Biography. Biography Year of founding of the group simply red

The impetus for creating his own band for Mick Hucknall, a young singer from Denton, Lancashire, was a visit to the legendary Sex Pistols performance in Manchester in 1976. There were very few people at that concert, but almost all the visitors were future members of such famous bands as Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths and Buzzcocks. Hucknall's first band was called The Frantic Elevators and played punk rock. The team achieved modest success, failed to achieve anything more, and the group broke up in 1984.

However, after the collapse of The Frantic Elevators, Hucknall began working with manager Elliot Rushnell. Together with him, they assembled a group of local session musicians and began to look for a record company in order to sign a contract. It was then that the name Simply Red was assigned to the group. In 1985, the group signed a contract with Electra, at that time the group included 5 more musicians in addition to Hucknall, but the composition of Simply Red was constantly changing in the future. The group's first release was the single "Money's Too Tight (To Mention)". It was a cover of a soul standard originally recorded by The Valentine Brothers. The single had some success - it entered the UK chart, Top 100 in the USA and France and Top 5 in Italy.

In 1986, the band rewrote The Frantic Elevators' last single, "Holding Back the Years", making the sound more pop-oriented, and released the song as their second single. The new work turned out to be even more successful - in Italy it reached 5th place in the hit parade, in the UK - to 2nd, and in the USA it took first place. That's why my first album Picture Book Simply Red was released when they were already very popular artists.

Work on the second album did not last long - Men and Women came out the following year, 1987. On the new record, the group changed its image a little - instead of colorful clothes, strict suits and bowler hats appeared. Around the same time, Mick Hucknall became a favorite among various tabloids, gaining a reputation as a woman-lover who could sometimes throw a strong word into his speech. Men and Women enjoyed great success, but the moment of greatest success came to Simply Red a little later - it was a cover version of the song “If You Don’t Know Me By Now,” released in 1989 and becoming the group’s most popular hit. Based on the success of this song, a new album A New Flame was in great demand. By that time, Hucknall was already a generally recognized international star, his photographs in the company of models and Hollywood celebrities regularly appeared in glossy magazines. This behavior of the leader led to problems within the group, moreover, in a 1991 interview, Hucknall stated that Simply Red was “essentially a solo project.”

1990s

In 1991, Simply Red released another album Stars. As many as three songs from this album: “Something’s Got Me Started”, “Stars” and “For Your Babies” - gained popularity among the people, and the album itself is still considered by Hucknall to be the pinnacle of Simply Red’s creative and commercial success. In total, the record sold about eight million copies, and Stars as a result, it became the best-selling album of the year in the UK. The group toured actively for two years after the release of this disc, and after the end of the tour they decided to take a break from studio activities.

The group's next new work, the single "Fairground", appeared only in 1995. With this song, Simply Red decided to experiment with a more danceable sound. Album Life, which included "Fairground", was released the same year and reached number one in the British charts, although critics were reserved, arguing that Simply Red did not say anything new with this album. Critics reacted in much the same way to the next album. Blue, which was born three years later. It was originally supposed to be an album of cover versions, but Hucknall changed his mind and only four covers remained on the album. Realizing that critics suspected the group of ideological stagnation, Simply Red decided to change their sound, and the result of these manipulations was the album Love and the Russian Winter, released in 1999. The influence of electronic dance music on this record became much more noticeable, but the general slow decline of the band's career led to the fact that the album failed to rise above number five in the British charts.

The group's next release was a collection of singles It's Only Love. Shortly thereafter, Hucknall ended his contract with the Elektra label and founded his own record label, called Simplyred.com.

2000s

The first release of the new label was the album Home, released in 2003 and reached number two in the British charts; the video for the song of the same name was rotated on Russian music channels. The band's next step was to re-record their old songs in acoustic arrangements. The result was a record Simplified, which also included the new song “Perfect Love”. The disc was released in March 2007 Stay, which contained such catchy tunes as “Stay,” “Oh!” What A Girl" and "Money TV", in which the lead singer condemned modern culture's focus on material gain. In 2009, the band embarked on what Hucknall described as their last tour. He said that 25 years is a considerable period of time, and the album Stay he wanted to complete the Simply Red story. A collection was published in 2009 25: The Greatest Hits, which presented the best songs created by the group, and a year later another compilation was released Songs Of Love.

In 2015, the group announced their reunion.

Simply Red, a blue-eyed soul band with a dash of new romanticism, rock, reggae and jazz, emerged on the Manchester scene in the post-punk era, but within 12 months of launching they had seriously established themselves on the UK charts. The ideologist, frontman and generally the main character of the team turned out to be former punk Mick Hucknall (b. June 8, 1960), whose red hair gave it its name. In 1984, Mick, with the help of manager Elliot Rushman, assembled the first version of "Simply Red", consisting of bassist Tony Bowers, drummer Chris Joyce, guitarist Dave Fryman, keyboardist Fritz McIntyre, and horn player Tim Kellett. While filling nearby clubs, the band quickly attracted the attention of majors who were looking for young talents, and six months later they pocketed a contract from the American company Elektra Records. Under the leadership of overseas producer Stuart Levin, the team headed to the studio, but before they had time to record a couple of tracks, a personnel issue came up on the agenda, and Sylvain Richardson found himself in Dave’s place.

The debut album "Picture Book" entered the second line of the British charts for at least two reasons - because of the highest-grossing "red" single "Money's Too Tight (To Mention)" with a cover of "Valentine Brothers" and because American chart topper "Holding Back The Years", composed by Mick himself. Although the next full-length "Men And Women" was recorded with the same line-up (not counting a couple of new session players), the songwriting team turned out to be different, and Hucknall was helped by the famous Motown worker Lamont Dozier (plus one piece was taken from Cole Porter and two more from such reggae artists as Bunny Wailer and Sylvester Stewart).

Thanks to four chart singles, the album also settled on the second step, and “Simply Red” seriously tightened the touring schedule. However, this was not the limit of the group’s success, and recorded with a new guitarist, Brazilian Heitor “T.P.” Pereira's disc "A New Flame" with the highlight of the program in the form of a cover of the soul classic "If You Don"t Know Me By Now" became the leader of the British rating. With a total circulation of the album of 7 million copies, the ensemble finally said goodbye to small clubs and began to travel around stadium venues, attracting up to 60,000 spectators (as happened in Sao Paulo).From October 1988 to March 1990, Simply Red played 140 concerts, and only after that Mick took his team into the studio. This time Hucknall was personally responsible for the entire track list, and McIntyre became a co-author only on a couple of songs. “Stars” was produced by Levin, who returned to the “redheads” back in the “A New Flame” sessions, but two new players appeared on the staff, bassist Sean Ward and percussionist Gotha.

Three songs from the album reached the Top 20, and the long play itself sold well and retained the British top spot. And although America reacted to "Stars" with coolness, this disc turned out to be the highest-grossing release for the group (12,000,000 copies). Having consolidated their triumph by selling over one and a half million tickets during the accompanying tour, Simply Red took a short time out, ending in 1995 with a return to the top of the charts with the album Life. Ward and Kellett no longer participated in the recording of the record, but several reggae stars visited the “redheads,” which is why the work acquired an appropriate color.

"Life" gave the band the long-awaited home single chart topper "Fairground", and the song "We"re In This Together" became the official anthem of the European football championship. If newcomers bassist Steve Levinson and vocalist Sarah Brown went on a promotional tour, then for the next album Hucknall completely refreshed the line-up. It is interesting that the change of personnel did not at all affect commercial success, and with “Blue” the “redheads” for the fifth time in a row (taking into account the collection “Greatest Hits”) climbed to the podium. When the team’s fruitful collaboration with “EastWest Reocrds” (which began in 1991) came to an end, the popularity of "Simply Red" also began to decline, and the overly computerized album "Love And The Russian Winter", although it had a couple of singles that failed to chart, ended up at number six. Left without a major contract, Hucknall Together with his managers, he designed the business model “simlyred.com” and began conducting business for his team via the Internet.

The first independent shot turned out to be quite successful - the disc "Home" took second place and added another platinum to the group's collection. The self-organized world tour was also successful, and Mick decided to take his project (which at that time included 11 people) to unknown frontiers. On his initiative, the non-electric album "Simplified" was recorded in 2005, in which Hucknall and company showed an interest in Latin music. In England, the disc entered the top three, but after a couple of years the “redheads” returned to a more familiar style, going down only one step from “Stay”. After the tenth album, Mick transferred “Simply Red” to concert mode, and in 2009 announced a farewell tour.

Last update 03/21/14

First, the group performed in the usual role of a warm-up group for newcomers before Bobby Brown's performance during his English tour. The band's music style was rooted in traditional blues, jazz and soul. In 1985, the group signed a contract with Elektra Records and released their debut album, Picture Book, on this label.

The disc included "Money's Too Tight (To Mention)," a Top 40 cover of the 1982 Valentine Brothers song, as well as Hucknall's own "Holding Back the Years," which topped the American charts.

Simply red Released as a single, this song helped the album achieve platinum status. As a result, in 1986 "Simply Red" rode on the crest of success. In 1987, Hucknall, with the help of soul composer Lamont Dozier, wrote material for the group's second album. "Men and Women", released in March of this year, was already less popular, although the accompanying single "The Right Thing" made it into the US Top 40, and the songs "Infidelity" and Col Porter's cover of "Time We Say Goodbye" ended up in the top 40 in England. In 1987, Richardson left the team, whose place was taken by guitarist Aziz Ibrahim, who in turn was replaced by the Brazilian Heitor T.P. The third album, A New Flame, went gold mainly due to the cover version of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes' 1972 "If You Don't Know Me By Now" and the song's single, which also went gold. , visited the top lines of the US charts.

In England, at the same time, the singles "It's Only Love" and "A New Flame" entered the Top 40. By the time of the release of the fourth album, "Stars", released in September 1991, Bowers and Joyce.

Simply redNow the lineup includes new musicians: bassist Shaun Ward, drummer Gotha and saxophonist Ian Kirkham. In Europe, and especially in England, "Stars" was in great demand, topping the British charts for 19 weeks. The title track from this disc, as well as "For your babies", entered the top ten, and three more - "Something Got Me Started", "Thrill Me" and "Your Mirror" - made it into the Top 40. The album did not receive such recognition in America recognition, although the singles "Something Got Me Started" and "Stars" were certified gold. In total, about 10 million copies of this record were sold worldwide. After the release of the album "Life" in 1995, Ward and Gotha left the group, and backing vocalist Dee Johnson was added to the lineup. "Life", as well as its accompanying single, "Fairground", topped the European charts.

In the states, the EP also stayed on the charts for three months, although the album itself was much less successful. Approximately the same fate befell the following releases, “Blue” and “Love and the Russian Winter”.

The English group was created in 1984. It consisted of vocalist and songwriter Mick "Red" Hucknell (b. June 8, 1960, Manchester, England), keyboardist Fritz McIntyre (September 2, 1956, Birmingham, England), bassist Sean Ward, guitarist Sylvan Richardson , as well as three former members of the team - bassist Tony Bowers (b. October 31, 1952), drummer Chris Joyce (b. October 11, 1957, Manchester) and Tim Kellett (b. July 23, 1964, Knaresborough, England; keyboards, winds). The name of the group, of course, was given by Mick’s famous red hair color. The band first performed in their usual role as a pre-show warm-up band for newcomers during his English tour. The band's music style was rooted in traditional blues, jazz and soul. In 1985, the group signed a contract with Elektra Records and released their debut album on this label.

The disc included a cover of The Valentine Brothers' 1982 Top 40 song, as well as a composition by Hucknall himself, which topped the American charts.

Released as a single, this song helped the album achieve platinum status. As a result, in 1986 they glided on the crest of success. In 1987, Hucknall, with the help of soul composer Lamont Dozier, wrote material for the group's second album. Released in March of this year, it was already less popular, although the accompanying single made it into the US Top 40, and the songs and cover ended up in the best English top forty. In 1987, Richardson left the team, whose place was taken by guitarist Aziz Ibrahim, who in turn was replaced by the Brazilian Heitor T.P. The third album went gold mainly due to the 1972 Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes cover. The single with this song, which also received gold status, was on the top lines of the US charts.

In England at the same time, the singles and... By the time of the fourth album, released in September 1991, Bowers and Joyce had left.

Now the lineup includes new musicians: bassist Shaun Ward, drummer Gota and saxophonist Ian Kirkham. In Europe, and especially in England, it was in great demand, topping the British charts for 19 weeks. The title track from this disc also entered the top ten, and three more - , and - hit the Top 40.

In America, the album did not receive such recognition, although the singles were certified gold. In total, about 10 million copies of this record were sold worldwide. After the album's release in 1995, Ward and Gotha left the band, and backing vocalist Dee Johnson was added to the lineup. , as well as its accompanying single, topped the European charts.

In the states, the EP also stayed on the charts for three months, although the album itself was much less successful. Approximately the same fate befell the following releases, etc.

The English group was created in 1984. It consisted of vocalist and songwriter Mick "Red" Hucknell (b. June 8, 1960, Manchester, England), keyboardist Fritz McIntyre (September 2, 1956, Birmingham, England), bassist Sean Ward, guitarist Sylvan Richardson , as well as three former members of The Durutti Column - bassist Tony Bowers (b. October 31, 1952), drummer Chris Joyce (b. October 11, 1957, Manchester) and Tim Kellett (b. July 23, 1964, Knaresborough, England; keyboards, winds). The name of the group, of course, was given by Mick’s famous red hair color. First, the group performed in the usual role of a warm-up group for newcomers before Bobby Brown's performance during his English tour. The band's music style was rooted in traditional blues, jazz and soul. In 1985, the group signed a contract with Elektra Records and released their debut album on this label.

The disc included a cover of The Valentine Brothers' 1982 Top 40 song, as well as a composition by Hucknall himself, which topped the American charts.

Released as a single, this song helped the album achieve platinum status. As a result, in 1986 they glided on the crest of success. In 1987, Hucknall, with the help of soul composer Lamont Dozier, wrote material for the group's second album. Released in March of this year, it was already less popular, although the accompanying single made it into the US Top 40, and the songs and Cole Porter's cover ended up in the best English top forty. In 1987, Richardson left the team, whose place was taken by guitarist Aziz Ibrahim, who in turn was replaced by the Brazilian Heitor T.P. The third album went gold mainly due to the 1972 Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes cover. The single with this song, which also received gold status, was on the top lines of the US charts.

In England at the same time, the singles and... By the time of the fourth album, released in September 1991, Bowers and Joyce had left.

In the states, the EP also stayed on the charts for three months, although the album itself was much less successful. Approximately the same fate befell the following releases, etc.