Simple Minds, the Scottish legends who brought us the tune we all raise our fists to, have given us an exclusive insight into the haphazard creative process behind the iconic track Don’t You (Forget About Me).
“Nah, we write our own songs” lead singer Jim Kerr told their manager, Bruce Findlay, upon hearing the about offer to play for movie’s soundtrack. “I couldn’t give a toss about teenage American school kids”.
When those iconic power chords and sliding, passionate vocals play through the credits of The Breakfast Club, it’s hard for anyone to imagine the band were initially less than enthusiastic about recording with the songwriter Keith Forsey.
Charlie Burchill, the guitarist of Simple Minds, explains how the band had just finished Sparkle In The Rain, their “most bombastic album” yet, and thought Forsey’s proposition didn’t suit them.
But after some charming and some words of wisdom from Kerr’s wife Chrissie, the band agreed to give it some studio time.
The famous ending “la-la-las” were riffs improvised by Kerr, and when the singer suggested he change it, Keith replied “over my dead body.” Those were the lines that bonded the two creatives, and put our favourite misfit narrative to a close.
The Breakfast Club came out three months after the song was produced, and Don’t You (Forget About Me) hit American No. 1 a week later.
Kerr recalls a time, eight years before they hit it big, where he had to ask his “brickie labourer” father for £100 to get the band off the ground. By 1985, the unsuspecting Glaswegians were playing stadiums, “although he [his father] never got the £100 back”
Today, Don’t You (Forget About Me) is still as relevant as ever, inspiring a modern day ‘Brat Pack’ movement fuelled by 80s nostalgia. We don’t even want to think of a world in which the band said no to Foley’s offer, and our favourite 80s anthem was never made.
In true John Bender fashion, we raise our fists in the air as Simple Minds plays on.
Via The Guardian.
