Simple Minds
The new memoir ‘Our Secrets Are The Same’ and ‘Once Upon A Time’ 40th Anniversary Editions are out now.
- 40 years ago today, Simple Minds released 'Sanctify Yourself' 🕊️ Listen to the 40th anniversary editions of Once Upon a Time - available on vinyl, CD, and digital: simpleminds.ffm.to/onceuponatim...
- This month in 1984, 'Speed Your Love To Me' was released as the second single from Sparkle in the Rain, with backing vocals provided by the brilliant Kirsty MacColl.
- “I wrote ‘Changeling’ on the guitar: a picking riff at the front, and a sequence heavily influenced by the Rolling Stones in the verses. That was almost a proper song, and it became quite popular in the incipient New Romantic clubs in London." - Charlie
- Released as the lone single from Real To Real Cacophony this month in 1980.
- SATELLITE OF LOVE: Forty-eight years ago today, on January 17, 1978, Simple Minds made their live debut at Glasgow’s Satellite City. Pic: Peter McArthur
- This month in 1995, Simple Minds released ‘She’s A River’ as the lead single from Good News from the Next World, reuniting with producer Keith Forsey for the first time since ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’.
- This week in 1978, Simple Minds took the stage for the very first time at Satellite City in Glasgow. If you still have ticket stubs or photos from those early days, share them and tag us for a chance to be featured on the band’s official channels 📸 Photos by Laurie Evans
- Thank you to each and every one of you for making this year one of the most successful in the band’s long history! - Simple Minds HQ
- Wishing a very happy birthday to the wonderful Cherisse Osei! Photo by Trent Barboza
- This month in 1985, Simple Minds’ two shows at The Ahoy in Rotterdam were recorded and filmed by The Tube, creating promotional concert footage for the forthcoming UK leg of the Once Upon A Time tour. #OnceUponATime40
- ‘Our Secrets Are The Same’, the joint memoir by Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill with Graeme Thomson, has been named a Rough Trade and Uncut Book of the Year 2025. Order your copy of #OurSecretsAreTheSame via the link below: www.simpleminds.com/our-secrets-...
- 40 years ago this month, Simple Minds continued their Once Upon a Time Tour across Europe, following the major commercial success of the album. Photos by Guido Harari #OnceUponATime40
- Ghost Dancing - Live at Rock Werchter, 2025. Released as the final single from 'Once Upon a Time' in November 1986, as the album tour drew to a close. #OnceUponATime40
- The last remaining Soundwaves Art prints created from the soundwaves of “Alive & Kicking” are being re-released this holiday season. www.soundwavesartfoundation.com/collections/simple-minds
- Each piece has been hand-signed by Jim, Charlie and Soundwaves artist Tim Wakefield, and all profits go to Nordoff Robbins, the UK’s largest independent music therapy charity, enriching the lives of people with life-limiting illnesses, disabilities and feelings of isolation.
- There are only a few signed artworks available, making this a great opportunity to give a meaningful gift while supporting a wonderful cause. www.soundwavesartfoundation.com/collections/simple-minds
- Visit the Simple Minds Official Shop via the link below for gift ideas this holiday season. store.simpleminds.com
- The official Simple Minds store Black Friday Sale is live, with 30% off selected items for a limited time. Shop now: store.simpleminds.com Sale ends Monday 1st December at 23:59pm GMT.
- Wishing a very happy birthday to Charlie Burchill today! Photo by @toddevision.bsky.social
- This month in 1979, Simple Minds released their second studio album, 'Real To Real Cacophony'.
- "We all started to think about it. Real To Real Cacophony was searching and trying not to be The Boomtown Rats. The Paul Morleys of this world began to come on board and see us as one of the cooler bands. It was an abstract album, to say the least." - Jim
- Coming Soon Join the Simple Minds mailing list to get early access to 30% off selected items in the official store: www.simpleminds.com/newsletter/
- Everything Is Possible, the critically acclaimed feature-length documentary telling the extraordinary story of Simple Minds, will air on BBC Two this Saturday, followed by a broadcast of the band’s 2016 concert at London’s Hackney Empire. Tune in at 10pm GMT or catch up on BBC iPlayer.
- "For some people, the world ends at the bottom of your street. For others, it begins there. For Charlie and me, it was always the latter." Watch Jim and Charlie's full interview with Virgin Radio UK here: bit.ly/VirginRadioO... #OurSecretsAreTheSame
- Charlie Burchill and Jim Kerr, photographed by Guido Harari 📸 This photo appears on the exclusive subscriber cover of the November issue of Classic Pop magazine and inside the #OnceUponATime40 5CD box set booklet. Available now: simpleminds.ffm.to/onceuponatim...
- Forty years ago this week, Simple Minds made their debut on Saturday Night Live, performing 'Alive and Kicking' and 'Sanctify Yourself'. They were introduced by Madonna, who was hosting the show for the very first time. #OnceUponATime40
- 'Our Secrets Are The Same' is a Rough Trade Book of the Year! Thanks to Rough Trade and congratulations to Jim, Charlie, and @graemethomson.bsky.social.
- Discover the full list of featured titles at blog.roughtrade.com, and order your copy of #OurSecretsAreTheSame via the link below: www.simpleminds.com/our-secrets-...
- The 40th Anniversary vinyl of Once Upon A Time is out now 🔴 simpleminds.ffm.to/onceuponatim... #OnceUponATime40
- From the streets of Toryglen to the same street in Taormina, Sicily. Watch Jim and Charlie talk about their new memoir 'Our Secrets Are The Same' on Virgin Radio UK. bit.ly/VirginRadioO... #OurSecretsAreTheSame
- The 40th Anniversary 5CD boxset of 'Once Upon A Time' is out now 💿 simpleminds.ffm.to/onceuponatim... #OnceUponATime40
- Bonus discs include original and extended versions of ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me),’ single edits, 12” mixes, B-sides, unreleased tracks, and the ‘Live in The City of Light’ concert. Plus a 36-page booklet featuring rare photos, interviews and a full track-by-track guide.
- Jim and Charlie joined Christine Lampard on Lorraine earlier this month to talk all about their new memoir 'Our Secrets Are The Same'. Watch the full interview: bit.ly/LorraineOSATS #OurSecretsAreTheSame
- "Producer Jimmy Iovine always felt that, apart from being a rock band, Simple Minds also posessed a soulfulness that demanded to be heard. Through this desire to explore another side of our creativity, Sanctify Yourself was written." - Jim simpleminds.ffm.to/onceuponatim... #OnceUponATime40
- The 40th Anniversary Editions of ‘Once Upon A Time’ are available now on Limited Edition Ruby Red Vinyl and a 5CD Box Set including B-sides, rarities, extended mixes and the ‘Live In The City Of Light’ concert. simpleminds.ffm.to/onceuponatim... #OnceUponATime40
- A very limited number of last-minute tickets have just been released for Jim & Charlie’s special In Conversation show at Glasgow Citizens Theatre this Sunday 19 October. citz.co.uk/whats-on/sim...
- Part 2 of the #OurSecretsAreTheSame official playlist is now live on Spotify. Curated by co-author @graemethomson.bsky.social, this second half of the playlist features key Simple Minds songs explored throughout the book. Listen here: sptfy.in/z6bt
- #OnceUponATime40 arrives this Friday! Pre-order: simpleminds.lnk.to/OUAT
- To celebrate the release of 'Our Secrets Are The Same', co-author @graemethomson.bsky.social has curated a two-part official playlist to guide readers through the book. Listen here: sptfy.in/z6bt #OurSecretsAreTheSame
- Part 1 explores the music that shaped Simple Minds, featuring tracks by everyone from The Tornados and T Rex to Kraftwerk and Van der Graaf Generator. Part 2, featuring key Simple Minds songs explored throughout the book, will follow soon.
- 'Our Secrets Are The Same’, by Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill with Graeme Thomson, is published today. Thanks to everyone who has already picked up a copy! Available now in hardback and e-book at the link below: www.simpleminds.com/our-secrets-... #OurSecretsAreTheSame
- 40 years ago this week, Simple Minds released 'Alive and Kicking'. Pre-order the anniversary editions of 'Once Upon A Time' here: simpleminds.lnk.to/OUAT #OnceUponATime40
- Our Secrets Are The Same’, the long-awaited joint memoir from Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill, arrives this week! The first chapter will be shared exclusively with the Simple Minds mailing list very soon. Sign up now to receive it when it’s released: www.simpleminds.com/newsletter/
- Jim and Charlie will celebrate the publication of their joint memoir 'Our Secrets Are The Same' with two special events in Scotland next month. Tickets are on sale now: Glasgow: bit.ly/GlasgowOSATS Edinburgh: bit.ly/EdinburghOSATS #OurSecretsAreTheSame
- Our Secrets Are The Same - Everything in Its Right Place “Very early on, somebody takes a photograph of Simple Minds playing at the Mars Bar. I focus in on Charlie. Everything is in the right place. The collar up. The star badge. The Flying V. The face. The hair.
- All angles. Everything in its right place. There is real precision there. Real artistry. He looks special. Because he is. Of all the local bands I had seen, there was nobody like Charlie. The Carlsbro amp, the pedals, the echoes and reverbs. He even plays the bloody violin.
- I look at the photo and think: Man, he’s something. I look at the photo and think: Well, HE’S got a career.” - Jim Kerr Pre-order: www.simpleminds.com/our-secrets-... #OurSecretsAreTheSame
- Our Secrets Are The Same - We Travel “By the time Jim and I had started the band – or perhaps more accurately, by the time we were thinking of ourselves as a band – our sensibility was almost completely European.
- It was krautrock. Kraftwerk. Anything colourful and avant-garde. Certainly not Americana. That aesthetic was forged on our hitchhiking trip: travelling into Italy at midnight, visiting historic, mysterious places we’d only heard about. Beauty. Brutalism.
- We saw it, we smelled it, we lived it — and it left a huge impression. It all came through on the early Simple Minds records. Those trips were somehow translated into the music we ended up making.” - Charlie Burchill Pre-order: www.simpleminds.com/our-secrets-... #OurSecretsAreTheSame
