Such a shame that yourself, Derek and Brian chose not to appear in the official documentary. It was severly lacking because of it. It's a tribute to your legacy that so many fans still talk about your contribution to the band even though you left 34 years ago!! You were irreplaceable. Fact.
Agreed. Everyone I speak to and the comments I see says there are generally two kinds of SM fans; those that grew up with them and those that discovered them after Live Aid.
Mick, you were the soul of Simple Minds, your keyboard made me fly, the feeling absolutely different, moving and much more impresive than any other one…thank you🙏
Mick, you won't remember me but I was your roadie when you played with Donnie, Ricky & Billy in yer band Diversion. I was the young guy ( 17 - 18yrs of age ) with long auburn hair. I eventually ended up humping the gear on my todd, but I loved it , setting up the gear on stage, you had quite a lot of equipment ( P.A.- double drum kit etc. ) but as I said I loved the the challenge, and loading it all away intae the van as quick as possible, hoping for a lock in and a few drinks and a laugh. Your talent back then was obvious Mick, as was Donnie's on the drums. People wouldn't say it to your face Mick, but they would talk to me during the show about the band and to them yourself & Donnie stood out as real natural talent. You were great guys to be around, a right laugh, but good at what you did. I remember Diversion playing a wedding reception, can't recall the name of the venue, and you pulled out the accordion, and brought the house down. Punters who knew I was the roadie were asking what your name was. I remember one night after a gig, Ricky and yourself asked me and my mate who came to the show, to go to Glasgow central station with you. I remember thinkin' there's a fuckin' wind up comin' here. You & Ricky were to meet two birds who were regulars who hung about with the band, I think you already involved with them. Anyway, you & Ricky go to the bog..... and don't come back!! Bastards. So the two females show up, they knew my face as the band's roadie, but not my pal's. " Where's Mick & Ricky?" they ask. "They're in the toilet" I replied. 10 mins later we all know you ain't comin' back, and these two birds think me & my pal are in on it & that we are trying to get off with them. They were fuckin' fuming. Suffice to say Ricky & yourself found all this hysterical when I told you of the abuse we took.I must say I did find it amusing myself. Anyway, it was less than a year I roadied for the band ( '76 - '77 ) but as a young guy I loved it. Not too long after the end of diversion I hear that a band have formed with you as a keyboardist, and they're called simple minds, and that a guy who lives just round the corner from me in Castlemilk, called Derek Forbes is the bass player. I loved it that guys like yourself whom I had met, and someone like Derek whom I had seen about Castlemilk, although I didn't know him personally, doing well, and eventually achieving huge success. I often wondered if Donnie continued in music, or if he changed career paths. All the best to you & your family Mick, it was a short period of tlme in my life as a roadie with Diversion, but it was a great experience for a young guy who loved music to be sitting in a van next to a band and travelling to a gig and setting up the gear on stage and loading it all away after the show. Cheers.
Great story, your right I can’t remember you. I’m on my way to meet Donnie just, we just spent the day with the young Barra School pipe at competition. I’ll ask him if he remembers you. Ye, a great story. MM x
Seriously one of the finest keyboard virtuosos on the planet. Big Sleep EVERY time I hear I have something in my eyes. The keyboard gets me. So beautiful and haunting.
I remember listening to Jim talking about your departure from the band during the start of the 'Real Life' tour and he said "maybe he'll come back".......I'm still waiting 😊
Dear Mick, your departure from Simple Minds is the biggest loss in history of the band. With you, Derek and Mel, that were the best times. Your ideas, your keyboard sound, that were the signature sound of the classic songs. Now it's like a coverband band with the original singer and guitarist. Still sad that you quit in 1990. Best wishes from Germany, thay healthy. 🤜❤🤛
100%. I can't in all good conscience pay to see JK, CB and the hired extras. Happy memories of meeting Mick at Roundhay, he signed lots of CD inlays for me which I still treasure. I want my old band back!
Great to hear from you Mick, hope there are more stories to come about the early days of SM. The band has never been the same since you left. Cheers from Canada.
Fantastic to hear from you Mick, went to Derek Forbes book signing in Liverpool and he said the both of you may do something together soon. Please let it be, it would be fantastic to here you play the Simple Minds tracks you and Derek created. Lets face it the big sound of Simple Minds. Legend 👍🏻😀
Mick, you will always be the best keyboardist of that generation of musicians. Hope all is well! And thank you for the music. Your music with SM was part of most memorable years growing up! 👌👏🏼👏🏼
By the time I became old enough to appreciate popular music , Simple Minds were already mainstream, on the radio five times a day. I took the songs for granted. I know all the lyrics to all the big tunes, not because I was a fan but because they were part of the soundtrack of my young life. I’ve just gained a new appreciation for the band and while yes, I missed out earlier, now I have the privilege of a multi-disciplinary education complete with fascinating first hand band member accounts and these amazing videos Mick is generous enough to produce with sound and captions. Thank you for the music, Mick and for sharing your incredibly valuable perspective.
Hi Mick. I grew up with Simple Minds and your contribution was an immensely powerful influence on my life. Today, like so many other fans, I still think a lot about the days you were in the band. I love watching the live stuff with you at the piano. I just wanted to reach out and tell you that your creativity moves me today as it did all those decades ago. Thank you.
I hope this vid is a taste of what's to come, it would be amazing to get the perspectives from Mick, Derek & Brian about those formative years in SM's and fill in all the gaps, tales & realities that were missing from J&C's 'Everything is Possible' documentary. We've had 2/5ths, I'm looking forward to the other 3/5ths 👏👏
Oooboy I’ve been life long minds fan traveled many miles to watch my idols,waiting day and night outside stadiums only to get in front of the stage,we wish an hope that maybe someday you will get back on stage with your old pals and give it a night to remember mick 🎹🙌🍺❤️God bless you sir.
Mick, thank you so much for your work with SM. you and Derek were (are) beasts and those first albums were amazing. I got onboard with NGD aged 10! (great taste wouldn't you say 😁) no less and luckily had a bit of a back catalogue to explore. All the best to you.
What a great listen. I for one, would definitely love to hear some more of this kind of thing from you. I think it's fair to say you've very much been missed by SM fans down the years. There isn't a day that goes by where I'm not whistling one of your beautiful melody lines - earlier today when walking my Deerhound out in the Lincs countryside it was People Stand Up Again and Soul Crying Out both of which feel very apt still all these years later. And right now I have that lovely reworked intro for Sanctify Yourself swirling through my head that you played at the Mandela gig. You and Charlie had some real magic going on together - I would have loved to have heard the Aurora Borealis project come to fruition. Anyway, lovely stuff, keep on keeping on and please keep the vids and the music coming!
This is great - thank you. I especially enjoy how you describe sounds - 'big, bouncy, round', 'hypnotic' and one track as having a 'determination to it'. Would love more stories please.
Mick, thank you for posting this. Would love to hear more stories from your time in the band. Also love the songs you posted recently with just you and the keyboard playing SFY etc. would so love to hear more like I’m sure your millions of fans would too ! The outro to PyAM from the 86-87 era I would love to hear played again from the man in the sky ! 🙏🏻👍
Riveting stuff Mick - seen the Minds in Manchester a few times in the early day's. Hacienda and Apollo. Yea, I bought a bass soon after.. You and Derek both amazing musician's.. been a privilege to have grown old with you all.. I'm 61 and still get a buzz every time I hear those early song's. Your looking well mate.
Great to see and hear you Mick. You're a genius not only for the music compositions you contributed to the band but also your style of playing. Hard to explain but a beautiful soft sound when it's called for. Anyway thank you and all the best!
Great story Mick. Keep them coming.I once heard a quote from Kurt Vonnegut on the 1 Giant Leap Project album and it really moved and stayed with me. He said ' music to me is proof of the existence of God' Now..... I am an Atheist, but it explains and resonated with me why a tune can inspire and evoke feelings and tears of joy and sadness and you don't know why and don't need to. Your keys to me and many more have had that impact.
This was brilliant Mick. Hope there’s a lot more to come. Big Ian was some character I met him a couple of times in Edinburgh. A great actor as well. 🙏🏻❤️
More please. What an experience and I'm so very grateful for you sharing. Love to learn of your experiences from your point of view cos the soundscapes you make are the mark of a man who is resonating on an epic frequency and the frequencies those 5 boys from Scotland created are like no other. Would really like to see how you created some of those unforgettable voices I listen to every day, every chance I get. Been digging into some of the period around Sparkle, DYFAM to Street Fighting Years, trying to find what was happening after City of Light to Rock In Rio as the magazines had moved to the next cycle. Was having my daughter listen to DYFAM with an attention to the voices that helped make the song what it is. Like no other....like no other.
Hey Mick, That rendition from Waterfront on the church organ was one of the stand out moments from the vid 'Verona' must be time to give us another rendition on one of your keyboards at home.
Your attention of detail in these stories makes listening all the worthwhile. Pleased that you’re sharing and look forward to many more. I haven’t listen quite intensely to work through the Scot/Celtic dialect and accent 😁
Great to see you on here Mick. Always loved your parts in the Mind's. Be great to see/hear some more of those part breakdowns like the 'Big Sleep' video. Thanks for the music mate and keep well.
Mick. You were always the coolest dude up on stage. Closely followed by Derek. Saw you first in 1980 in Edinburgh. Lost count after that gig. Always cool as fuck.
They’ve never been same since you left Mick but how many bands stay entire career same lineup . It was golden age and inspired my journey playing an instrument albeit guitar
Sai, ti voglio tanto bene e manchi tantissimo, non sono una esperta di musica.. ma riesco a capire una bella melodia 🎶🎶🎶 ti seguo perché mi piace la tua musica, e si sente la tua mancanza, davvero! Ma non importa! Nessuno si dimentica di te . perché è impossibile 🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
Mick can you just come back to Simple Minds make us all happy again where you belong with Derek & Mel as well this is all we want and what’s needed talk with Jim again
Some bad blood here that never gets talked about. Maybe that's for the best. A tragedy that it couldn't be patched up years ago. I think about Derek, Mick and Mel a lot. Very much missed. Simple Minds today is not the band I loved in 1985.
