Simple Minds - Introduction & Roots

Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band that achieved worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The roots of Simple Minds were in the punk band Johnny & The Self-Abusers, dreamed up by would-be Glasgow scenemaker Alan Cairnduff in 1977. At Cairnduff’s suggestion, Milarky teamed up with two musicians he’d never worked with before - budding singer and lyricist Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill. Kerr and Burchill, who had known each other since the age of eight, were longstanding allies. After joining Johnny & The Self-Abusers, they brought in two of their school friends, Brian McGee on drums and Tony Donald on bass. With Milarky established as singer, guitarist and saxophonist, the lineup was completed by Milarky’s friend Alan McNeil as third guitarist. To expand the band's potential sound, Kerr and Burchill also doubled on keyboards and violin respectively.

Johnny & The Self-Abusers played its first gig on Easter Monday, 1977 at the Dourne Castle pub in Glasgow. The band played support to rising punk stars Generation X in Edinburgh a scant two weeks later. The band soon split into two factions, with Milarky and McNeil on one side and Kerr, Donald, Burchill and McGee on the other. In November 1977, Johnny & The Self-Abusers released its only single, "Saints And Sinners", on Chiswick Records (which was labelled “rank and file” in a Melody Maker review.) The band split on the same day that the single was released, with Milarky and McNeil going on to form The Cuban Heels. Ditching the stage names and the overt punkiness, the remaining members continued together as Simple Minds.

Simple Minds Tickets are available at Sold Out Ticket Market