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按官方的讲法，Simple Minds从朋克音乐探索出一条自己的音乐道路并享誉世界已有26年之久，但乐队的根源可以追溯到8年前更早在格拉斯哥的Toryglen一个房屋建造工地上Jim Kerr和Charlie Burchill的相遇，由此产生了自从Jagger和Richard以来历史上最为重要的一对乐队领袖和主音吉他手的合作关系。Kerr温柔空灵的男中音是对Burchil尖刺失真而优柔唯美的吉他最为完美的烘托。
Simple Minds的成长历程可以说是Beat Generation那首经典之作“On the Road”的翻版。Simple Minds的名字在十年里一度似乎是稳踞专辑榜首位的宝座，然而这支传奇的乐队真正成立于米兰大教堂的台阶上，两个年轻人Kerr和Burchill在随一场欧洲巡演举行他们过即兴表演后决定他们自己的组建乐队。
对于Simple Minds来说，音乐就象他们的人生一样，真正重要的不是目的地，而是这段旅程。永不平息的激情是乐队独特的性格所在，他们是世间的一股永恒的能量，在乐队早期经典“I Travel”中，Simple Minds便从中向乐迷们演绎了这股持续不断的活力。Jim Kerr通过众多Simple Minds专辑所体现的众多音乐风格出色地传达出一种永不停息的可能性，和一种永远变动的音乐疆界。
在Simple Minds的70、80年代同一时期的乐队都纷纷加入俱乐部演出的大部队时，乐队仍在继续探索发展自己的音乐风格。通过对不同音乐样式的执着追求，Simple Minds继承了Doctor Who以及James Bond不同的优秀音乐元素。乐队1979的专辑“Life In A Day”可以说深受着Lou Reed,Roxy Music和David Bowie的音乐影响，并同时开始挖掘德国合成音效乐队如Can,Neu和Kraftwerk的音乐元素。在追求音乐的同时没人能保证商业上的前途，Simple Minds发行了第二张专辑“Real to Real Cacophony”，这张专辑凝结着乐队的一番艰苦的探索，并稍带有工业音乐的影响，这张专辑恰恰赢得了广泛的赞誉，还得到了Peter Gabriel的赏识，并同意与乐队合作完成Simple Minds80年的专辑“Empires & Dance”。
从那时起Simple Minds几次从乐队的几首如“Sons”、“Fascination”和“Sister Feelings Call”歌中electropop和Eurobeat音乐风格转变出来，经过80年代中期到90年代早期那种夸张其词的舞台摇滚的发展，最终与出任专辑的那不勒斯混音乐队Planet Funk一同协力，将自己的音乐定位于最新专辑“Cry”中继承乐队先前实验性的、包容性的音乐元素上。
在Simple Minds努力开拓的同时，甚至连乐队自己都没有事先预料到，他们早期的两首单曲The American和Love Song正在全世界单曲排行前十的位置悄悄确立了自己的地位。乐队在1982年的专辑“New Gold Dream(81,82,83,84)”以灿烂空灵的美感一举抓住乐迷和评论界的心，并得以迈出自己的家乡走向更一个更为广阔的范围，这张专辑立即成为Simple Minds的经典——用NME的Paul Morley的话描述就是“宏伟壮丽又欢心鼓舞”。
乐队的下一张专辑——“Sparkle in the Rain”，以及其中那首洁净空灵的“Waterfront”，表现了一个音乐更为坚定更富节奏的Simple Minds，这张专辑发行后也迅速登上英国专辑榜冠军的宝座，从此以后的几年里，Simple Minds也一再光顾排行榜的榜首位置——这好像成为了Simple Minds的第二个家一样。在1985年的“Once Upon A Time”里乐队把自己的音乐做得更为剧烈，而这张专辑再次重复了前一张的辉煌。
尽管当年Simple Minds以一曲“Don't You Forget About Me”登上美国单曲榜第一，然而乐队四年前便早已凭借单曲碟“The Ballad of the Streets”荣登英国单曲榜第一了。主打曲“Belfast Child”，一首关于北爱尔兰矛盾的动情杰作，也表明了乐队的日益增强的政治意识，1985年的巡演和同年献给大赦国际的Ghost Dancing也让乐队广受欢迎。Simple Minds将“Mandela Day”和与Gabriel合作的“Biko”收进自己的单曲碟中，这一切都让Simple Minds被誉为一个对人权以及音乐都充满激情的乐队。
乐队随后的专辑“Street Fighting Years”也迅速登上专辑榜第一的位置。正是在1989年，柏林墙被推倒，这年也让众多欧洲乐队得以一泻为快。虽然键盘手Mick MacNeil离开了Simple Minds，而乐队也与长期合作的经理人Bruce Findlay闹了个翻脸，但他们也进入了一个由自己独特个性所描绘的崭新时代，乐队的演出越来越富有激情，同时在音乐中也继续尝试新的元素。从某种程度上说乐队返回到自己前流行摇滚元素并同时继续推广自己的音乐界限——从随后的“Real Life”，“Good News From the Next World” 和“Neapolis”都可以看出乐队的这种发展趋势。
伴随着“Cry”的发行，Simple Minds更稳固确立了自己音乐发展的方式——在不失原先音乐渊源的基础上不断向新的方向拓展——这也是在摇滚乐坛立足的不二法则。一个在全世界范围内拥有广泛乐迷基础的乐队然而却显得亲密无间——Simple Minds正成功地印证了这看似矛盾的道理，不愧为历史上一代伟大的音乐团体。最近乐队在新的动力的驱使下奔波于意大利和格拉斯哥的录音棚之间——而乐队的巡演设备也整齐待发，2003年夏季他们将开始新一轮的旅行并在圣诞之夜上演自己旅行的结尾演出——相信乐队将再次为乐迷带来无尽快乐。
Best known in the U.S. for their 1985 number one hit Dont You (Forget About Me) from the film The Breakfast Club, Scotlands Simple Minds evolved from a post-punk art rock band influenced by Roxy Music into a grand, epic-sounding pop band along the lines of U2. The band grew out of a Glasgow punk group called Johnny and the Self-Abusers, which featured guitarist Charlie Burchill and lead singer Jim Kerr. The inaugural 1978 lineup of Simple Minds featured a rhythm section of Tony Donald on bass and Brian McGee on drums, plus keyboardist Mick McNeil; Donald was soon replaced by Derek Forbes. Their early albums leaped from one style to another, with Life in a Day consisting mostly of dense, arty pop songs; critical acclaim followed the darker, more experimental art rock of Reel to Real Cacophony and the Euro-disco of Empires and Dance. The group began a transition to a more accessible pop style with the albums Sons and Fascination and Sister Feelings Call, originally issued together and subsequently split up. New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) became their first chart album in the U.S., and the tour-shy McGee quit owing to burgeoning popularity, eventually being replaced by Mel Gaynor. Following the Steve Lillywhite-produced Sparkle in the Rain, Jim Kerr married Pretenders lead singer Chrissie Hynde (the two groups had toured together).
After Bryan Ferry rejected the opportunity to sing Dont You (Forget About Me), Simple Minds almost did so as well; Kerr was dissatisfied with the songs lyrics, which he regarded as formulaic. His change of heart gave Simple Minds their only American chart-topper, and the song later became an international hit as well; however, Kerrs feelings about the song remained ambivalent, and it did not appear on the follow-up album, Once Upon a Time. This album went gold and reached the U.S. Top Ten, in spite of criticism for its bombastic, over-the-top approach. A live album and the uncompromisingly political Street Fighting Years squandered Simple Minds commercial momentum, however. By the time the group returned to more personal themes and its straightforward, anthemic rock on 1991s Real Life, personnel changes and audience loss left the groups future viability in doubt. But they werent totally deterred, however. Kerr and Burchill trudged on, releasing Good News From the Next World in 1995 while the single Shes a River received moderate airplay. A short tour of North America soon followed, but Simple Minds direction also quickly faded. They needed a break to clarify their own personal stance in music. Derek Forbes returned for 1998s Néapolis, but that, too, wasnt strong enough to sustain Simple Minds newfound creativity. Their famed pop songs had diluted a bit; however, the new millennium proved poignant. Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill signed to Eagle Records in early 2001 and constructed their first covers album, Neon Lights, later that fall, paying tribute to Patti Smith, Neil Young, David Bowie, and others. In summer 2002, Kerr and Burchill issued Cry, Simple Minds first batch of new material since 1995s Good News From the Next World. Our Secrets Are the Same, an album that was intended for release in 2000, saw official release in 2003.
