Simple Minds biography
However, this period would also see the end of the first "classic" Simple Minds lineup when drummer Brian McGee left the band at the end of the Sons and Fascination sessions, citing exhaustion at Simple Minds' constant touring schedule and a desire for more time at home with family. He would later join Propaganda.
Transition: Rising to fame (1982-1983)
1982: Different drummers
McGee's initial replacement as Simple Minds' drummer was Kenny Hyslop (ex-Skids, Slik, Zones), who joined the band in October 1981 in time to play the first leg of the Sons & Fascination tour. His interest in New York music (including funk, hip-hop and dance) played an immediate part in the band's musical development. He stayed long enough to drum on the band's next single, the disco-friendly "Promised You a Miracle" (based on a funk riff cadged from one of the cassettes he would play on the band's tour bus) which hit the UK Top 20 and the Australian Top 10. Unfortunately, Hyslop "didn't fit in" with the band or their management (a situation further strained by his apparent suspicion of record companies) and in February 1982 he left the band after a mere five months. Hyslop was replaced by the Kilmarnock-born percussionist Mike Ogletree (the former drummer for Café Jacques). Ogletree joined Simple Minds for rehearsals in a large converted barn in Perthshire, Scotland, where he wrote and played the drum parts for the songs that were to become what is considered the band's watershed album,
New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84). Ogletree also performed with the band on TV and to close out the second leg of the 'Sons and Fascination Tour'.
Although his playing and writing style contributed the R&B, funk and soul elements that gave the band the commercial edge they sought, Ogletree apparently found the transition from rehearsal to recording and live playing difficult. The band moved to Townhouse Studios for recording sessions with producer Peter Walsh, who introduced them to a London-born drummer called Mel Gaynor, a 22-year old session musician with plenty of experience (including a stint drumming for The Nolans). Gaynor proved to have the combination of broad skills plus force of playing which the band wanted. Working closely with Ogletree in order to capture and maintain the beats and grooves from the Perthshire sessions, he played drums on the majority of the record (although Ogletree would play drums on three tracks and be credited for percussion across the entire album).
1982: New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)
New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) was released in September 1982, combining the results of the Walsh sessions along with "Promised You a Miracle". The album proved to be a significant turning point for the band, becoming a commercial breakthrough and generating a handful of charting singles including "Glittering Prize" (which reached the UK Top 20 and Australian Top 10). With a slick, sophisticated sound-thanks to Walsh's production-and similarly sumptuous design by Malcolm Garrett, Simple Minds were soon categorized as part of the New Romantic outgrowth of New Wave (along with Duran Duran and others). Despite the success of the album, some fans of the band's earlier work criticised Simple Minds' new and more commercial orientation. While some tracks ("Promised You a Miracle", "Colours Fly and Catherine Wheel") continued the formula perfected on
Sons and Fascination, other tracks ("Someone Somewhere In Summertime", "Glittering Prize") were undisguised pop. In addition, jazz keyboardist Herbie Hancock performed a synth solo on the track "Hunter and the Hunted".
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