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Simply Red
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Miami Vice Performer
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Members (1985)
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Mick Hucknall (vocals)
Tony Bowers (bass) Fritz McIntyre (keyboards) Tim Killett (brass) Sylvan Richardson (guitar) Chris Joyce (drums) |
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Active
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1985-2010
2015-present |
Simply Red is an English pop band whose songs "Heaven" (in "Trust Fund Pirates" and "Viking Bikers from Hell"), "Picture Book" (from "The Good Collar"), and "Holding Back the Years" (from "By Hooker by Crook") of the series Miami Vice.
Career[]
The band was formed in 1985 out the remnants of a previous band, The Frantic Elevators. The band was originally named Red after their vocalist, Mick Hucknall's red hair, but due to a misunderstanding, their name became Simply Red. They recorded their debut album, Picture Book, featuring their #1 single, "Holding Back the Years" (which was previously recorded by The Frantic Elevators), as well as the songs "Heaven", "Money's Too Tight (to Mention)", and the title track. Their next two albums, 1987's Men and Women and 1989's A New Flame (featuring the band's final #1, a remake of the Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes classic "If You Don't Know By Now". Their US success dwindled away after that single, they released seven more albums since 1989 with little or no chart success. The band decided to break up after a farewell tour that began in 2009 and wrapped up with a concert in London in December, 2010. The band released their eighth album since 1989, Big Love, and then had a 30th anniversary European tour in 2015, with the lineup of Hucknall (vocals), Ian Kirkham (saxophone/keyboards), Dave Clayton (keyboards), Kenji Suzuki (guitar), Kevin Robinson (trumpet/flugelhorn/percussion), Steve Lewinson (bass guitar) and Roman Roth (drums). In 2016-2018 they had their 25th anniversary of their 1991 album Stars tour through Ireland and other locations in Europe. In 2019 their 12th studio album Blue Eyed Soul was released, the accompanying tour was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and was postponed to 2022-23. In 2023 their 13th studio album, Time, was released, with a change in their keyboardist from Clayton to Gary Sanctuary.