The Ugly American Werewolf in London Rock Podcast
On UAWIL, we regularly talk about albums and bands that are big on one side of the Atlantic but for some reason never have great success on the other side of the pond. One glaring example is Simple Minds who have dozens of hits and many gold & platinum albums in the UK, Europe and around the world but never had huge success in the US. Most US fans know Don't You Forget About Me from The Breakfast Club soundtrack as it went to #1 in the US in early 1985. But because that song wasn't on a Simple Minds album until the 90s and because prior to that they received little to no airplay in the US, many fans see them as a one hit wonder and don't realize the extraordinary career Simple Minds have had with over 60 million records sold worldwide.
As it turns 40 on February 6, 1984, Sparkle in the Rain was a bit of a transition from the techno pop band of New Gold Dream 81/82/83/84 to a band that were going places. Simple MInds were playing bigger venues, becoming friendly (and competitive) with U2 and wanted to make a bigger sound. They enlisted Steve Lillywhite (after he produced U2's War) to lead them to more radio-friendly, stadium enhancing tunes. In the end, it's a bit of a mixed bag with takes on fame (Up On The Catwalk), war (East at Easter), rebellion (The Kick Inside of Me) and UK chart climbers like Waterfront and Speed Your Love to Me. Vocalist Jim Kerr delivers an amazing performance but sometimes the lyrics are a bit opaque. Charlie Burchill is a brilliant guitarist but you can't always make out what he's doing as Mick MacNeil's keyboards play a prominent role. The addition of Mel Gaynor from London gave them a big boost and the album hit #1 in New Zealand and the UK where it went platinum. But still, the US had limited knowledge of the band until the Breakfast Club hit a year later. So we go track x track to try to understand why the US didn't pick up on this one and if that had something to do with why they never became huge there like they did in Europe.
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