The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Don’t you forget about him
Rock icon Jim Kerr is in tune with Dundee
Simple Minds’ 1983 single Waterfront will take on a whole new meaning on September 9 as the band takes to the stage in Dundee’s Slessor Gardens, days before the opening of the V&A Museum of Design.
But as lead singer Jim Kerr points out, it won’t be the first time the band from Glasgow have helped celebrate the transformation of a post-industrial city.
In 1998 they filmed a music video for their track Glitterball in and around the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao – and just as the so-called “Guggenheim effect” aimed to make the Spanish port city more “prosperous and cool”, Jim is hopeful that they can bring similar “luck” to Dundee.
“There’s a nice coincidence here, because I’m obviously aware that with Dundee and the V&A the yardstick goes back to Bilbao and the Guggenheim and what it’s done for the city,” says Jim.
“Well, we were the first band to go and do stuff in the Guggenheim. It had only been open about a week. Somehow somebody in Bilbao – the mayor or something – was a big fan of Simple Minds.
“The Guggenheim was such an amazing building and there was an amazing overwhelming feeling in the city as well when it opened.
“Those memories are evoked when I think of Dundee and everyone else willing Dundee on. It’s so great to see it all come to fruition.”
Simple Minds don’t need much of an introduction. Founded in Glasgow in 1977, they are one of the most commercially successful Scottish bands ever, having achieved five UK number one albums during their career and sold more than 70 million records worldwide.
Despite various personnel changes, they continue to record and tour.
The band scored a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for their 1985 hit Don’t You Forget About Me.
Other prominent hits include Alive and Kicking and Belfast Child – and in 2016 they won the British Academy’s Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection.
It’s undoubtedly a coup they will be in Dundee for V&A week – and the band had a “wee sneak peak” at the V&A construction site last May when they performed a sell-out acoustic set at the Caird Hall – a venue which Jim “loves”.
But Simple Minds’ affinity with Dundee goes way back to their early days and those links have been further tuned with Dundonian musician Ged Grimes – formerly of Danny Wilson – joining the band.
“Dundee was one of the first places that encouraged us,” reflects Jim, 58.
“We used to play in the old technical college as it was in those days. We opened up for quite a few bands and played Fat Sams and all that.
“Then of course over the past 10 years we’ve had none other than Ged Grimes – very much a local man and a proud Dundonian! Outside of his talents he is very much a product of his environment as we are of ours.”
Dundee was one of the first places that encouraged us. We used to play in the old technical college...
Jim has tremendous respect for Dundee’s “great history” of fantastic musicians. But despite their own credentials, he admits he remains slightly in awe of Ged.
“It’s funny with Ged,” he says, “because obviously he had a career with Danny Wilson and lots of other stuff and he worked with Ricky (Ross) and Deacon Blue and all that.
“Ged kind of got us in shape a bit – and I’m not even talking about physically,” he laughs, “although he’s great at that as well.
“He’s a delightful character but he’s also stoic – in other words ‘you cannae b ****** t him’. And we are a wee bit b ******** y sometimes – not when Ged’s about!”
Slessor Gardens will also be special because it’ll be the last of 13 shows during August and September when Simple Minds share a bill with The Pretenders – the first time they will have performed on the same stage since Live Aid in 1985.
The Pretenders, of course, are fronted by Jim’s ex-wife Chrissie Hynde – someone who Jim sees as “family” on the one hand and a rock “icon” on the other.
“We’re huge fans first and foremost,” says Jim. “We first toured together in 1984 and what a bill that was: Australia and New Zealand – Eurthymics, Talking Heads, The Pretenders, and Simple Minds. And Chryssie and I got on VERY well!” he laughs.
“We are family. We have kids. We have grand kids! We saw her in Glasgow recently. We have the same manager.
“But nevertheless I’m able to stand back from that side of things and see her for what she is – she’s one of the true greats. She’s an icon,” he adds.
Jim is also looking forward to touring again with St Andrews-raised singersongwriter KT Tunstall, who will also appear on the Dundee bill.
They recorded an acoustic version of Promised You a Miracle together in 2016 and then did around 30 Simple Minds acoustic gigs across the UK.
“She was amazing in the studio – this tiny wee thing,” he says. “She just took over and we were happy for her to take over, because every idea she came up with was like ‘wow’.
“We then went on the road together and I reckon for about 25 of those gigs we stood at the side of the stage watching her – the crew, the band, everybody – she was just amazing.”
Jim is approaching the end of a “hectic” three weeks promoting the new album Walk Between Worlds during this interview and looking forward to three February launch shows in Glasgow, Manchester and London.
It’s the first album of new material since 2014’s Big Music and with its eight tracks rocketing past in 42 minutes, it’s a relatively concise affair.
Jim says it’s an album of two distinct sides – very much the old-school album format that he and Charlie Burchill grew up with as music fans.
Side one tracks such as Summer and The Signal and the Noise revisit the glassy guitars and new wave dance grooves of the post-punk era, while the second half explores more cinematic sounds with the title track and Barrowland Star both featuring dramatic orchestrations recorded at Abbey Road.
But with opening track Magic reflecting on the desire and hunger of youth and closing track Sense of Discovery centred on the voice of an older narrator passing on wisdom and advice to a younger individual, Jim admits they have sometimes been their harshest critics and occasionally have to “cut themselves some slack”.
He prefers to see their back catalogue as being products of an ongoing journey rather than stand-alone works.
That net result, he says, will be reflected when they walk on stage in Dundee.
“You might say ‘oh this is the new album’ or whatever but that’s not really what you are saying – you are saying ‘this is what we have done with our lives’,” he says.
“And when you say that, it’s a great motivation because you don’t want to give less than your best.
“A good Simple Minds set ticks all the boxes and we’ll be doing that in Dundee. Nobody is going to be disappointed!”
● Simple Minds – Walk Between Worlds is out now.
For ticket information go to www. ticketmaster.co.uk