Simple Minds - Alive & Kicking [Extended A&I Mix]

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Video Description 1985's Smash-hit "Alive & Kicking" by Simple Minds. This is my own video remix tribute (re-edited on this catchy chorus as sample) done from the rare US Maxi-Promo a.k.a. 'Extended 12" Mix'. only hope you'll really like it... :) Review.- Simple Minds is a rock band from Scotland, which had its greatest worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early-1990s. The band, from the south side of Glasgow, produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s, and later went on to produce some politically inspired and critically praised work. Founding members Jim Kerr (vocals) and Charlie Burchill (guitar), along with drummer Mel Gaynor, are the core of the band, which currently features Mark Taylor on keyboards and Eddie Duffy on bass guitar. Charlie Burchill and Jim Kerr formed a punk band in 1977. They were heavily influenced by Lou Reed, and after one unsuccessful single as Johnny & the Self Abusers, they shuffled the line-up to include former Abusers Brian McGee on drums and Tony Donald on bass guitar, the latter of whom was quickly replaced by Derek Forbes. Simple Minds commercial first album, Life in a Day, took a cue from fellow Post-punk forebears Magazine, and was somewhat self-consciously derivative of the late-70s punk boom. While still categorisable as 'rock', Simple Minds' second release, Real to Real Cacophony, had a darker edge, and announced some of the New Wave experimentation that would become the band's trademark sound over the next two albums. The next album, Empires and Dance, was a far more radical departure, and signalled the influence of Kraftwerk, Neu! and similar European artists. Indeed, during this period Simple Minds promoted themselves as a European band, not a Scottish or UK band. Simple Minds' sixth studio album, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84), released in 1982, was a significant turning point for the band. With a slick, sophisticated sound thanks to producer Peter Walsh, Simple Minds were soon categorised as part of the New Romantic outgrowth of New Wave (along with Duran Duran and others), and the record generated a handful of charting singles including "Promised You a Miracle" and "Glittering Prize", which both hit the UK Top 20 and Australian Top 10, continuing the band's early success in that region. In addition, jazz keyboardist Herbie Hancock performed a synth solo on the track "Hunter and the Hunted." Despite the band's new-found popularity in the UK and Europe, Simple Minds remained essentially unknown in the U.S. The movie The Breakfast Club changed all that. Released in early 1985, this Brat Pack drama from writer/director John Hughes was a box-office smash and made household names of many of its young stars, including Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy and Emilio Estevez. It also broke Simple Minds into the US market almost overnight, when the band achieved their only number-one U.S. pop hit with the film's opening track, "Don't You (Forget About Me)". Ironically, the song wasn't even written by the band, but by Keith Forsey, who offered the song to Billy Idol and Bryan Ferry before Simple Minds agreed to record it. The song soon became a chart-topper in many other countries around the world. Taking advantage of their new-found popularity, Simple Minds released their most unashamedly commercial album, Once Upon a Time, which was tailored specifically to appeal to the stadium-rock sensibilities of American audiences. Reviled by some long-time fans yet embraced by millions of new listeners and critically well-received, the record reached number one in the UK and number ten in the US, even though "Don't You (Forget About Me)" was not included. The band made it clear in interviews prior to the album's release that they would not include the song, believing that it would devalue the rest of the album, which they felt could stand on its own merits. Once Upon a Time would go on to generate four worldwide hit singles: "Alive & Kicking", "Sanctify Yourself", "Ghostdancing" and "All The Things She Said", the latter of which featured a cutting-edge music video directed by Zbigniew Rybczyński that used techniques later employed in music videos for Pet Shop Boys and Art of Noise. Because of Simple Minds powerful stage presence and lyrics that trafficked in Christian symbolism, the band was criticized by some in the music press as a lesser version of U2, despite the fact that both bands were now heading in different musical directions. Simple Minds have secured a string of successful hit singles, the best known being its number one worldwide hit single "Don't You (Forget About Me)", from the soundtrack of the John Hughes movie The Breakfast Club.

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Tags: 12", 1985, 80's, alive, and, extended, kicking, minds, mix, music, new, pop, remix, rock, scotland, simple, tribute, uk, video, wave