A collection of pictures from the Hellendoorn gig can be found on the festival's website. (Click on 'Fotos' and navigate through).

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Theme For Great Cities has been used on the soundtrack of Football Factory which is currently being shown across the UK:

"The Football Factory is more than just a study of the English obsession with football violence, its about men looking for armies to join, wars to fight and places to belong. A forgotten culture of Anglo Saxon males fed up with being told they're not good enough and using thier fists as a drug they describe as being more potent than sex and drugs put together. Shot in documentery style with the energy and vibrancy of handheld, The Football Factory is frightingly real yet full of painful humour as the four characters extreme thoughts and actions unfold before us."

A History, the long awaited box-set, has been delayed until August/September. Unfortunately Virgin don't have any artwork at the moment. Or liner notes. Or, indeed, even the music. Bit of a problem then.

So A History currently remains, at the moment, a list of tracks.

The good news is that perhaps something could be done about the choices of material on discs #3 and #4?

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Forget the news of VH1 filming the band during this tour (posted yesterday). There was some leg-pulling going on between fans, and the story got a little out of control.

The rumours that Simple Minds were going to tour Australia with Blondie were true. Talks were proceeding until last Friday, but any possible Simple Minds tour down-under have been postponed until next year.

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Dischi vs Simple Minds, which is actually a cover of Endgames' Waiting For Another Chance, has now been added to the discography.

Tracklisting of the long awaited box-set:

Simple Minds: A History. CD1: 1979-1980
1.	Life In A Day	[Live]	(3:51)	[Paris Theatre, London. 8/8/79]
2.	Chelsea Girl	[Live]	(4:52)	[Paris Theatre, London. 8/8/79]
3.	Here Comes The Fool	[Live]	(4:32)	[Paris Theatre, London. 8/8/79]
4.	Changeling	[Session]	(3:59)	[John Peel, Radio One, 19/12/79]
5.	Premonition	[Session]	(5:37)	[John Peel, Radio One, 19/12/79]
6.	Citizen (Dance Of Youth)	[Session]	(2:53)	[John Peel, Radio One, 19/12/79]
7.	Room	[Session]	(4:18)	[John Peel, Radio One, 19/12/79]
8.	I Travel	[Demo]	(3:52)
9.	Celebrate	[Demo]	(4:24)
10.	30 Frames A Second	[Demo]	(5:30)
11.	Twist/Run/Repulsion	[Demo]	(4:08)
12.	Captial City	[Demo]	(5:33)
13.	New Warm Skin	[Demo]	(4:20)
14.	Constantinople LIne	[Demo]	(4:41)
Simple Minds: A History. CD2: 1981-1985
1.	The American	[Demo]	(4:03)
2.	Life In Oils	[Demo]	(4:19)
3.	Careful In Career	[Demo]	(6:18)
4.	Sweat In Bullet	[Demo]	(4:33)
5.	Love Song	[Demo]	(5:00)
6.	In Every Heaven	[Demo]
7.	Promised You A Miracle	[Session]	(4:24)	[David Jensen, Radio One, 11/2/82]
8.	In Trance As Mission	[Session]	(4:27)	[David Jensen, Radio One, 11/2/82]
9.	Someone Somewhere (In Summertime)	[Session]	(5:19)	[David Jensen, Radio One, 13/8/82]
10.	Glittering Prize	[Session]	(4:22)	[David Jensen, Radio One, 13/8/82]
11.	Hunter And The Hunted	[Session]	(5:53)	[David Jensen, Radio One, 13/8/82]
12.	The Kick Inside Of Me	[Session]	(5:56)	[David Jensen, Radio One, 11/9/83]
13.	New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84)	[Live]		[Barrowlands, Glasgow. 5/1/85]
14.	Don't You (Forget About Me)	[Rehearsal]	(7:25)	[Live Aid, 10/7/85]
Simple Minds: A History. CD3-4: 1985-1998
1.	Waterfront	[Live]	(10:48)	[Ahoy, Rotterdam. 3/12/85]
2.	Ghostdancing	[Live]	(7:57)	[Ahoy, Rotterdam. 3/12/85]
3.	Book Of Brilliant Things	[Live]	(7:27)	[Ahoy, Rotterdam. 3/12/85]
4.	Once Upon A Time	[Live]	(8:07)	[Ahoy, Rotterdam. 3/12/85]
5.	All The Things She Said	[Live]	(5:46)	[Ahoy, Rotterdam. 3/12/85]
6.	Alive And Kicking	[Live]	(7:39)	[Ahoy, Rotterdam. 3/12/85]
7.	Sanctify Yourself	[Live]	(5:56)	[Ahoy, Rotterdam. 3/12/85]
8.	Mandela Day	[Live]	(5:10)	[Wembley, London. 11/06/88]
9.	Biko	[Live]	(9:00)	[Wembley, London. 11/06/88]
10.	Real Life	[Live]	(5:05)	[Barrowlands, Glasgow. 13/08/91]
11.	See The Lights	[Live]	(4:52)	[Barrowlands, Glasgow. 13/08/91]
12.	(Simple Minds Chant)	[Live]	(0:57)	[Barrowlands, Glasgow. 13/08/91]
13.	Travelling Man	[Live]	(5:13)	[Barrowlands, Glasgow. 13/08/91]
14.	East At Easter	[Live]	(4:22)	[Barrowlands, Glasgow. 13/08/91]
15.	Banging On The Door	[Live]	(5:38)	[Barrowlands, Glasgow. 13/08/91]
16.	Stand By Love	[Live]	(4:35)	[Barrowlands, Glasgow. 13/08/91]
17.	Oh Jungleland	[Live]	(7:00)	[Barrowlands, Glasgow. 13/08/91]
18.	King Is White And In The Crowd	[Live]	(5:42)	[Barrowlands, Glasgow. 13/08/91]
19.	Big Sleep	[Live]	(4:21)	[Barrowlands, Glasgow. 13/08/91]
20.	Let There Be Love	[Live]	(5:30)	[Barrowlands, Glasgow. 13/08/91]
21.	Ghost Rider	[Live]	(4:05)	[Barrowlands, Glasgow. 13/08/91]
22.	Belfast Child	[Live]	(4:05)	[Barrowlands, Glasgow. 13/08/91]
23.	She's A River	[Live]	(4:05)	[Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow. 10/09/95]
24.	Up On The Catwalk	[Live]	(4:40)	[Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow. 10/09/95]
25.	Hypnotised	[Live]	(6:43)	[Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow. 10/09/95]
26.	War Babies	[Bascombe Mix]	(4:19)
Simple Minds: A History. CD5: Our Secrets Are The Same
1.	Swimming Towards The Sun		(4:33)
2.	Jeweller To The Stars		(3:26)
3.	Space		(4:14)
4.	Death By Chocolate		(3:36)
5.	Waiting At The End Of The World		(3:23)
6.	Neon Cowboys		(3:51)
7.	She Knows		(4:08)
8.	Hello		(3:23)
9.	Happy Is The Man		(4:23)
10.	Sleeping		(4:30)

Brand new material includes the Empire And Dance demos (super), the demo of In Every Heaven and the rehearsal of Don't You (Forget About Me) for Live Aid. The rest has all been bootlegged but it'll be good to get it mixed, mastered and released properly.

The compilers have also omitted material previously released. Hence the sessions of King Is White And In The Crowd and New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84) have not been included - they've already appeared. Nice touch. Likewise Don't You (Forget About Me) has been left off the Ahoy recording - if you want that, pick up the single of All The Things She Said.

Unfortunately a whole glut of Real Life live material has appeared - most of which was previously released on the Stand By Love, Real Life and Love Song 1992 singles. In fact, most of this section also appeared on the fan-club only Real Live 91 CD. It's also one of the most bootlegged tours; so was it really necessary?

Interestingly, none of the new tracks from Live And Rare made it to the box set; so that release has become more desirable. None of the 'remix' album tracks made it either (such as Easy, Precious, So Precious and Speed Your Love To Me). And it looks like the early years material, especially the second set of Life In A Day demos, remains in some form of legal limbo - so you'll still need to search for The Early Years 77-78.

CD1 and CD2 are excellent, proceeding through the albums in an orderly fashion. The compilation gets lost in 1986, becoming an unwielding bulk of live tracks, most heavily bootlegged, skipping major sections. Where's the coverage of Street Fighting Years? Verona? Good News From The Next World would've been better served by the sessions played on Radio One in 1995. What about the Sunset Strip show? And the afterthought inclusion of the single version of War Babies feels like space filling.

Then again, I'm a hardcore fan. Please me? Never.

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VH1 are following the band around for this tour. And following them to Australia. And Japan. Obviously some form of tour documentary is being put together, but nothing more is known at the moment.

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Cover band SaMPLE MINDS are looking for a web-designer to put together a website. All the content has been prepared (including Steve's Journal) - they just need someone to make it look lovely and put it on this Interweb thing. E-mail Simon Hayward if you can help.

SaMPLE MINDS may also be supporting Then Jerico on tour. So keep an eye out for that.

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Of course, the album which everyone is talking about, and is the current topic of every discussion, is erm... New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84). So think www.swagshop.com who are offering a rather tasty red T-shirt with the heart-and-rays design on the front with the album's title near the bottom. Far, far nicer than those Our Secret Are The Same T-shirts.

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Jim gets interviewed on Dutch TV here. And they've received an excellent review in a Dutch newspaper - saviours of the festival apparently.

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Plus a new 80s DVD compilation of live material has appeared. Simple Minds are represented by Alive And Kicking but I've got no idea which performance it is.

The band have built on the collection of songs they played last year, adding several new songs from the 1990s. It's a welcome return to Great Leap Forward (which now features some lyrics from Wall Of Love) and War Babies. Cry is also represented with Spaceface and New Sunshine Morning.

Good stuff!

"The concert started with "Book Of Brilliant Things", which was a pity because I always likeed Mel's drum solo in this song. Because it was the first song on stage, they weren't warmed up yet. The rest of the concert made up for it. Especially the ten minutes plus of "Ghostdancing" with "Gloria" in the middle; which was brilliant. I'd already heard it from the Liverpool concert, but to hear it live was better.

"New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84)" sounded a bit different. It seemed there was a big drum computer playing along, therefore the song sounded more like a dance song (influence from White Spaces?). I kind of missed the oldies like "I Travel", "Chelsea Girl" and "Love Song" which I'd heared at my last concert in Ahoy (Rotterdam).

Overall it was a great night and Jim and Charlie seemed to have a good time as well."

Godfried Mensink

Some pictures from the gig can now be found on the tour page.

Soundcheck at Hellendoorn yesterday.

And it's started. At the soundcheck at Hellendoorn, Simple Minds rehearsed Theme For Great Cities, Spaceface, The American, New Sunshine Morning, War Babies, Glitterball, Great Leap Forward, She's A River and New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84).

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Simple Minds return to the stage tomorrow, kicking off the 2004 festival tour in Hellendoorn. As usual, all set-lists, pictures, reviews and other bits-and-pieces will be gratefully received and published on the tour page. Send them in!

Incidentally on the eve of the new tour, I thought it would be appropiate to update the Johnny And The Self Abusers tour pages with a review I've just discovered.

As mentioned here on the 11th February, Don't You (Forget About Me) by White Spaces featuring Jim Kerr has been released in Australia. Sporting a new sleeve, and including the first commercial release of the Stefano Sorrentio remix, the CD can be picked up from www.sanity.com.au.

Given the news that Simple Minds are potentially lined up for an Australian tour, the release of this single becomes more understandable.

"In my opinion "Dont You" is simply a great pop song. It is already an anthem for the eighties generation and having reached number one in America is still one of the most played radio cuts. Like most great songs it is inevitable that other generations will discover the song for themselves - they will want to re-mix, re-make and re-emphasise. White Spaces have done just that to perfection, I am lucky to be their first choice and look forward to the future output that I promise will be very special and certainly bring them much success!" Jim.

White Spaces featuring Jim Kerr
Absolutely/Big Records BIGS 002
1. Don't You (Forget About Me) (White Spaces Main Mix) [3:12]
2. Don't You (Forget About Me) (Andrea T. Mendoze Versus Tibet Club Mix) [6:11]
3. Don't You (Forget About Me) (Gerret Frerichs’s Radio Mix) [3:32]
4. Don't You (Forget About Me) (Perky Park’s Radio Mix) [3:47]
5. Don't You (Forget About Me) (Eyerer’s & Laib’s Radio Mix) [3:42]
6. Don't You (Forget About Me) (Stefano Sorrentino Remix) [7:50]
Australian single release.

Given the information associated with this release, I've been able to expand the information about the single.

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Record Collector (Issue 298, June 2004) featured a two page interview with Jim, illustrated by a set of pictures taken in 1984. The magazine were running an 80s Special, concentrating on the New Romantic movement, and interviewing Bob Geldof and Japan.

Whilst Simple Minds were on the sidelines of the New Romantics, the interview concentrates on the band's experiences and growth during the 80s. Obviously the forthcoming 5 CD box set got several plugs:

Why release the box set now?
"It's almost part of the deal, if you're in a band which is lucky enough to have a long career like we have, that a thing like this comes out. It's like clearing the vaults. Six or seven years ago I would hae thought, is this stuff meant to be heard? Is it worthwhile? But since the advent of the Internet everything ends up in the public domain anyway, so you may as well take what is there and get it sounding good and packaged well. It's a thing for the hardcore fans, and gives them a chance to get it in its best light."

No Johnny And The Self Abusers material will be appearing on the box set, although Jim mentioned that he would've liked to include some.

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I've updated the links section with several new fan sites and tribute band New Gold Dream. If you have a Simple Minds site and it's not included then let me know and I'll add it.

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Belfast Child was used has backing music for a short documentary about snooker player Alex Higgins. It was shown a couple of times during the intervals of the World Snooker Championship finals.

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Spanish officials at Torrevieja barely contain their excitment whilst unveiling the line-up for a series of gigs at the town hall.

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Sziget Festival is the largest open-air music festival in Europe. It's being held every year in August, on an island located in Budapest, Hungary. It lasts for 8 days. (Visit here for more information.)

Every year the organizers ask the public who would they like to see there. In 2002 and 2003 Simple Minds almost appeared, there were talkings between Sziget and the band management.

I would like to ask all of you to help us, and vote for Simple Minds.

Please help us with voting for Simple Minds and hopefully this year we will finally be able to see Simple Minds playing live in Hungary.

There are two ways of voting.

1. Write an email to info@sziget.hu and tell them that you would like to see Simple Minds perform at Sziget Festival 2004.

2. Also please visit www.sziget.hu/fesztival/kivansaggep and type "Simple Minds" where it says "1. eloado:". At the bottom of the page you can find to buttons, press the one on the LEFT. (The writing on it is always changing.) (The other button always says "Megsem" which means "Cancel".)

   WARNING! You have to confirm your vote on the next page, by pressing the button on the left again.

Thank you for your help in advance,

Otto Jung
The Hungarian Simple Minds Fan Club

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Part of the band's 2002 appearance at the Heineken Music Hall (Ghostdancing, See The Lights, Waterfront and One Step Closer) can be found here.

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Still unable to track down a copy of Live And Rare?. Then contact Ed Desa who has several copies for sale.

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The dance track underpinning the Frank'O Moiraghi remix of White Space's Alive And Kicking is Tori Amos' Professional Widow.

Unconfirmed news from down-under: Simple Minds will be touring Australia in October with Blondie.

This time in Spain. Simple Minds will be playing Orense on the 7th July.

Simple Minds will be playing the Liverpool Docks, UK on the 24th July. Tickets can be purchased tomorrow (Saturday 8th May) from 9AM by phoning 0870 151 4000.

Dirty Old Town, the charity single released as part of the Lord Of The Wing film of the life of Jimmy Johnstone, now has at least three release dates, all scattered throughout May. However, the single has definitely slipped, and will either be released on the 27th May (some retail sites) or the 31st May (Jimmy's site).

The single will be released as Jimmy Johnstone/Shane Macgowan. Simple Minds are the backing band for Dirty Old Town and Jimmy takes the mic. (Therefore it's going to be a different version than the one on Live And Rare where Jim's singing).

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Some websites are now suggesting a release date of the 21st June for the long awaited A History box set. Whilst this is a further step forward, I'm going to be cautious until the promos start turning up. Why? Some of these same retail websites still display the original aborted release of Our Secrets Are The Same (along with the bootleg sleeve) from last year.

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If you're going to the Hannover gig (4th June), why not check out an After Show Party at the Labor club afterwards? The flyer (right) gives the details.

Whilst researching Simple Minds’ early history, discarded, rejected and lost songs seem to litter the way between albums. Here Comes The Fool is perhaps the most well known, surviving long enough into the band’s career to be pressed on the earliest musty bootleg LPs. Others, such as Caught In A Dream or Take Me To The Angels only surfaced on grotty cassettes, where the band can just be discerned through a wail of feedback, now amplified by repeated analogue copying.

Occasionally a gem surfaces, and history gets rewritten. One such occasion was a manic piano rush by Mick, found languishing on the start of the so-called ‘Rotters’ tape. Could it have been Sweet Things, a song oft-mentioned by the journalists of the day? It would’ve been easy to match a lone title with this anonymous music; leaving everything nicely packaged and ordered.

Too easy. And too lazy.

It turned out to be called Hell; a title unknown to practically everyone, a song completely undocumented. Of course, that still left Sweet Things, a song seemingly now completely lost.

Today I was sent a CD copy of the band’s Grangemouth gig, recorded in December 1978 at the draughty town hall. The sender shared my quest for Sweet Things, and offered a solution, because the opening number, given the title Destiny, did not sound quite right to her.

So, I played the CD with interest, hoping, perhaps to be given a clue. In fact, it was more than I could’ve hoped for: Simple Minds’ emerged from the wings that night with this majestic, sprawling, elongated opening that announced to all and sundry that the band were definitely on stage. After three minutes of posturing, they settled, allowing Jim to settle on a melody that sounded like Destiny - but most definitely wasn’t. “Sweet Things” he sang over the chorus and the quest was over.

So, I sat down and filled in the page on Sweet Things, sighed over the tame, sanitised Destiny, and listened to the rest of the concert. Another epiphany, another realisation; Murder Story was literally one step away from Life In A Day: Mick's plodding backing chords were there, along with Life's characteristic musical game of tag; chasing up and down the scales with Charlie. No wonder it spilled out during the rehearsals for the album.

I had to share. The rough, acoustically horrible, recording of Sweet Things has been uploaded (plus the quick snippet of Hell I put up a couple of years ago). Enjoy!


(So, that just leaves Rosemary’s Baby then.)

Simple Minds will be playing Palermo, Sicily on the 13th July. For a list of all the dates, check out the tour dates section.

Information about this new German remix has been added to the discography.

Not much is known about it at the moment. It's believed to be a German bootleg but hopefully more details will surface soon.

As for the remix itself, it's a cut-and-paste, resampling of the original 1985 release. And not bad at that - although it is a little on the 'fast' side.

Billy Sloan exclusively played the new single, Dirty Old Town on his Radio Clyde show last night. Released on the 3rd May, this version of the song features a duet between Jim Kerr and Jimmy Johnstone.

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Simple Minds finally got national press coverage with this advert which appeared in the Daily Mail on the 10th April.

For further information, and ticket details, about the NDR Plaza Festival, Hannover, Germany on Friday, 4th June, check out NDR2's website.

Ordering information about Charlecote is given in the press article below.

And another new date has been added: 19th June in Portugal.

Simple Minds play Charlecote Simple Minds will play Charlecote Park this summer as part of the National Trust's summer music festival. The Scots rockers, who have sold more than 30 million worldwide, will be performing at the National Trust property near Wellesbourne on Friday July 23. Formed in 1978, the band fronted by Jim Kerr, have scored a string of hits including Don't You (Forget About Me), Alive And Kicking, Waterfront, Promised You A Miracle and Belfast Child. The group performed at the legendary Live Aid concert at Wembley during their 1980s heyday, and also took to the same stage(sic) for the concert to celebrate Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday. The day after the Simple Minds concert on Saturday July 24th there will be a classical and fireworks spectacular with special guests The Opera Babes. The concert will feature the 62-piece British Philharmonic Orchestra performing popular proms favourites including Pomp and Circumstance, Jerusalem and Rule Britannia. Joining them will be Opera Babes Rebecca Knight and Karen England who have been singing together since the late 1990s. Charlecote Park spokesman Sal Ransome told The Observer: "We are all really excited about the concerts." "Charlecote Park is a lively property and the ideal setting for both Simple Minds and the Opera Babes. It will certainly be a fantastic weekend." Tickets, priced £27.50 for Simple Minds and £26.50 for the classical fireworks concert are available now by calling 0870 6001804. The Rugby Observer 8th April 2004

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Blowups, the Italian Simple Minds cover band, will be playing Wild Live And Kickin' at the Magic Bus in Marcon (Venice) on Saturday 8th May. They're teaming up with Duran Duran cover band Notorious for the event.

More information can be found on Blowup's Website.

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A one track DJ promo of Cynical Heart by Jam And Spoon featuring Jim Kerr has just turned up. Full details have been added to the discography.

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Remember the news about all the archive recordings being discovered in Radio Clyde's vaults? It turns out that the releases have started already through River Records - a label set up specifically to issue these rare recordings.

Two recordings of Simple Minds are listed in the archive. Unfortunately, they're not rare and unusual radio sessions, but are the oft-bootlegged Tiffany's gigs (from 29/12/81 and 21/12/82).

These great Christmas shows aren't listed in the release schedule as yet, but keep an eye on River Records' website for more information.

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The Hungarian Simple Minds Fan Club are reissuing the Brasov DVD. Originally limited to 100 copies, a further 50 have now been made available.

Full details about the release can be found on their website.

To order, e-mail the club at both of their e-mail addresses: cliftony77@index.hu and simpleminds@freemail.hu.

Dream Giver Redux, the successor to this site, moves ever closer to Simple Minds domination.... well, I've almost cleared the 1970s with the all new Life In A Day sections. Explore and enjoy! Lots of previously unpublished pictures and all sorts of new trivia and information.

To give a small example of the change, the old discography Life In A Day section on Dream Giver consisted of 30 files. The new discography is built from 119 files. And that's just the discography...

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Bono better watch out Celtic legend Jimmy Johnstone is set to steal his crown as rock's top singer. Wee Jinky has been compared to the U2 superstar after singing on new single Dirty Old Town. So today I am launching a campaign to get the former wing wizard on Top Of The Pops. I want Celtic fans to buy the CD when it's released on May 3. If just 20,000 of the club's massive support snap up a copy, it's guaranteed a slot in the UK Top 20. And if all 60,000 Celtic home fans buy the single, it could go all the way to No.1. The Lisbon Lion who is battling motor neurone disease duets with Jim Kerr of Simple Minds on a brilliant cover of the classic Ewan MacColl song. It's taken from the soundtrack of Lord Of The Wing, a new DVD about Jinky's career. The single also features On The Road To Paradise by former Pogues' frontman Shane MacGowan. And the DVD's title track is by Scots songwriter John McLaughlin. John told me: "Jimmy's voice is absolutely brilliant. I was a wee bit wary at first, thinking he'd just be another footballer who fancied himself as a singer. But he sounds like an older version of Bono. When I first heard Dirty Old Town, I didn't believe it was Jimmy. You'll be amazed." And Minds' star Jim Kerr said: "We wanted to do Dirty Old Town in the style of John Lennon's album Rock 'N' Roll." "We asked Jimmy to sing on the track, not through sentiment, but because he's got a great voice. He's so good, I was happy to take a back seat." Wee Jinky admitted he's nervous about appearing on Top Of The Pops. He joked: "I'd love to do the show but couldn't you get a younger Jimmy Johnstone lookalike?" Billy Sloan Sunday Mail 4th April 2004

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It's the end of an era: jo62@dial.pipex.com is no more. Please can you update your address lists and use the catchy simon@simpleminds.org in future. Thanks.

Old 2003 tour clothing merchandise is available from www.swagshop.com. You too could be the proud owner of a T-shirt with the dodgy Our Secrets Are The Same artwork, or a black shirt with the album titles on it. (Well, some of them. And of those, they're in the wrong order and spelt incorrectly.)

A 12" called ATE 1 vs Simple Minds has just surfaced. Featuring an unauthorised remix of Alive And Kicking, this one-sided bootleg is available from americandisco.net.

First impressions (from the clip on americandisco.net) is a cut-and-paste remix of the original 1985 track, sped up slightly with the usual new drum effects. (Some might consider this more friendly than the more hard core remixes released through Absolutely.)

Full details of the double 12" promo Alive And Kicking single by White Spaces featuring Jim Kerr have been added to the discography.

Unlike the Don't You (Forget About Me) release, these remixes are far more contemporary. Only the White Spaces Electro Decade Mix and Niki B & Christian E.F.F.E. Mix retain the melody of the original. Therefore only get the second 12" (Absolutely ABR 058) if you're cautious.

To avoid ordering from separate shops, both are available (with some other White Spaces and Biba-Rom releases) from americandisco.net.

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Some websites and small extra details have been added to the tour dates.

Full details of Mel's single have been added to the discography.

And more live dates have been added. The current totals are one gig in The Netherlands; one in Switzerland; one in Ireland (where Simple Minds are Special Guests of Bryan Adams - so it might not be a full set); one in Denmark; two in Spain; two in Belgium and three in the UK.

The following little press release is also floating around:

"Pop legends, Simple Minds have just been added to the Killarney SummerFest 2004 line up. Simple Minds and Bryan Adams play Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney on 25 June.

The performance coincides with the release of their new album "A History"^[1] that is to be released in June.

Formed in 1978, Simple Minds have been at the forefront of music for more than 25 years. They have released over 20 albums to date and have had a multitude of top ten singles and albums both in the UK and US Don't miss your chance to see Simple Minds play hits like 'Don't You Forget About Me', 'Speed Your Love', 'All The Things She Said' and 'She Moved Through the Fair'^[2]. Tickets to Bryan Adams and Simple Minds are on sale now."

^[1]: This, of course, being the box-set, featuring the 'new' album Our Secrets Are The Same.
^[2]: Or, more likely, Belfast Child.

Meanwhile, Guilfest is the 6th biggest rock/pop festival in Britain with a capacity of 15000 and will be promoted heavily on BBC Radio Two. More details about this festival can be found on their website: Blondie on the 16th July, Simple Minds on the 17th and UB40 on the 18th.

Two new dates have been announced for Spain: 9th July at Valencia and the 10th July at Torrevieja.

The current 2004 tour can be seen here.

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Some Sweet Day, the now annual all-day radio show devoted to Simple Minds, will be broadcast on July 15th. For 18 hours, 7 AM through to 1 AM (USA EST), Todd Richards will be playing singles, remixes, album tracks and rare B-sides.

No word on his legendary interviews yet, but here's hoping he'll talk to Jim again.

Jim was recently at EMI finalising the track listing for the forthcoming A History box set. This four CD package will feature early demos, rarities and other previously unreleased material including Our Secrets Are The Same.

Having kept his eyes fixed firmly ahead for so long, Kerr is still not entirely sure why anyone would want to look into various recesses in Simple Minds' history, although he admits that if I was hold a tape of a Roxy Music gig from 1972 he'd grab it out of my hand... "I suppose I didn't think it would happen with us."

Hugh Fielder
Classic Rock

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Simple Minds, along with Bryan Adams, will be playing Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney, Ireland on Friday, 25th June.

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased from Ticketmaster.

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Jim is interviewed by Hugh Fielder for Classic Rock magazine (April 2004). Within its eight page, full colour spread, Jim talks mainly about the early days of Simple Minds and their rise to the stadiums.

It's worth getting for the colour pictures alone, and one or two new snippets of trivia jump from the pages. However, as a balanced review of Simple Minds, it glosses over the 1990s, forgets Cry and does feature one or two inaccuracies (particularly the picture captions with the current line-up being called 1984 vintage.)

And not just the nostalgia seekers. "Not at all," he confirms. "The other night I noticed two really attractive girls down the front. Unfortunately in between them was their dad. But they were all really into it. And that's great."

There hasn't been a Simple Minds single for a couple of months; so it's time a new one came out.

Alive And Kicking has been given the remix treatment, with several new tracks spread across two 12" promos from Absolutely Records. Released today, the on-line samples (available via the excellent www.americandisco.net) reveals reworkings that are definitely in Judge Jules' jurisdiction.

Released under the White Spaces featuring Jim Kerr moniker, it's definitely a Simple Minds remix.

Both are available from www.americandisco.net.

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Forget the link I published for the Liverpool downloads. Turns out that he's simply linking to files at Oliver Hilscher's site - well dodgy.

So, download them directly from www.hypnotised.de and let Oliver know how much you appreciate his work.

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Eight pages of this month's Classic Rock Magazine are devoted to Jim. He talks about the band and the infamous box set also gets a mention.

The original line-up of Simple Minds was reunited at Bruce Findlay's 60th birthday party for the first time since 1981.
From left: Brian, Jim, Mick, Bruce, Derek and Charlie.

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The Liverpool show from 2003 (which was broadcast by BBC Radio Wales on New Year's Eve) can be downloaded here.

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Two other possible venues for this year's tour are Burjasot and Torrevieja (both in the Valencia area of Spain). No other information has surfaced at the moment.

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Dear Minds’ fans, BLOWUPS are very proud to announce a fantastic update on www.blowups.it. Further to many requests received during the last years, there are now plenty of audio-previews (about 90 seconds/track) that you can listen from the DOWNLOAD area. There you will find 29 excerpts from 4 concerts held since 2000 (Imola, Florence-Flog, Capurso, Gioia-Nymph). BLOWUPS have never been so fond of recording gigs just because it’s somewhat useless for a band to record cover-songs. In fact the only exception has been the studio-recorded Someone Somewhere (In Summertime) being our personal vision of that song. As a consequence the recordings are not of great quality nor the gigs were meant to be recorded but BLOWUPS nonetheless decided to make them available as an act of love towards SIMPLE MINDS. Songs as Wish You Were Here, Saturday Girl, Changeling, Book Of Brilliant Things (both versions) along with classics Alive and Kicking, Don’t You (Forget About Me) and Simple Minds’ masterpiece Street Fighting Years will lead you to an enjoyable journey through the sounds and moods that marked an era. Among them we took the liberty to include our own song Glory Days (please forgive us…). Furthermore 4 tracks were included into the Demo folder in their full length version: Silent Sky is our own 2nd song (instrumental+fade) whilst the Joke and October ideas were accidentally included by the web-master; they are just ideas (October Idea) or musical tests (Joke, a funky/soul composed by Mimmo about 12 years ago for testing his SY99 sequencer…). While waiting for these two last songs to be removed you can take the chance to download them, but please take them for what they actually are. Your feedback (the bad as well) is more than welcome. Thanks for your continuous support and feel free to forward this message to whoever may be interested. BLOWUPS

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New Gold Dream, an Italian Simple Minds tribute band, will be playing at the Black Out Rock Club in Rome on the 19th March.

For more details, see here.

Two new dates have been added to the list: one at Charlecote Park, Warwick, UK and the other at the Caribana Festival, Nyon, Switzerland. For more information, plus links to festival websites for ticket ordering information, then check out the tour page.

Simple Minds are playing at the Suikerrock Festival, Tienen, Belgium on 31st July and the Lokerse Festival, Lokerse, Belgium on the 1st August.

So far, five dates have been announced - they can be found here.

An all-star five-day music festival at a Norfolk stately home is being launched by resurgent rock band Simple Minds. Blickling Hall's annual picnic concerts will already feature evergreen entertainer Sir Cliff Richard at a 9000 ticket sell-out show on Friday, July 23. More top names are promised over two weekends, in the biggest ever week of music in the National Trust venue's history. The full line-up is still under wraps, but promoters have revealed that the opening concert on Friday, July 16, will be by Simple Minds. The Scottish band, fronted by Jim Kerr, found chart fame in Britain and America with Don't You (Forget About Me) in 1985, and a follow-up UK number one with Belfast Child four years later. They were formed from the ashes of Glasgow punk rockers Johnny and the Self Abusers in 1978, and evolved through a variety of styles from arty experimental work and synthesizer sounds through harder-edged rock and into disco and pop. They have clocked up more than 30 million sales of albums, five of which entered the UK charts at number one. Their stage performances include being one of the highlights of the Live Aid event in 1985 and the major inspiration behind a concert to mark the 70th birthday of Nelson Mandela three years later. After Simple Minds strike up the music at the Blickling lakeside stage, the other gigs look set to be a classical concert on Saturday, July 17, followed by Cliff on July 23, and two equally big names for the following two nights. It comes just six years after Blickling, after several years of staging picnic-style classical concerts, made its first tentative steps into the world of “rock” with Chris de Burgh. Since then, there has been a string of big names – from Shirley Bassey and Michael Ball, through Van Morrison and Bryan Ferry to the rockier Roger Daltrey and Bryan Adams. But the normal diet of a couple of big pop names and a classical evening has been upped to a five-course feast. Promoter David Heartfield said: “We are delighted to have Simple Minds opening the season of concerts at Blickling.” The two weekends would cover all musical tastes from rock to classical, and demand for tickets had never been higher, he added. Tickets for Simple Minds are £27.50 and go on sale from Friday February 20 from Blickling Hall or by calling 0870 444 5556. Richard Batson EPD24

Simple Minds are going to be using the tried-and-tested formula of working on the new studio album during the week and playing festivals during the weekends. They're trying to get bookings for every weekend from early-June through to mid-August. Two dates have been published so far. Others will follow.

They will appear at the Langelands Festival on the 30th July.

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The box set is apparently going to be released to coincide with this period.

The Hellendoorn website is now on-line with full information about their forthcoming concerts including Simple Minds.

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I've put up all the information about the White Spaces featuring Jim Kerr German CD into the discography. It appears to be withdrawn as no-one has been able to get hold of a copy. However, for the record, this rare release includes the Perky Park, Gerret Frerich, Eyerer's & Laib, Andrea T. Mendoza Vs Tibet and Phunk Investigation In The City mixes.

However, it's never that simple, and this CD looks set to be released in Australia.

Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr may have us all dancing to a different beat when next we hear him. He has recorded a techno song with Italian DJs White Spaces. Kerr has re-recorded the vocal of his Simple Minds classic Don't You Forget About Me with White Spaces. The song was recorded with the original intent of being used for a Vodafone commercial in Europe. However, at the last minute, Vodafone changed their plan and dropped the Kerr classic for Dido's White Flag. Now the single will have a commercial release with mixes and remixes by White Spaces, Perky's Parks, Martin Eyerer, Oliver Laib, Gerret Frerichs, Phunk Investigation, Adam Dived, Stefano Sorrentino, A.T Mendoza, Ged5 and Peter Rauhofer. A release date for the Australian release of the White Spaces single is yet to be finalized. Paul Cashmere Undercover Media

Every time this single gets reissued, more remixes appear; this is the first time Ged5 and Peter Rauhofer remixes have been mentioned.

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Congratulations and a belated Happy Birthday to Bruce Findlay.

Bruce Findlay's Incredible Fling Band Bruce Findlay, a dynamic figure behind the Scottish rock scene for over 35 years, has always been, to put it mildly, a talkative chap. But for once he was speechless when he ambled into the Caves in Edinburgh’s Canongate at the weekend, for what he thought was a quiet drink and supper with his partner, Julia. As he came in the door, he was greeted by a crowd of 300 singing "Happy Birthday". It was the ex-Simple Minds manager’s 60th birthday, and the celebration was the best-kept secret in town. Among those welcoming Bruce to the Swinging Sixties were the Average White Band leader, Alan Gorrie, who had flown all the way from New York; Mike Heron, of the Incredible String Band, one of Bruce’s all-time favourites; the "busy as ever" Fish; Lloyd Quinan, former MSP; Norrie Rowan (who created the Caves out of nowhere); Pete Scotland the Best Irvine; Karen Koren, of Gilded Balloon fame, and members of Simple Minds, minus Jim Kerr, who couldn’t make it - even if his ma and pa did. Chrissie Hynde sent a card hailing Bruce as a "genius" and our man Lenny Love, another old pal, was spinning the discs. Alastair Clark, who first interviewed Bruce and his brother, Brian, back in the mid-Sixties, when they were trying to sell records in Falkirk - before the magic move to Edinburgh to set up Bruce’s Records - reports: "I had to double-check the invitation to make sure it was his 60th, not his 50th. Bruce is still such a bundle of energy and enthusiasm."

According to Jim, he did attend, and posed for pictures of the 'original' line-up with Charlie, Mick, Derek and Brian.

Jim is Simply Furious Simple Minds star Jim Kerr is suing Vodafone for £3.5 million after they scrapped a deal to use the band's hit Don't You (Forget About Me) in a TV advert. The phone giants commissioned Kerr to come up with a new version of the pop classic for the Italian commercial. But after the group spent two weeks working on it, Vodafone said the deal was off and they would be using the Dido chart-topper White Flag. Respect Furious Kerr said: "These companies have got to learn to respect people, above all artists who they have asked to work for them. We spent two weeks in a studio in London working on it and everything seemed to be going fine. Vodafone were happy and pleased that we had agreed to work with them. They were even talking about possible sponsorship for a tour in Italy." "Then, just as we were about to finish, Vodafone contact us to say they wanted White Flag." No one at Vodafone was available for comment. Daily Star 26th January, 2004

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Full details of the promo of Don't You (Forget About Me), with its two exclusive remixes, has been added to the discography.

Jam & Spoon's latest album, Tripomatic Fairytales, was released on 4th January in Germany. It includes Cynical Heart with Jim on vocals and Something To Remind Me by Midge Ure.

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The new tour section for 2004 can now be found here. Two dates have been confirmed.

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More additions and corrections have been made to the Live And Rare section.

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If seven new remixes of Don't You (Forget About Me) aren't enought (all released across Biba-Rom!, White Spaces featuring Jim Kerr and Simple Minds releases last year), then Absolutely have issued a 12" promo of two new remixes.

The Adam Dived and Stefano Sorrentino remixes are more contemporary than the recent batch, and are available through www.americandisco.net. The store is also offering the White Spaces 12" for sale.

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On the subject of White Spaces, a 5-track CD has turned up (so I don't know if the CD release has been withdrawn as previously stated). It's a mixture of tracks from the Biba-Rom, White Spaces featuring Jim Kerr and Simple Minds releases. I'll put up all the details at the weekend.

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Addicted To Love, the first single by Mel Gaynor, and featuring Robert Palmer, has now been issued in Germany as two track and four track CDs (PHA 514214). Unfortunately, it's still not available from his website.

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According to Italian paper La Repubblica, Simple Minds are suing Vodafone Italia for 5 million euros. Apparently the new mix of Don't You (Forget About Me) wasn't used for the phone advertisement and Vodafone used White Flag by Dido instead (any more confirmation of this?).

Better news is that Simple Minds are number 16 in the Italian chart with Don't You (Forget About Me) 2003.

I've finally been able to listen to a copy of this illusive album, and I've been able to finalise the track listing. There's a couple more surprises, such that New Sunshine Morning (Acoustic Version) is a different mix of New Sunrise, Mandela Day has been severely edited with all sorts of new crowd noise dubbed on and the two mixes of Don't You (Forget About Me) are taken from the single despite the different remix names.

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I've been told that the release of White Spaces featuring Jim Kerr on CD, which was promised for this month, has now been withdrawn. This isn't surprising, as Don't You (Forget About Me) 2003 features some of the same tracks.

However, I've been told that a 4-track CD and 12" promo are now circulating - so things remain a little confused and vague.

Some clarifications about Dauwpop - Dauwpop 2004 is on Thursday May 20th, and is a one day festival only. Simple Minds will play at the same stage on the 22nd of May - so it'll probably just be Simple Minds with a support act.

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Australian TV show Rage (famous for broadcasting all of Simple Minds videos back-to-back) are repeating Countdown (an Australian TV show which I'm assured is better than Top Of The Pops. I also assume that it's not in anyway related to the UK show Countdown).

Anyway, an interview with Jim from 1986 is to be shown this Saturday.

Check out the rage website for details.

Jim's latest journal made reference to this article - the rather exaggerated report of the building of his hotel Villa Angela. The reports of his dealings with the Mafia and lava following past the windows should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Does this hotel have a Jim ? These are the first pictures of Simple Minds star Jim Kerr’s latest glittering prize — his new luxury hotel in Sicily. The Scots rock legend has braved Mafia threats and volcanic eruptions to build the lavish 21-bedroomed pad. The £280-per-night Villa Angela — which has the band’s logo as its crest — isn’t due to open until April. The final touches are currently being added to the outside bar, terrace pool and state—of-the-art gym. But thanks to our exclusive glimpse behind the scenes, News of the World readers have a chance to check it out today. Situated in a picturesque location near the trendy holiday hotapot of Taormina, Jim 44, wants the four-star residence to be a real home from home. A Villa Angela spokesman told us: “Jim will live here and he wants guests to feel they are staying in his house, not a faceless hotel.” Protection But the rocker was unpleasantly disturbed by some of the project’s teething troubles. Shortly after work began two years ago, nearby volcano Mount Etna erupted. Then local Mafia bosses turned up and demanded protection money. Jim said: “Sicilian bureaucracy has its own ways of working. It is pretty infamous but I’m enjoying the challenge.” The hotel is the latest business venture for the chart-topping star — who’s worth an estimated £30 million. He already owns properties In Londoa and the French Riviera, as well as the successful Oko sushi bar in his home town of Glasgow. But fans visiting Villa Angela won’t be treated to suitable Simple Minds hits like I Travel, Waterfront or Someone, Somewhere (In Summertime). Our source told us: “There will be no discos or neon lights flashing — Jim hopes his guests will simply clear their minds in the relaxing surroundings.’ Jessica Kiddle 4th January, 2004 New Of The World

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Various additions and corrections have been made to the Live And Rare discography including the addition of the lyrics for Dirty Old Town

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Fire-Alarm Hitch Fails To Dampen Concert Fun Hundreds of Simple Minds fans were forced out into pouring rain when fire alarms sounded at the Music Hall in Aberdeen at the weekend. Cosmetic smoke used during the Glasgow band's performance on Saturday night had caused the alarm and forced an evacuation. Fans kept themselves entertained during the 15-minute wait outside the venue, singing an impromptu version of the tune which ended as the alarm was signalled - Don't You (Forget About Me). Purveyors of some of the finest anthemic rock to come out of the 80s, Jim Kerr and co did not forget their obligation to their supporters and came back to the stage in fine form. Despite dance moves reminiscent of the embarrassing dad at a wedding, Kerr continues to convince as a bona-fide star singer. He trooped on to the Music Hall stage alongside fellow band founder, Charlie Burchill, to a cracking reception. Clearly enjoying the adulation, they treated the near-capacity crowd to an initial hour's worth of tunes spanning two decades. After the brief, enforced break in proceedings - during which many fans unwisely went elsewhere to avoid the rain and did not return - the band were back with a bang. Bouncing back to the stage Kerr, recalling a Doors reference earlier in the set, said: "That'll teach us to sing Come on Baby Light My Fire." Standout tracks were their best-known hits - Waterfront, Promised You a Miracle, the earlier Don't You ... and the stunning set-closer, Alive And Kicking. With the chords of that last song ringing in my ears en-route home, one thought I couldn't escape is that had they more drive when the musical climate changed, this lot could have been bigger than U2. The songs are of a similar quality and with Belfast Child (sadly missing from Saturday's set list) they spoke with a political voice previously unnoticed. Thankfully, there is still time for a resurgence. Grampian Fire and Rescue Service confirmed the evacuation had come about due to a false alarm, triggered by the use of smoke machines Alan Gorham 22nd December, 2003

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Simple Minds will play the Dauwpop Festival in The Netherlands on the 22nd May. There will be a special website launched at www.simpleminds-hellendoorn.nl (expected within the next month) or you can check out pictures of last years' festival at www.dauwpop.nl.

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The Breakfast Club will be shown on VH1 at 9PM on the 10th January. (Recently there's been some debate whether the version of Don't You (Forget About Me) in the film is the same as that on the soundtrack - it's a very subtle change of words. And there's also a short instrumental version of Don't You played after the main credits that hasn't been issued either).

Simple Minds will be headlinening the Langelands Festivallen in Denmark this summer. The festival is also called Denmark's Biggest Garden Party and runs from the 28th through to the 31st of July. It caters for 20,000 people and is normally sold out every year. On the bill are for now only a handful of Danish acts besides the Minds.

You can buy tickets at www.billetnet.dk and the festival website is at www.langelandsfestival.dk.

A one day ticket is 400 DKR, whilst a four day ticket is 1095 DKR.

You can also phone the festival on 0045 70 22 00 87

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BRAVE JINKY'S POP BID FOOTBALL legend Jimmy Johnstone hopes to top the pop charts despite battling a killer disease. The brave Celtic hero, who has Motor Neurone Disease, has recorded a song with Simple Minds stars Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill. The Lisbon Lion went into a recording studio in Glasgow to perform a version of Ewan MacColl's Dirty Old Town. It will form part of the soundtrack to a film of Jinky's life story due for release next year. A donation will be made to Motor Neurone Disease research for every disc sold. Music industry insiders tip it to reach the Top Ten. Last night, Jinky, 59, said: "To be honest, I'm not convinced but if Jim Kerr thinks it's good enough I'm not going to argue. As far as I'm concerned, if God wills it, it will happen." Jinky has been helped in his battle against the illness by alternative health practitioner and nutritionist Caroline Rafferty. He said it was thanks to her that more than two years after his heartbreaking diagnosis he is still going strong. Life expectancy for sufferers is usually only two years. Caroline's technique involves analysing toxicity in the body. She said: "Most people with his condition would have surrendered to it, but Jimmy has pursued every possible avenue of treatment and the fact he is alive shows it has paid off." The father-of-three lives in Lanarkshire with his wife Agnes, and has fought his illness every step of the way. He said recently: "I was blessed with my ability, blessed to have great friends and blessed to be a part of one of the greatest football teams." Billy Paterson Sunday Mail

Dirty Old Town was first made available on Live And Rare.

This micro-site features some great Simple Minds content, including video footage from Munich (including Book Of Brilliant Things, Speed Your Love To Me and Hypnotised.) There's also a couple of interviews with Jim and Charlie.

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This is the last of Han-Olof's enthusiastic, and brutally honset, reviews of the German shows. Many thanks for those - they were an excellent preview for those who saw the band in December.

Trier Review The whole thing starts in a worrying way. When the support band go on there are not many people in the hall, not many at all. But at the last minute lots of people flood in. The explanation is surely that Trier is a small town, and most of the audience come driving from places like Luxemburg and Belgium. It's clear from the beginning that Jim is odd, mischevous tonight. Lots of odd talk, and in the presentation of the band, Charlie is "Charlie Bubble" (I think) - Mel is still just Mel Gaynor. Slowly a special, great feeling grows. There is something in the air... Mel can't stop himself. Ghostdancing is of course to be started by Charlie, but Mel can't wait, and starts it instead! Charlie's reaction is walking up to him and shaking his head. And the song is of course as great as ever. People start singing "Gloria" long before Jim. What a feeling. C-Moon Cry Like A Baby is replaced by Big Sleep. Very nice! At the beginning of Chelsea Girl, Jim does what is definitely Elvis impersonations! He stand there cavorting, talking in a deep voice about "the king". In New Gold Dream Mel bangs the drums unbelievably hard. What are his drumskins made of? At the end of the show everyone in the audience, even the ones sitting far away to the side are standing, everyone smiling. I'm at the concert with a friend, who has never seen Simple Minds before. He's a very cool guy, but I can see that he is touched. He has got a small glimpse of what the cult of Simple Minds is all about. We leave the hall. We talk about the support band, and I say that the support band has been put there by the record company and other business people, in order to promote them. He ponders the concept. Then he says what is not a review of the support band, nice as they were: "No. They have been chosen as support for Simple Minds because someone hates them. They have no career after this" I'll tell you all that I went to the last two German concerts too, but I'll end the reviewing here. Next tour I'll test some other countries train and hotel services. One day Sweden (where I'm from) will wake up and Simple Minds will be booked there again. Wake up, people. Hans-Olof Andersson 26th November

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Live And Rare now has it's own page - plus some clarifications about the track-listing. However, matters are still a little confused in Italy. Some people have reported getting hold of this illusive CD - whilst others have been told that the CD won't be in the shops until mid-January - this is in stores with posters giving the December 10th release date.

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Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow Review A MIDDLE-AGED man stands centre-stage in jeans and a black suit jacket unbuttoned to his navel, revealing an oily, tanned chest. He is Jim Kerr and, dammit, he's sexy. Jumping and gyrating around, he injects energy into every riff and drumbeat of his band's slightly repetitive tracks. Their stadium rock set is complete with dry ice, spotlights and a crowd which punches the air and sings along with gusto. The pace relents and Jim stands in darkness at his microphone stand, lit only by a white beam, as he croon Chelsea Girl with bassist Eddie Duffy. Then Waterfront kicks in and he springs back into action. Mandela Day and a great medley of Ghostdancing, Gloria and Light My Fire almost made this a fantastic gig. But there were boring moments. Why save up Alive And Kicking, Promised You A Miracle and Sanctify Yourself and blast them all out in an eight-song encore? Lindsay Mcintosh Sunday Mail - 7 Days Magazine 7th December 2003

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It looks like all the US copies of the DVD are Canadian imports. But, those in the US should try out deepdiscountdvd.com - they're selling the import at $19.95 with free shipping in the US.

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There were a couple of surprises as the Alive And Kicking 2003 wound up with the final dates across the UK. None involved the set-list however.

At Sheffield, a crowd of drunks annoyed Jim to the point that he called them "wankers" before he booted one in the head. And the band's smoke machine set of the fire alarms at Aberdeen during Don't You (Forget About Me). Apparently Charlie was a little reluctant to leave the stage - quite rightly pointing out that he was halfway through a gig.

The concert did start, but as the set-list shows, the arrangement of songs did need changing.

Top prizes to The Herald who managed to illustrate their gig preview with a 1989 picture of Jim.

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A final reminder: BBC Radio Wales will be broadcasting the entire Liverpool gig between 8PM and 10PM (GMT) tomorrow (31st December). The producer has also found an interview conducted with Charlie from a couple of years previously - so that will be broadcast as well. The link to BBC Radio Wales is here.

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As mentioned on the 18th December, Simple Minds won Best Live Act at the Italian Music Awards. Jim, Charlie and Mel collected the award, and then Jim mimed to Don't You (Forget About Me) - probably to tie-in with the Vodafone campaign.

The video of this performance can be found here.

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The Blow Ups, the Italian Simple Minds cover band, played yesterday at a tribute night in Bari, Italy. Unfortunately, due to a backlog of mail, I didn't get Dream Giver updated quickly enough.

However, this won't happen again. The Blow Ups now have their own website at www.blowups.it - featuring MP3 downloads, a gallery, and a news section detailing the dates of their gigs, then there's no need to miss them again.

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The release of Raven Maize's The Real Life was well documented on this website - and in time, it'll be added to the covers discography. Also mentioned at the time, was that this reworking of Theme For Great Cities was actually a reworking of an earlier cover, also called The Real Life, by Corporation Of One. Full details of this release have now been uploaded.