Sweaty
ThE OtHeR rAmOnE
The roots of Simple Minds started out in the punk band Johnny & The Self-Abusers thought up by Cairnduff in 1977, he left the task of actually fleshing out and creating the band to his friend John Milarky. Milarky teamed up with two musicians he’d never worked with before - budding singer and lyricist Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill.
Kerr and Burchill had known each other since the age of eight and were longstanding allies. After joining Johnny & The Self-Abusers, they brought in two of their schoolfriends, Brian McGee on drums and Tony Donald on bass (all four had previously played together in the schoolboy band Biba-Rom!). With Milarky established as singer, guitarist and saxophonist, the lineup was completed by Milarky’s friend Alan McNeil as third guitarist. To expand the band's potential sound, Kerr and Burchill also doubled on keyboards and violin respectively. In common with the early punk bands, various members took on stage names - Milarky became “Johnnie Plague”, Kerr became “Pripton Weird”, McNeil chose “Sid Syphilis” and Burchill chose “Charlie Argue”.
Johnny & The Self-Abusers played their first gig on Easter Monday, 1977 at the Dourne Castle pub in Glasgow. They played support to rising punk stars Generation X in Edinburgh a scant two weeks later. The band went on to play a summer of concerts in Glasgow. Development was rapid, but at the expense of unity. The band soon split into two factions, with Milarky and McNeil on one side and Kerr, Donald, Burchill and McGee on the other: at the same time, Milarky’s compositions were being edged out in favour of those of Kerr and Burchill.
In November 1977, Johnny & The Self-Abusers released their only single, "Saints And Sinners", on Chiswick Records (which was labelled as “rank and vile” in a Melody Maker review.) The band split on the same day that the single was released, with Milarky and McNeil going on to form The Cuban Heels.
Ditching the stage names and punkiness, the remaining members continued together as Simple Minds (naming themselves after an Iggy Pop lyric from his song "Let's Play It Safe"). Kerr abandoned keyboards to concentrate entirely on vocals, and in January 1978 the band recruited Duncan Barnwell as a second guitarist. In March they were joined by the Barra-born keyboard player Michael MacNeil.
These are the early albums put out by the band, they were getting quite a reputation for being a good live act, I remember these albums being out at the time, much better than their commercial stuff, very new wave, like The Human League and Visage.
Life in a Day (1979) 1st studio album
Real to Real Cacophony (1979) 2nd studio album
Empires and Dance (1980) 3rd studio album
Sons and Fascination / Sister Feelings Call (1981) (2-LP/1-CD) 4th studio album
New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84) (1982) 5th studio album
Kerr and Burchill had known each other since the age of eight and were longstanding allies. After joining Johnny & The Self-Abusers, they brought in two of their schoolfriends, Brian McGee on drums and Tony Donald on bass (all four had previously played together in the schoolboy band Biba-Rom!). With Milarky established as singer, guitarist and saxophonist, the lineup was completed by Milarky’s friend Alan McNeil as third guitarist. To expand the band's potential sound, Kerr and Burchill also doubled on keyboards and violin respectively. In common with the early punk bands, various members took on stage names - Milarky became “Johnnie Plague”, Kerr became “Pripton Weird”, McNeil chose “Sid Syphilis” and Burchill chose “Charlie Argue”.
Johnny & The Self-Abusers played their first gig on Easter Monday, 1977 at the Dourne Castle pub in Glasgow. They played support to rising punk stars Generation X in Edinburgh a scant two weeks later. The band went on to play a summer of concerts in Glasgow. Development was rapid, but at the expense of unity. The band soon split into two factions, with Milarky and McNeil on one side and Kerr, Donald, Burchill and McGee on the other: at the same time, Milarky’s compositions were being edged out in favour of those of Kerr and Burchill.
In November 1977, Johnny & The Self-Abusers released their only single, "Saints And Sinners", on Chiswick Records (which was labelled as “rank and vile” in a Melody Maker review.) The band split on the same day that the single was released, with Milarky and McNeil going on to form The Cuban Heels.
Ditching the stage names and punkiness, the remaining members continued together as Simple Minds (naming themselves after an Iggy Pop lyric from his song "Let's Play It Safe"). Kerr abandoned keyboards to concentrate entirely on vocals, and in January 1978 the band recruited Duncan Barnwell as a second guitarist. In March they were joined by the Barra-born keyboard player Michael MacNeil.
These are the early albums put out by the band, they were getting quite a reputation for being a good live act, I remember these albums being out at the time, much better than their commercial stuff, very new wave, like The Human League and Visage.
Life in a Day (1979) 1st studio album
Real to Real Cacophony (1979) 2nd studio album
Empires and Dance (1980) 3rd studio album
Sons and Fascination / Sister Feelings Call (1981) (2-LP/1-CD) 4th studio album
New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84) (1982) 5th studio album