Simple Minds is one of the UK's most successful bands, boasting six No.1 albums in the UK and topping charts in numerous other countries such as Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Australia, and New Zealand. But did you know how the group Simple Minds got their name?
Formed in Glasgow in 1977, the Scottish rock band became the most commercially successful Scottish band of the 1980s.
Simple Minds originated from the short-lived punk band Johnny & The Self-Abusers, established in early 1977 on Glasgow's South Side. Like many early punk bands, the members adopted stage names; Jim Kerr became "Pripton Weird" and Charlie Burchill was "Charlie Argue."
Kerr and Burchill, who had been friends since they were eight years old, joined Johnny & The Self-Abusers and later recruited two school friends, Brian McGee on drums and Tony Donald on bass. The quartet had previously played together in the school band Biba-Rom!
Abandoning their stage names and punk image, the remaining members regrouped as Simple Minds, a name inspired by a lyric from David Bowie's song "The Jean Genie."
"So simple-minded, he can't drive his module
He bites on the neon and sleeps in a capsule
Loves to be loved, loves to be loved"
Comments