Chris Joyce
Simply Red
Simply Red are one of Britain’s most popular soul bands, with over 50 million records sold worldwide and 8 platinum albums Simply Red have been a staple of the pop music scene for close to 25 years. Led by the soulful crooning of Manchester’s very own Mick Hucknall, Simply Red have amassed ten top 6 LP’s in the UK alone. Simply Red, are best known for their British interpretation of American soul music of the Stax, Philadelphia soul, Motown era of the 60’s and 70’s, a period in music which has been influential in shaping black music history.
The incipient of Simply Red was inspired by the now infamous Sex Pistols gig in the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester, which was reportedly attended by some of Manchester's most notorious bands including: Joy Division, Buzzcocks and The Smiths. As a result, Simply Red began as a punk band, a phase that would be short lived. By 1985, the band had reformed as a soul band, the original line up consisted of, Mick Hucknall (vocals), Tim Kellett (brass), Tony Bowers (bass), Chris Joyce (Drums) and Sylvan Richardson (Guitar).
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Within the year the band, led by Mick Hucknall had signed a deal with Elektra records. The ‘Picture book’ album went to number two in the charts backed up by the singles 'Money’s Too Tight (To Mention)' and 'Holding Back the Years'. The period between 1989 and 1991 was the peak of simply red’s commercial success with the album’s ‘A New Flame’ (1989) and ‘Stars’ (1991). A New Flame produced a US no 1 with the song ‘If you don’t know me by now’ and also contained songwriting from the legendary Motown legend Lamont Dozier. ‘Stars’ produced multiple hits with ‘Stars’, ‘Something got me started’ and ‘Your mirror’ the album went twelve times platinum in the UK.
Simply Red announced they would disband after there 2009 tour, which will mark the 25th anniversary of the band since the bands inception. Simply Red continued to have hits all the way up until 2007 and have had a glittering career that any mainstream artist would be proud of, Simply Red's credentials were stamped when soul legend Ronald Isley covered "Holding Back the Years" (1996) proving that Hucknall's songwriting skills are well respected within the soul music world and it's this kind of compliment that ultimately will set Simply Red apart from rest.
Segun Murray Ogunsheye
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