Simply Red

Simply Red was a British soul band that sold more than 50 million albums over a 25-year career. Their style drew influences from blue-eyed soul, New Romantic, rock, reggae and jazz. Since their early days the main driving force behind the band was singer Mick Hucknall, who by the time the band broke up in 2010 was the only original member left.

Simply Red originated from the 1976 Sex Pistols gig. Mick Hucknall was one of the many young music fans present, along with Mark E. Smith of The Fall as well as Joy Division, The Smiths and Buzzcocks. The first incarnation of the band was a punk group called The Frantic Elevators, which existed for 7 years, with limited releases on local labels. They split in 1984 with only limited local attention and critical acclaim for their final single, "Holding Back the Years".

In early 1985, Hucknall assembled a band of local session musicians, and the group adopted the name Red. The name Simply Red came about when the manager of a local venue was confused about the band's name and Hucknall replied that the band's name was "Red, simply Red."

The initial Simply Red line-up consisted of Mick Hucknall, guitarist David Fryman, bassist Tony Bowers, keyboardist Fritz McIntyre, brass player Tim Kellett, and drummer Chris Joyce. They released "Red Box" as the group's first single, but as a B-side. The A-side of the band's first single was "Money's Too Tight (To Mention)". This single had big international success, reaching the UK and Irish Top 20, later the American, French and Dutch Top 30, and the Italian Top 5. Their debut album, Picture Book, was also released in 1985.

"Holding Back the Years" was re-released 1986, "Holding Back The Years" and became a major hit, peaking at #1 in Ireland, #2 in Great Britain, #3 in the Netherlands, #20 in Italy and later #1 in the United States. The song established Simply Red as a household name.

Simply Red's second album, Men and Women, was released in 1987 and featured a blue-eyed soul sound with funk influences. The album's lead single "The Right Thing" was another international hit, charting in the top 40 throughout Europe and North America. Several follow-up singles also met with modest success in the UK and elsewhere.

Their third album, A New Flame, was released in 1989 and the band adopted a more mainstream populist sound aimed for commercial success. Their cover of Harold Melvin's pop classic "If You Don't Know Me By Now" became their second U.S. #1 hit, and one of the biggest singles of the year internationally.

The band's career peaked in late 1991 with the release of Stars, which became the best-selling album for two years running in Europe and the UK. The album spun off five top 40 singles in the UK, and the singles "Something Got Me Started" and "Stars" were also significant chart hits throughout all of Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.

Simply Red returned in 1995 with "Fairground", a dance-influenced track which went on to become the band's first and only British #1. Its parent album Life sold more than a million copies in the UK alone, making it the fourth-biggest seller of the year.

From 1996 forward, Simply Red was essentially a trade name for Hucknall and a bevy of session musicians, which would vary from track to track as needed. The group issued the compilation album Greatest Hits in 1996, and featured one new track, a cover of the 1973 Aretha Franklin hit "Angel". In 1998, the cover-heavy Blue was released, which spun off four UK top 40 singles, including the top 10 hits "Say You Love Me" and "The Air That I Breathe". The follow-up album was 1999's Love and the Russian Winter.

The band released Home in 2003 which was a mixture of original songs and covers, including a version of The Stylistics song "You Make Me Feel Brand New". The album went Double Platinum in the United Kingdom, Gold in Canada, and Platinum in Europe.

Simplified followed in 2005, mainly an album of stripped down versions of their classic hits. The single "Perfect Love" made it to number 30 on the UK charts, the band's final top 30 placing.

The band's tenth and final studio album Stay was released in March 2007. This was preceded by the single "So Not Over You" which would peak at #34 UK. Follow-up single "Stay" peaked at #36 UK, and was the band's final placing in the UK top 100.

Hucknall released his first solo album, Tribute to Bobby in May 2008. He announced that the band were due to split in 2010, after a farewell tour, starting in early 2009, ending in 2010.