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‘Nobody owes us anything, but the Simple Minds story has been too condensed. After Live Aid and ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’ there hasn’t been quite the credit for those first few records. I think they contain some really special music. I can hear the flaws but there’s something about the spirit and imagination in them that feels good. They draw from such a wide range of influences … but the spirit of it was always Simple Minds.’ Jim Kerr, to the author
An illuminating new biography of one of Britain’s biggest and most influential bands, written with the full input and cooperation of Simple Minds, shedding new light on their dazzling art-rock legacy.
Themes for Great Cities features in-depth new interviews with original band members Jim Kerr, Charlie Burchill, Mick MacNeil and Derek Forbes, alongside key figures from within their creative community and high-profile fans such as Bobby Gillespie, James Dean Bradfield and Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite. The book reclaims and revivifies the magnificence of Simple Minds’ pioneering early albums, from the glitchy Euro-ambience of Real to Real Cacophony and Empires and Dance to the pulsing, agitated romance of Sons and Fascination, New Gold Dream and beyond.
Emerging in 1978 from Glasgow’s post-punk scene, Simple Minds transitioned from restless art-rock to electro futurism, mutated into passionate pop contenders and, finally, a global rock behemoth. They have sold in the region of 60 million records and remain a worldwide phenomenon. The drama of their tale lies in these transformations and triumphs, conflicts and contradictions.
Themes for Great Cities tells the inside story of a band becoming a band. Inspiring, insightful and enlightening, it celebrates the trailblazing music of one of Britain’s greatest groups.
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Simple Minds formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have sold in the region of 60m records and are recognised globally. For a group of their stature, success and longevity, the lack of an in-depth, critically authoritative biography is an anomaly. Simple Minds began as a post-punk band, transitioned into restless art-rock and electro pioneers, became a stadium rock behemoth – and travelled on, always searching. Much of the drama of their story and their music lies in those transformations and their triumphs, conflicts and contradictions. From its title, approach and overall aesthetic to the granular detail of its contents, ‘Themes For Great Cities’ will be weighted in favour of the period when the most significant of these transformations occurred, the era between 1977 and 1989.
| Weight | 0.648 kg |
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| Dimensions | 23.8 × 16 × 4 cm |
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| Cover | Hardback |
| Pages | 368 |
| Language | English |
| Edition | |
| Dewey | 782.421660922 (edition:23) |
| Readership | General – Trade / Code: K |
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