562. Simply Red - Picture Book (1985)

















Track Listing

1. Come to My Aid
2. Sad Old Red
3. Look at You Now
4. Heaven
5. Jericho
6. Money's Too Tight (To Mention)
7. Holding Back the Years
8. Red Box
9. No Direction
10. Picture Book

Review

Now it's time for Manchester's shame with Simply Red, yes, a band so fucking annoying, with such a fucking annoying lead in Mick Hucknall that no city in the world would be proud to have them, they will share the lower circle of hell with their fellow Mancunians M People.

Simply Red try to make a soul album and fail. The guy is ginger for fuck's sake. We all know ginger people have no soul. So Mick is brought up with punk, being at the famous Sex Pistols gig in Manchester with people like Ian Curtis, but while Ian Curtis creates Joy Division, Mick spawns Simply Fucking Red.

The whole thing sounds opportunistic and little more than a commercial endeavour, which actually worked perfectly in the sense that it made them shit loads of cash. But not a very good album.

Track Highlights

1. Jericho
2. Money's Too Tight (To Mention)
3. Holding Back The Years
4. Picture Book

Final Grade

6/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Simply Red's roots originate from the 1976 Sex Pistols gig at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester. Manchester art student Mick Hucknall was one of the many young music fans present, along with original members of Joy Division, The Smiths and Buzzcocks, who was inspired to form a band after witnessing that gig. The first incarnation of the band was a punk group called The Frantic Elevators. This band 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".

Jericho, look at the audience: