like, and even like very much, one of my favourite mindssongs even... Again, brilliant performance.... and loudly sang along by mad dancer and others... EAST AT EASTER followed and just like in Weert, terrific. During MANDELA DAY I thouhgt for a second to remind Eddie on his Weert comments “Hm, we play Mandela Day.. Set Mandela Free,... the guy is OUT!, maybe we should sing for Winnie”, but didnt want to get him out of his concentration. Although whilst bassing and singing along he has this stange smile on his face, so maybe he also thought about that... For the second time tonight, BUSH (and Blair, and Berlusconi) got a big “up yours”, now from Jim, who If I’m not mistaken now only said this in Italian, the man’s second mother tongue. LOVE SONG was awesome, same remark here too as for Changeling and I Travel. Even though it was extremely hot, this heated even more the crowd. Set the place on fire. But we hadn’t seen nothing yet, causse GHOSTDANCING was again THE song that did exploded the venue: mad dancers in the world, come together, dance to the music of ghost dancing;-) Again a superb energetic dyamic version sang along loudly by the crowd, and with a large GLORIA snippet, G-L-O-R-I-A.... and off course LIGHT MY FIRE, again GLORIA and back to GHOSTDANCING. Like Mr. Myers (Austin Powers) would say: Smashin, baby! Not being a big fan of DON’T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME, a very good and very heavy rocking version this was, with Charlie’s guitar playing that was really breathtaking, as it was throughout the whole gig. Time to get driven to tears of pure emotion. As perfect twins, two of my absoulute favourite Simple Minds songs, and one of them being “my” song where played. BIG SLEEP really moving and brought in a perfect way. The ethereical dreamy mood of New Gold Dream combined with the warm live sound. Just perfect. And then the time had come that I had been waiting for so long... on my overall 12th Simple Minds gig, it finally happened... C’ MOON, CRY LIKE A BABY. It completely blew me away. I was in heaven (still am). Great new arrangement, brilliant intro. Terriic version, with Jim singing excellent, Eddie’s bass part was awesome, Andy: those keys, wow! Mel, Charlie.. Thank you guys! Eddie, thanks for keeping your promise mate ;-) Off course, you all can understand, that for me this was THE highlight... what a version... owwwwwww. Outstanding! SHE’S A RIVER followed and I don’t think Jim messed up with the lyrics this time. I cannot remember if he did his “rolling rrrrr” causse I was still not completely back to earth after hearing C’MOON. During She’s A river I kept on keeping my thumbs up to Eddie and the band, saying “thank you guys”... ALIVE AND KICKING was, as you could guess loudly sang along by the crowd. And this youngster that had stood next to me and hadn’t moved for all evening now suddenly seemed to wake up LOL. NEW GOLD DREAM was probably the best version I have heard on these 12 times that I have seen Simple Minds! What a drive! And of course again set the place on fire, with Jim running on the small stage like a madman, with the sweat dripping from his black shirt... NGD conclued the main set, and not long untill the band returned, without Jim, becausse THEME FOR GREAT CITIES was being played, in a perfect way, with Andy, Mel, Charlie, Eddie obviously having the times of their lives. Great. Jim returning, now with a white shirt, for SEE THE LIGHTS. As we discussed on our way back in the car: the man sings better then ever! Time again to heathen up even more the crowd. That famous bassline, the famous Kerr kicks... WATERFRONT ! Not one of my big favourites, but great version.... And then.... another kick inside of me, when the band played... THE KICK INSDE OF ME! Wow!!! Rock and Roll!!! Anno 2003 this song sounds real fresh, with Mel drumming like his life depended on it! They really should consider in re-recording this song for one of there next albums... Unfortunately THE KICK INSIDE OF ME meant the end of it all. The end of one of the finest evenings in my young life. Wonderfull in young life! Simple Minds did it again, and how! After the gig I only saw happy sweaty faces. And me, well I was over the moon... I couldn’t resist giving everybody a big hug. I was soo happy, not only because they played C’Moon Cry Like A Baby, Kick Inside Of me, Big Sleep, .. the whole gig, the band that night where so special.. This will be a gig never to forget. And where I stated that for me Nandrin was there best performance, that one will not be pushed tot he second place. The Luxemburg gig, was THE GIG. C'Moon/Mark 14th July 2003

"We arrived at the Parkbühne at 6 p.m.. First of all we were a little surprised because is was such a small venue. A small group of Simple Minds fans were already there. We all hoped for a place in the first row. And when the doors opened we got that place.

Simple Minds finally started at 8:45 p.m. in front of 1000 people. The Parkbühne wasn´t sold out. But that dídn´t matter, because everybody there made such a great party. I think the band had a lot of fun. We saw Charlie and Jim smiling all the time. The setlist included no big surprises. The highlights were "Book Of Brilliant Things", "East At Easter", "New Gold Dream" and "Belfast Child". "Mandela Day" was played again and was brilliant. Jim made a "statement" during the song when he mentioned the names "Mr. Bush, Mr. Blair, Mr. Berlusconi" and pointed to his back.

We liked "Ghostdancing" with the "Gloria"-part very much. The concert was very good although the sound was not that good. But who cares? We enjoyed 1 hour 45 min of great Simple Minds songs! All we can say is, thank you Jim, Charlie, Mel, Andy and Eddie for another unforgettable evening!!!"

Ela & Ulf
Leipzig
Germany

The set-lists have remained pretty constant for the last couple of gigs, although White Light/White Heat has now joined the extended Ghostdancing medley. The band also planned to play Space at Bocholt, and I Travel at the Bospop Festival, but both songs were dropped.

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Kerr wants bands to winning chord Jim Kerr, the millionaire rock star, wants to create a music award scheme for new or as yet unknown Scottish bands. Details of the Simple Minds front man's plan which forms a key part of Chrysalis Radio's bid to capture the lucrative West Central Scotland radio licence, comes the day after he blamed "a lack of desire" by young musicians for the dearth of successful Scottish groups. The new awards would be staged four times a year, with unsigned bands competing for airtime on The Arrow, the Glasgow-based station which Chrysalis will launch if its bid succeeds. The winners would also get free recording time at a state-of-the-art studio and the opportunity to record tracks at Chrysalis studios in London, produced by Kerr, and released on an exclusive CD featuring all four successful bands. The bands would be chosen by a panel of experts, headed by Kerr and including representatives from Scotland's music industry, listening to demo tapes and scouting venues to find the quarterly winners. Kerr said yesterday: "A big personal ambition for me is to encourage local musicians and bands to continue to play real music despite the music industry trend of 'manufacturing' bands with little real musical talent. "These awards will help me achieve this and I believe that there's a real chance that we can find some extremely talented people who will go on to become big news in the UK music industry." Interviewed over the weekend, Kerr bemoaned the fact that Scottish bands were failing to make their mark in national terms. "There is a problem," he remarked. Kerr also revealed that Simple Minds, one of the most successful stadium bands of the 1980s, were planning to record a comeback album next year. Chrysalis is one of 11 groups bidding for the new licence. As part of its application, submitted formally to the Radio Authority today, it announced that, if successful, it would re-locate its already-established nationwide digital service, The Arrow digital, from its current base in the Midlands to Glasgow. The new station would have a strong emphasis on classic rock, featuring artists such as the Stones, Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Springsteen, and REM. Allan Laing The Herald 30th June 2003

The set-list for Cassis is now online - no new surprises, just a swapping of the song order.

Simple Minds Rocks Randers “Randers Musik Festival” at Randers Stadium – 5th July 2003. Just like the previous dates this was a festival gig – so still no 2½ hour-25 songs gig (I wonder if we’ll ever see that again…) Our heroes entered the stage at 22 o’clock (or 10 pm if you like) – but only somewhere between 1000-1500 people (estimated) were present. However when you look at the advertising done for this festival there is no surprise in the low number. Denmark is a small country, and even some of the smaller festivals are advertising all over the country. However I would never have found out about this gig if it wasn’t for simpleminds.com and the Yahoo group!!! I think the people arranging this must have been trained by Eagle or Chrysalis how to advertise. Back to the gig – the weather this evening was cloudy and a bit windy – but no rain, so this wasn’t too bad (we’ve had some really nasty weather here the past few weeks.) And due to the quite low number of people I was able to be up front (row 5 or 6 I guess) without being totally smashed. Main set: 1. Book Of Brlliant Things 2. Spaceface 3. Love Song 4. The American 5. East At Easter 6. Mandela Day 7. Ghostdancing - Gloria - Light My Fire - Band Introduction 8. Don't You (Forget About Me) 9. Belfast Child 10. She's A River 11. Alive And Kicking 12. New Gold Dream (01,02,03,04) Encores: 13. Theme For Great Cities 14. See The Lights 15. Waterfront 16. Sanctify Yourself The show started with Andy Gillespie entering the stage solo, playing the “middle sections” synth chords of Book Of Brilliant Things – this just sounded so great. Then the rest of the band entered the stage and Jim started singing “Five to One – One to Five…” and the song was rolling. And so was the audience – it was simply the best way they could start a concert, because this just rocks everybody – even someone who isn’t familiar with that song. Charlie was introduced when he started his solo, and then of course “The best drummer in the world – MEL GAYNOR” was introduced just before he went nuts on his drum kit. Greaaaattttt! This is one of the songs that I haven’t seen live before – couldn’t have been better! A nice guitar intro for the next track – it sounded somewhere between “what is this?” and “I know this but can’t figure it out…” Then “She don’t need no Rocket Ship…” and one of the songs I really missed on last years Danish concerts was played in a pretty tough and indeed very good version. Love Song was next opening with the usual taped album intro – just like last year Eddie’s bass was great, and Mel showed how much he knows his stuff – during the first minute or so he only played with his right hand and his feet, he was talking to a technician and adjusting some equipment with his left hand during this – cool! The American was played very true to the original, but again being one the older tracks and not so well known to the general public, the audience was really having a good time. Massive hands over the head clapping also got Jim saying “You’re beautiful…” “Everything okay?” Yep! The opening synths of East At Easter started and this song was built up with a “silent” intro, then being more hard – a bit like on the 1991 Real Live tour. And it was really great hearing this – nice to see the band pick up some of the good songs that are not obvious single hits. Mandela Day also has been re-discovered, and apart from some heavy drumming it sounded like always (which is not bad at all). Charlie missed the intro of his guitar solo due to some technical problems, but once it worked it was played exactly like it should be. “Let me see your hands!” The opening riff of Ghostdancing – one of the highly appreciated songs of last years tour – started and people hand to clap their hands… Then vocals came on – just Charlie and Jim starting the song – and this rocks as always! The rest of the band went along – and it’s just so great seeing these five guys on stage smiling a lot, and you can tell that hey are having a good time! The band was introduced “On bass – Edward Duffy”, “On keyboards - Andrew Gilliespie”, “Guitar – Charlie Burchill”, “And on drums – Mel Gaynor” (who then tried to kill his drum kit once again…) Then the song went into Gloria, with the crowd singing half of the chorus, however I don’t think that a lot of people knew this song, since most of the crowd was just going “GLOOOOOOOOOOOO” instead of “GLOOOORIAA” – but great anyway. The Jim sat down on the front of the stage “We can’t get much higher – come on baby Light My Fire - come on baby Light My Fire” and the crowd went nuts, singing along again. Gloria was on once again before this very extended song ended as Ghostdancing again. Huge applause – boy this rocked! Don’t You (Forget About Me) was - as always - another highlight of the concert. The intro was long, played with the guitar opening (not like last year where they used the drum intro from the extended version). Just like last year it was a wee bit slow version, but that’s okay. Both Charlie and Andy made some extra effects with their instruments, and of course the crowd sang la-la-la-la a thousand times and of course the la-la-la-la’s also went on after the song ended “You are beautiful singers” Jim told us… This year’s version of Belfast Child was full and besides the very beautiful red and white stage lights the most impressive part of the song was when Mel stood up playing drums so it sounded just like a kettledrum – It sends shivers down the spine! The next song featured a taped intro, and I guess the band should consider taping the vocal as well. The song was She’s A River, and I have seen or heard Jim f*** up the lyrics like he did there. The song was actually played great by the band, but Jim really need it practice this a lot more. Once he even sang a wrong part for the music, making Charlie and Mel look at each other, the shaking their heads, laughing a lot. In Alive And Kicking Charlie – again – missed the first part of his intro due to technical problems. However the rest of the song was great as always – Andy’s keyboard sounding really great, and again this year he played the solo piano part like the original – sooo good! Right after that piano part I was sure that Mel WAS going to kill his drums (he didn’t succeed – but wow that was great too), and the Robin Clark vocal part was once again this years covered very well by Eddie and Andy. “Thank you – good night!” (oops – the main set wasn’t finished, Jim!) New Gold Dream – what can I say? This is definitely the best and most powerful dance-like version I have ever heard of this song! The intro was extended, the drums were great, new synth part were added and the crowd went nuts jumping and dancing like they had never done anything else. Please make this version a Live B-side on the singles from the next album (or make a live album!!!) Then Jim got his break. On the way out Eddie and Mel were joking and “fighting” like two small boys – looking like that were really having fun. The encore set started without Jim as they were playing… Theme For Great Cities – another song that I really hoped to see live. What can I say – it sounded really great. The main track was actually the original version, but with some effects from the later ‘91 version added. Cool! Then I got a little disappointed because See The Lights was the next track. I like the song, it was performed well, starting slowly, the building up the tension, people singing along and clapping a lot in the end, once aging making Jim say “You’re beautiful” (does he have a connection to Christina Aguilera?). But….I would have liked so much to hear Space or The Kick Inside Of Me instead… Waterfront was played with a long intro, and Eddie played something close to a bass solo. The rest of the song was played as usual – great as always. The show was closed with Sanctify Yourself – a song that is not one of my favourites. However the way that they played it like last year) it’s a perfect way the end the show. It’s so powerful, and the crowd went uh-oh-uh-oh-uh-oh again and again. Another great Simple Minds gig was over, and if you once in a while get a little frustrated about the lack of promotion the band gets or that they are not “big shots” any more, just go to a concert and feel the spirit and vitality they have – and all bad thoughts are gone. Robert Juul

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On the 22nd July, Simple Minds will be playing the Kings Dock in Liverpool, which is the home town of the New Gold Dream gold disc winner Colin Neary. You remember the competition on simpleminds.com? To win a signed gold disc? Perhaps not, since it concluded on the 28th November 2002. Anyway 2Fluid Creative assured Colin that the prize would be with him soon... which was over seven months ago... and he's still patiently waiting.

So, it would be great if 2Fluid Creative could pull a few strings, and arrange for Colin to be given his prize in Liverpool. They'd fulfil their (long) overdue obligations, Colin would get his gold disc which could be signed there and then, and 2Fluid would even save on the postage. Everyone's a winner.

Until then, I'll just keep a small reminder on the first page on this website of how long Colin's been waiting for his glittering prize.

Our Secrets Are The Same is to be released as part of the Virgin box set in November 2003.

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Saturday 4th October 2003
Sparkle* SIMPLE MINDS FANCLUB DAY
FellowMinds Meetup with SAMPLE MINDS (UK) - DJ FookMeister (UK) - DJ Moon !!!

Sparkle Through The Years, already exists one year. That off course needs to be celebrated!! Our big celebration will take place on Saturday the 4th of October 2003, in 'Sparkle* City' Aalst, in Paddy's Celtic Bar, our 'homebase. The event starts at 14:00 and will end somewhere deep in the night. Admission: Free

There'll be plenty of chances to meet up with other sparklers and Simple Minds fans during this day! And we have worked out a programme which we are very proud off! We think you'll like it! ;-)

We are glad and proud to announce you that SAMPLE MINDS, UK's finest Simple Minds Tribute band will perform on our Sparkle Fanclub Day!

DJ FookMeister Esq. (UK) will play a special Simple Minds Dance set deep into the night. NOT TO BE MISSED!

And Sparkle's "home DJ", DJ Moon will play you some genuine 80¹s classics.

There also will be shown exclusive live footage from Simple Minds @ Nandrin 2003, a Simple Minds Quiz, the possibility to look into Minds press cuttings and pictures.

And you off course will have the chance to meet other fellowminds and have the time of your lives.

We are also working out a meetup for the Friday night, for those of you arriving earlier...

All details can be found on our website: www.sparkle.be

Sparkle* Through The Years
simpleminds belgian fanclub

www.sparkle.be
info@sparkle.be

Mark Van Mullem
Chairman & Webmaster of sparkle.be

Randers featured the shortest set-list so far, but it was the previous gig at the Frogstock Festival that caused a stir... they played C'Moon Cry Like A Baby. Not heard since The Tour De Monde of 1984 - and then it appeared as a short bridge in Speed Your Love To Me - the band are now playing most of Sparkle In The Rain live.

Right: Set-list from the first night in Barcelona.

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Kerr hits out at simply bland Scots bands

STEPHEN FRASER
MILLIONAIRE pop star Jim Kerr has blamed "a lack of desire" on the part of young musicians for the dearth of successful bands emerging from Scotland.

Kerr, who made an estimated £40m fortune in two decades with his band Simple Minds, said this was the main reason why new Scots bands were failing to make their mark.

Kerr also revealed that Simple Minds will release a comeback album next year after he rediscovered his enthusiasm for music during a three-and-a-half year break in Sicily.

The Glasgow-born musician said the lack of exciting new talent coming from Scotland was unconnected to the infrastructure of the industry.

Asked what he thought the problem was, Kerr said: "Desire. You need desire. You would have had to put a bullet to our heads to stop us. Nothing was going to stop us. We were mad with it. We had luck and timing and that clicked, but desire is 90% of everything."

Asked if he felt there was any evidence of that in the current Scottish music scene, he said: "Right now, no, and that is a problem. I don’t think anyone would say that there is this band coming through that is going to knock everyone dead."

Simple Minds, which formed in 1978, were at the forefront of the new wave movement that followed punk before evolving into one of the most internationally successful stadium-rock bands of the 1980s.

Kerr said today’s young musicians had access to facilities he could never have dreamed of when he began the trek to stardom. "The music infrastructure in Scotland now is much better than it was in the 1980s, because there was nothing, really nothing. When we started we got record company addresses out of the phonebooks, we didn’t know anyone who had a record contract or knew a manager. Our manager was the guy who owned the local record shop."

Research revealed earlier this month that only 10 Scottish acts have record contracts with major labels such as Sony or EMI. At the end of the 1980s, there were 45, including Simple Minds’ contemporaries such as Del Amitri, Deacon Blue, Wet Wet Wet and Hue and Cry.

Kerr said there were far more small labels in Scotland now, who were able to sign bands and then showcase them to larger record labels in London.

But in his day, there were "no links to London". "You had to use your wits, you had to beg, steal and borrow, and again if you were to put that in a bottle, you would call that desire."

Kerr said drive was more important than the number of studios available in Scotland.

The decreasing cost of technology had increased the opportunities available to emerging Scottish bands to hear their work, he said. "The amazing thing with technology is that everything sounds pretty good, there are a lot of people doing a lot of things, but the difference between sounding pretty good and cutting through to a sound that grabs a marketplace is a colossal divide," said Kerr.

However, he did have words of praise for Edinburgh’s Beta Band - "phenomenally talented, a great, great unique thing" - but said he was not aware of any other new bands on the way up from Scotland.

Kerr has an office and property in Edinburgh, and keeps in touch with the Scottish music scene.

He was also implicitly critical of the Scottish Executive’s efforts to foster creative talent.

Kerr said Scotland lacked the buzz to be found in Dublin, where politicians, artists and musicians tend to move in the same circles. "In Scotland things are more fragmented."

But his comments were rejected by Graeme Beattie, the manager of the Glasgow record label Chemikal Underground: "People who want to be in bands are just as committed as they ever were and know they have to make sacrifices." Beattie pointed to the success of Glasgow band Idlewild, which are signed to the international giant EMI, as a sign that Scottish bands were still achieving international status.

A Scottish Executive spokeswoman said it was spending record levels on culture, rising from £120m to £186m in 2005, with an extra £17.5m for music tuition in schools. "We are committed to culture," she said.

Scotland On Sunday
June 29th 2003

Some pictures from the first night at Barcelona are now available. Check out the new white shirt on Charlie and the new, lean Jim.

1. Charlie #1
2. Jim #1
3. Jim #2
4. Jim #3
5. Jim #4
6. Jim and Charlie

Venice featured the same set list as Croatia - and it seems that Light My Fire is also slipping into Ghostdancing/Gloria.

But just when you think the set-list has been finalised, the Minds are playing Dusseldorf on the 22nd November and the Gampel festival in Switzerland on the 16th August.

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OUR SECRETS ARE THE SAME Simple Minds Virgin SIMCD13, £9.99 Scotland’s first genuine stadium rockers are belatedly being reappraised, and Virgin is cynically exploiting that by finally releasing this album which was pulled politically three years ago. It was actually recorded prior to 1998’s Neapolis [1], which ironically accelerated the Minds’ fall from commercial grace. There are sufficient echoes of former glories - ‘Death By Chocolate’ for starters - to make this of interest to a wider audience. But it is still hard to explain how a band which campaigned for revolution at their peak in the 1980s ran out of ideas in the 1990s. CS Scotland On Sunday No - Secrets is completely post-Neapolis.

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There appears to be two versions of the Early Gold album. Versions on mainland Europe are copy protected and have the logo on the front cover (Virgin 7243 590392 20).

Last night in Croatia, See The Lights and The Kick Inside Of Me were replaced by Mandela Day and Space.

Set-lists are being added to the tour page.

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Looks like Mel has moved to Liverpool:

Simply the best gig It's not every day a member of a world-famous supergroup gets to play a gig on his own doorstep........ But now Mel Gaynor, who has been the drummer for Simple Minds since 1982, has to decide: "Should I get a bus to the show, or enjoy a nice, leisurely stroll?" Londoner Mel, 44, is a great advert for the European Capital of Culture 2008 - he turned his back on the smoke to make a new life in Liverpool three years ago. Now he is looking forward to a sort of homecoming gig, when Simple Minds play at the Kings Dock as part of the Summer Pops on Tuesday July 22. "I live just down the road, so it couldn't be much closer," says Mel, who began a 50 date European tour in Barcelona on Friday. "It will be a special gig for me and loads of friends and family will be there." He adds: "I lived in Wirral when I first moved up, to be with my now ex-girlfriend - while my brother, Gordon, has lived up here for 11 years." "I wanted to get out of London, because I wanted to live in a place which has character - and Liverpool was a natural choice. It's great." When he's not busy recording or touring with Simple Minds, Mel - who has also played drums for Tina Turner (that's him you can hear on Simply the best), Elton John and Robert Palmer - gives masterclasses at LIPA. He says: "It's very enjoyable and a good way of giving something back to the community." And he's got plenty of pals at LIPA - not least Simple Minds' long time friends China Crisis, who also help out at the fame school and will be special guests at their Kings Dock gig. Liverpool Echo

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I have now finished the entire Early Gold discography - as far as I know. For the collectors, the Early Gold CDR Acetate has now been documented, whilst the Virgin Press Release makes interesting reading.

The set-list for Lisbon was the same as that for Barcelona - although it's been mentioned that Jim sung Gloria during Ghostdancing.

Set-lists are being added to the tour page.

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I've updated Early Gold's page in the discography. There will be more information about this album uploaded near the end of the week.

Why I simply won't play the fame game Jim Kerr of Simple Minds tells about his life and loves.....and a long-awaited gig in Liverpool. His band has sold millions of records and played to full houses around the world - but some might say his greatest achievements lie closer to home. Which other superstar singer has somehow avoided being ensnared by the tabloid circus, despite having been married to two famous woman (in this case Chrissie Hynde and Patsy Kensit)? And how many men have gathered around a table at Christmas with two ex-wives AND a former girlfriend - and enjoyed it? Jim Kerr of Simple Minds we salute you. The '80s supergroup are playing the Liverpool summer pops, but more of that later. Come on, Jim. People want to hear about your love life (or lost love life)... Despite having been married to Chrissie and Patsy, the 43-year old Glaswegian has never embraced the celebrity scene. But he says: "It wasn't always easy. I remember once when I was married to Patsy there was some do Michael Winner was having. I said 'I'm not ******* going with you.' She said 'Don't you understand? It's my job.' I replied 'Don't you understand? I can't go because it's my job NOT to be seen there.' Rock 'n' roll is a different thing." Jim, a Celtic FC shareholder who has homes in Glasgow and Sicily, adds: "I would never be comfortable with the celebrity thing, although I am intelligent enough to know what is likely to happen if you marry Chrissie Hynde and Patsy Kensit." "But what am I going to say to John-Paul Gaultier or whoever?" "I like Mick Hucknall from Simply Red, but he would go to the opening of anything. He's into meeting up with Tony Blair and Prince Charles and all that cobblers." So tell us about Christmas with Kerr (Kensit and Hynde)... "I had Christmas dinner last year at Patsy's house with Patsy, Chrissie and the kids - I had a son with Patsy and a daughter with Chrissie. There was also a former girlfriend of mine there as well!" "You may be fragmented and fractured, but your still a family. You still need to be there to support one another." This is all highly commendable, especially if you consider Jim was reported as saying, in 1995: " Chrissie and my current wife, Patsy, are both good friends. In fact , they're both got a crush on those guys in Oasis. It kind of worries me." He and Patsy divorced a year later. Patsy married Liam Gallagher a year after that (they split up three years later). Although honest and open about his private life, he really wants to talk about his band's gig at the Kings Dock. "None of us can wait to play Liverpool,"say's Jim, whose band kicks off a 50-date European tour tonight in Barcelona. "It must be pushing 20 years since we played the Royal Court. Before that , we played Eric's - and whenever we came to Liverpool the likes of Echo And The Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes and that shy boy, Pete Wylie would come and heckle us!" Yeah, didn't Bunnymen lead singer Ian McCulloch especially enjoy having a dig? "I've always liked McCulloch," says Jim. "I remember touring in Australia with the Bunnymen. There were wind-ups and there was p***-taking but, at the end of the day they were never as good as us!" Jim adds: "We have by-passed Liverpool in the past because of a lack of suitable venues. But I've noticed over the last couple of years the adverts for the Summer pops and have been really impressed." Although the bands roots can d be traced back to a meeting between Jim and guitarist Charlie Burchill in a sandpit on a Glasgow housing estate when they were just eight years old, it was on the steps of Milan Cathedral nine years later - during a hitchhiking holiday - that the lifelong friends decided to form a band. Jim says "It was a Road to Damascus moment. I guess we sensed there was something out there other than working on the docks in Glasgow." But their punk band, Johnny and the Self-Abusers, soon made way for Simple Minds, whose hit singles included Promised You A Miracle, Waterfront, Don't You (Forget About Me), Alive and Kicking, All The Things She Said and Belfast Child - a new album meanwhile, is planned for next year. Jim assures long term fans that their Kings Dock set will include plenty of familar favourites (yes Waterfront will get an airing on Liverpool's world famous waterfront). And he adds: " We tour noe for pleasure. I used to look at the old Blues singers and think 'Why do they keep on going when they're not in the charts anymore? But, like them, we were born to this." "I've never felt we were the coolest band, but I've always thought we make positive,celebratory and optimistic music. And we've always embraced our audience." Liverpool Echo

Full information, including new prices, for Who's Doing The Dreaming Now? #10 can be found here.

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A mistake I made when redesigning the site was to attempt to do it all at once. Considering that it took me a good four months to put this website together, then a total redesign, with better graphics, more information and every section expanded beyond recognition would take years.

And it was taking years.

So, this website which I originally designed in 1996 has served well for the last six years, but it’s time for it to be gradually retired.

The foundations of its successor, Dream Giver Redux, is now live on the web. Some sections of this website have now disappeared, and over the next couple of years, the rest will follow. Dream Giver Redux is built from the ground up, and currently covers Biba-Rom!, Johnny And The Self Abusers and the first line-up of Simple Minds. And every couple of months, I will add more. All current news and tour information will still be uploaded here. But, gradually, Dream Giver Redux will catch up and take over.

Enjoy!

Whilst talking to the Liverpool Echo, Jim mentioned that the new studio album would be released early next year.

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Confusion abounds! Whilst many on-line stores stick to the 30th June release date for Out Secrets Are The Same, the lack of any promotion is telling. Whilst promos and press releases for Early Gold are emerging from the woodwook, Our Secrets Are The Same is remaining secretive.

It's inclusion in the listings, complete with track listings and artwork, is encouraging - and hopefully isn't a repeat of the false alarms from 2000. It looks like it's the usual delay which should be expected with every Simple Minds album!

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"Well, yesterday was another unforgettable night.... Last year the band was in good shape but yesterday it was even better... One of the bests Jims I've ever seen (well a couple of mistakes, but you know... other way it wouldn't be Jim...). Charlie, Eddie and Andy were as it was another show from the last tour... The only guy that seems to me to be a little outside was Mel (although he was perfect as always).

After 5 years the band finally played again in Barcelona and we hadn't had to travel to see the band (anyway we will be in England again in December) ... The sound was pretty good... the concert wasn't inside the Palau Sant Jordi... it was an open air stage just outside the Palau.... It's the 100th anniversary party of the Harley Davidson so there were a lot of Harley Davidson's together outside and a lot of merchandising of the company but not from Simple Minds....

Let's go for the set list.... no news songs!!! What do they think???? Year after year the same story.... maybe this was the only regret... However, they played some special tracks!!!! The band opened with "Book Of Brilliant Things" and played "The Kick Inside Of Me!!!!"

• Book Of Brilliant Things (yes, brilliant. A mix of versions maybe more likely 91)
• Spaceface (more upbeat)
• Love Song (same as last tour)
• The American (same as last tour)
• East At Easter (very good version! Very improved between 84 and 91 versions!)
• See The Lights (same as last tour)
• Ghostdancing (as always but without band introductions, stories or other songs)
• Don't You (Forget About Me) (as always)
• Someone Somewhere In Summertime (same as last tour)
• Belfast Child (complete, improved the middle part with some effects... Charlie had a problem and they had to make it last a little waiting Charlie's solo)
• She's A River (very good.. more in its way than last year)
• Glittering Prize (same as last tour)
• Alive And Kicking (as always)
• New Gold Dream (same as last tour... no intro of course)
  
  
  
• Theme For Great Cities (same as last tour)
• The Kick Inside Of Me (hey what a surpise!!! At this moment I thought I could die in peace! Some new effects at the beginning)
• Waterfront (same as last tour)
• Sanctify Uourself (same as last tour)

I think that this summer tour will be like another leg of The Floating World tour....

Anyway a perfect show - one of the best I've seen."

Joan Romero

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Top Of The Pops 2 have just added a Simple Minds microsite to their own site. It can be found here.