– Simple Minds – In Concert At Pinkpop Festival – May 23, 1983 – VPRO, Hilversum
Starting up the week on an 80s note with a concert by New Wave sensations Simple Minds, in concert at Holland‘s Pinkpop Festival in 1983.
Becoming an almost instant household name in the U.S., by way of inclusion in John Hughes’ landmark teen-angst film The Breakfast Club, Simple Minds went on to record a string of hits. And even though they’ve undergone a massive number of personnel changes over the years, they are still together and experiencing something of a renaissance since 2010.
On 21 October 2022 the band released their studio album Direction of the Heart via BMG. The very same day, they released the lead single “Vision Thing” for free. COVID-19 quarantine restrictions prevented Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill, who both resided in Sicily, from traveling to the UK, so the new album had been recorded in Hamburg, with most tracks written, created and demoed in Sicily. On 9 July 2022, Simple Minds released a lyric video for “Vision Thing” on YouTube. A fourth single from the album, “Solstice Kiss”, released in October 2023, became a hit in the UK, reaching No. 2 on the UK Vinyl Singles Chart and entering the Top 40 on the UK Singles Chart for one week at No. 31. Former member John Giblin died on 14 May 2023.
On 27 October 2023, Simple Minds released the live album New Gold Dream – Live From Paisley Abbey, a recording of the one-off performance of their 1982 album New Gold Dream for Sky TV’s Greatest Albums Live series, held at Paisley Abbey.[99] On 29 December 2023, Charlie Burchill announced that Erik Ljunggren would be joining the group on keyboards for the band’s 2024 tour.
This morning it’s a set from their meteoric rise period at the legendary Pinkpop Festival, recorded by the venerable VPRO and broadcast over 3VOOR12.
