Virgin Records issued 4 Simple Minds Box sets Volumes in 1990, each one containing 5 picture discs or ‘Themes’. These Box sets document Simple Mind’s music/sound in (nearly) chronological order from 1979 to 1990 by reissuing their early 12″ vinyls on CD for the first time.
Forget the comments found in certain rock-magazines: they are not a best of, nor a purely commercial rip-off. As mentioned on the Boxes themselves, they are an official collection of existing (vinyl) twelve inch singles, be it executed in original, aesthetically fashion (crucifix-shaped boxes).
Subsequently 19 of these individual Themes were individually sold as 5″ Theme-CD-singles, be it not as picture discs. Theme 20 – from Volume 4 – was taken from the live video Verona and never released separately. These individual CD-singles ought to be the official replica’s of the Themes from the Box sets, yet a few (significant) differences do emerge.
In 2009 the 4 original Volumes were re-released, together with a new 5th one.
In groups of 2 Themes at a time, we will review each song individually.
Volume 3 – Theme 11 – Alive & Kicking
Track listing:
1. Alive & Kicking [album version, 5:28]
2. Alive & Kicking [instrumental - extended, 06:08]
3. Up On The Catwalk [live - Glasgow Barrowlands 05/01/85, 5'49]
Alive & Kicking still impresses, merely due to its magnificent, ultra-recognizable adagio intro. This Elvis name-borrowing was without doubt a justifiable single-choice after and a great following-up to the commercially Bonus Eventus Maximus of Don’t You. Forget the horrible video with blown-up-faced James ‘Just a minute joh. I want to ask you something. I want you to spell something for me Jim. Can you do that?‘ Kerr and stick with the aural beauty. The extended instrumental opens with an a capella bonus, while the live-version of Catwalk is pretty impressive: well recorded, well sung, well done.
Barrowlands, situated in Glasgow’s old market district the Barras, once hosted the pop-package shows of the ’60s, but had lain derelict for years. It was still tainted locally by memories of the notorious rapist and strangler Bible John (he picked up his victims at the dancehall and recited from the Bible while murdering them). Simple Minds’s appearance in 1985 inaugurated a new era for Barrowlands as a regular venue for touring bands.
Volume 3 – Theme 12 – Sanctify Yourself
Track listing:
1. Sanctify Yourself [extended, 7:15]
2. Sanctify Yourself [dub remix, 6;12]
3. Love Song [live - Rotterdam Ahoy 3 December 1985, 5:42]
4. Street Hassle [live - Rotterdam Ahoy 3 December 1985, 7:24]
Sanctify Yourself cried out for an extended release and here it is. Burchill still subtle, Kerr in top-form. Yummy end-result. 40% more song than the original. To be played very loud. Discover the different layers. Work to be done. Pleasure doesn’t always come by itself. Again: play it loud. On a personal level: we nearly made it to the live video recording of Sanctify (Brussels, 1985). Queuing for 3 hours. Nothing happened. Convinced it was not going to happen, we left the scene for a beer. And missed out completely. Our claim for fame up in smoke & Stella. Don’t forget: LOUD.
Sanctify, the instru-dub, accentuates the bass & drum power of the song. Regrettably, too much a lets-play-with-those-buttons thing. Will not stand for ever. Reserved for the fanatics only.
Straight to Holland anno 1985 then. There are enough Love Song live-versions around to keep us busy till 2018. This one again is different, steadily growing towards the direction of the Live In The City Of Light track. Lou Reed’s Street Hassle: also live, same venue, same night. And the verdict? Bo Derek-figures, Sir. A winner. 2 minutes 44″ building. One smash from Gaynor. Kerr shouts. Hooray. Whatever the existing criticism: the Minds didn’t cover to score, they didn’t rape. They weren’t Westlife, after all, having built up their own, solid-strong back-catalogue. They are excused. Hold on. There’s no need for excuses here. They paid tribute to the song, which they de facto only partially covered (i.e. the love story bit)
Note: Lou Reed’s 1978 Street Hassle – and certainly the eponymously called track – gave him an artistic renaissance. The title track was singled out for particular praise: its simple melody was hammered home through hypnotic repetition, Reed solemnly intoning 3 stories over it (the 1st focused in on two strangers meeting in a bar; in the 2nd they make love; in the 3rd, the girl overdoses at a party). Reed’s treatment of these scenario’s is a masterpiece of spoken irony and disdain: he calls up love and then despatches it as violently as he ever did with the Velvet Underground.Â
