Simply Red originated from the 1976 Sex Pistols gig at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England. Manchester art student Mick Hucknall was one of the many young music fans present, along with original members of the bands Joy Division, The Smiths andBuzzcocks. 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, but split in 1984 with only limited local attention and critical acclaim for their final single, "Holding Back the Years". After the demise of The Frantic Elevators, Hucknall linked up with manager Elliot Rashman. By early 1985, Hucknall and Rashman had assembled a band of local session musicians, and began to attract record company attention. Around this time, the group adopted the name Red (after Hucknall's nickname, which denoted hair colour). The name Simply Red came 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 [just] Red." The resulting misnomer was printed on publicity posters as "Simply Red," and the name stuck. They signed a contract with Elektra in 1985, with the somewhat changeable line-up of Hucknall, Tony Bowers (bass), Fritz McIntyre (keyboards), Tim Kellett (brass), Sylvan Richardson (guitar) and Chris Joyce (drums). Their first single, released in 1985, was "Money's Too Tight (To Mention)", a cover of a soul standard originally recorded by The Valentine Brothers. 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, beginning a successful career in Italy, sometimes more successful than in the UK. Their debut album, Picture Book, was also released in 1985. In 1986, the band re-recorded a song that the Frantic Elevators had recorded earlier, "Holding Back the Years", in a soul ballad style, and this time it was 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, and remains one of the band's most recognized works. The album began to sell more copies, and soon became an international hit. Their second album, 1987's Men and Women, saw the band adopting bowler hats and colourful suits instead of their earlier ragamuffin look, and the introspection and social commentary of their debut performance was replaced by a blue-eyed soul sound with funk influences. With their third album A New Flame in 1989, Simply Red adopted a yet more mainstream populist sound aimed for commercial rather than critical success, typified by their cover of Harold Melvin's pop classic "If You Don't Know Me By Now", which became their second U.S. #1hit, and one of the biggest singles of the year internationally; and their greatest success until now. Hucknall was by this time an international superstar, being photographed with models and Hollywood celebrities. This seemed to harm the band's coherence as a unit, with Hucknall declaring in 1991 that Simply Red was "essentially a solo project". The band's popular career peaked later that year with the release of Stars, which became the best-selling album for two years running in Europe and the UK (though notably had far less success in the US than their previous albums). Stars mixed Hucknall's anti-Thatcheritepolitical lyrics with an easy-listening lounge-jazz sound, apparently to avoid alienation of their existing fanbase. It was featured on the soundtrack of the 1995 movie Jack and Sarah. After touring and promoting Stars for two years, Simply Red returned in 1995 with "Fairground", a dance-influenced track prominently featuring a sample from Zki & Dobri's Goodmen project. A massive radio hit, "Fairground" went on to become the band's first British #1, amid critical panning. Its parent album Life sold more than a million copies in the UK alone, making it the fourth-biggest seller of the year. The band followed this up with cover heavy Blue in 1998 and Love and the Russian Winter. Subsequent releases have mostly been greatest-hits collections. 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". It went Double Platinum in the United Kingdom, Gold in Canada, and Platinum in Europe. It featured two hit singles, "Sunrise" and "Fake". Simplified followed in 2005, mainly an album of stripped down versions of their Classic hits. The single "Oh! What A Girl!" released in September 2006 from their album Stay, their 10th, released on 12 March 2007. This was preceded by the single "So Not Over You", released on 5 March 2007. The third single from the album was the title song "Stay", released on 28 May 2007. The fourth and the last single of Simply Red, "The World And You Tonight", was released in November 2007. Mick Hucknall announced that the band were due to split in 2010, after a farewell tour, starting in early 2009, ending in 2010. This will include the Forestry Commission's Live Music tour, with forest gigs at Bedgebury, Cannock, Dalby, Delamere, Sherwood, Thetford and Westonbirt. *Source: WIKIPEDIA. and here's one of their video clips... "FAIRGROUND".. enjoy watching, people...
Maaf..
aku memang milikmu..
hanya tubuhku..
seperti tubuhmu yang jadi milikku..
sebatas itu..
tak lebih..
Ya, aku mencintaimu
mencintai caramu membuatku nafsu..
mancintai caramu membuatku menangis..
denganNya
aku senantiasa lupa dunia
karena aku selalu bahagia
tersenyum, nyaman..
aku dicintaiNya
hanya DIA yang bisa melihat jauh ke relung hatiku
yang membuat airmataku menjadi senyuman
Maaf, pemilik ragaku
aku tenggelam bersamaNya dan nyaris melupakanmu..
ah.. toh engkau tau bahwa aku selalu mencintaimu, bukan?
itu sebabnya kau acuhkan aku..
Maaf..
aku menikmati waktuku denganNya
karena engkau tak pernah mau mengajakku berjumpa denganNya
maka, ijinkan aku untuk bercumbu dengan DIA, berdua saja..
Sebatang rokok, dinyalakan.. hisap 2 kali.. lalu kubiarkan tergeletak pada asbak meja ruang kerjaku.. termenung pandangi deretan aksara pada keyboard, bingung akan apa yang hendak dikerjakan. aku hanya paham bahwa aku rindu akan aliran celoteh pikiran dari otak kananku akhir-akhir ini, aku abaikan.. hidup membuatku menggunakan otak sisi kiri lebih sering.. dunia yang penuh angka, hitungan, uang.. terkontrol rapi atas peredaran kurs valuta asing, nilai saham.. angka dan angka.. aku lupa tentang kata-kata, kalimat, percakapan-percakapan.. seperti malam-malam berlalu terbiarkan, aku jatuh tertidur.. lelah akan jejeran hitungan.. ..dahulu, sang malam adalah kawan sejatiku.. saat kelamnya menyapa, celotehan dari sisi kanan otakku mulai berhamburan.. tumpah pada secarik kertas putih usang.. kadang bahkan; celotehan membanjir deras seperti aliran sungai kalimalang.. dan kubiarkan.. mengalir dan mengalir.. meski adakalanya kering kerontang, mirip sawah ladang di padang panjang. Tidak! aku bukan penulis novel, penulis puisi, atau sastrawan.. hanya sebentuk raga yang dikaruniai Pencipta dengan begitu banyak fiksi di otak sebelah kanan.. Otak kanan yang kerap kuabaikan akhir-akhir ini.. oh betapa menderitanya ia, sang otak kanan.. nyaris kubiarkan mati sekarat, karena aku dulu terlalu memanjakannya.. membiarkannya liar membahana.. tak teratur.. kini, aku berikan sedikit angin segar padanya.. daripada otak kananku membusuk tak keruan.. bangkainya bisa membuat berantakan keseharianku nantinya.. toh, memang sudah agak lama aku rindu pada banjiran kata.. pada senandung musik di awang-awang.. akan kubiarkan banjiran kalimat tertera kembali, meski kini bersarana tuts keyboard dan layar monitor.. tidak lagi seperti waktu lalu, bersenjatakan pena dan kertas buram.. modern sedikitlah.. hahahaha.. kena dampak kemajuan jaman.. terserah nanti tulisanku ada yang baca atau tidak.. atau dikomentari sampah dan picisan.. toh dibuat bukan untuk dikomersilkan.. yang aku paham, aku hanya ingin memberi angin segar pada keseharianku.. pada sang otak kanan yang sekarat.. sambil harap-harap cemas, berharap miris semoga si otak sisi kanan tak lagi berulah seperti dulu.. membuat jungkir balik duniaku. doakan saja.. kali ini dia bisa lebih realistis sedikit..