Surprised, happy Scots

Press, 28 October 1982, Page 14

Surprised, happy Scots

By

DAVID SWIFT

Simple Minds seemed surprised at the reception they got at their only two New Zealand concerts, in Auckland last week.

About 3500 people packed the Mainstreet cabaret for the Scottish band’s concerts. At a between-shows media “bash” at the RTC offices in Auckland, the keyboardist, Mick McNeill, was rather apologetic that Simple Minds could not have made a more extensive tour.

“I thought that the Canadian leg of our tour could have been put back a bit so we could have stayed here longer,” he said, in an accent impossible to convey by typewriter. He surmised that the New Zealand promoters could not have guessed that the group would be at a peak, saleswise, here for the shows.

The new single, “Glittering Prizes,” had just scorched into the top twenty, and “Promised You A Miracle” hadn’t left the top end of the ladder. To beat that; “New Gold Dream,” the new gold album, debuted at three in the album charts. Simple Minds were in a happy mood. “We got our first gold

albums ever in Australia last week. It was a real thrill,” said McNeill. “New Gold Dream” qualified for the award after only two weeks of sales there. The five were friendly with Icehouse, and toured each other’s countries. The groundwork made it easier for Simple Minds in Australia from then on. Until the “Empires and Dance” album in 1980, no critics gave a toss for Simple Minds. Did they have confidence in themselves? “We were sure that we would get somewhere. Although it was a lot harder for us because we weren’t a ska or a mod band when those things were in fashion,” said McNeill. Simple Minds have always toured a lot. Their emphasis is on their live show, and they are a different band out of the studio. Their sweat turned Mainstreet into a sauna, and songs that might be passed over on a record are hammered home in concert. “Playing should be special. That’s our main priority,” said McNeill. Knowing that they had performed well, and been appreciated, was their “ultimate,” so no wonder they clapped the audience

after the encores at the second Auckland concert. They escaped from Britain in 1979, going to Europe where they could be very popular without being ska or mod. Their journeys around that time were the basis for songs like. “I Travel.” “England was ignoring us, and the experience helped us as well. We did a tour there last year with Peter Gabriel. He’s grat — one of our main influences,” he said. That “live” consolidation was occurring continuously. Simple Minds now say that they would not like to be in the position of ABC or Haircut 100. “We’ve always been a live act. But those groups have had big hits then they risklosing their reputations by going out and playing badly,” said McNeill. He was critical of those in Britain who had swept Simple Minds aside because they had finally had hit the big time. “You can only be a cult for so long. We didn’t deliberately sit down and write hits,” he said. He felt that the new album was definitely Simple Minds’ best — “it’s got a lot of variety. Good pop songs and some heavier things.

"I hope we can get to the stage where we can write really great songs without being embarrassed. You can’t be embarrassed about anything musically.”

McNeill said that the band had a good relationship with Virgin Records, who signed them about 18 months ago and absolved the £130,000 debt from the three Arista albums, and tours.

There might be new recordings before they try the United States, for the fourth time, in February. Encouraged by the recent acclaim given to the Human League and Soft Cell there, Simple Minds feel they can “crack” that big, bland, musical wilderness this time. “I think we deserve to be where we are now. That it took so long to get there (acclaim) doesn’t matter,” he said.

The biggest disappointment for them on the tour so far has been the teenybopper element. Young girls screamed at them in Australia (shock, horror, etc.). A straight faced Mr McNeill — “I was a bit depressed about that. That’s not what we are aiming for.” So, don’t take them too lightly.