Simply Red
Picture Book

THE REVIEW

Simply Red, who were they? Indeed, for almost anyone who has listened to the English "band" at least in the last 5-6 years, the feeling of facing a semi-group good for competing with the likes of Blue and similar probably wouldn’t have seemed far off. But (oh yes) in the 80s Mick and his mates (because back then and for the following ten years they really formed a group) were one of the iconic bands, led by their leader and frontman red "both in hair and political ideas".

And the album I am about to review represents our intense debut: "Picture Book" contains tracks that are 80s classics, like "Money's Too Tight (To Mention)" or "Holding Back The Years", both on the second side. There are two covers, the aforementioned "Money's Too Tight", by the Valentine brothers, and the delicate "Heaven", by David Byrne and Jerry Harrison; a fact not unusual for a debut band, but that in the long run will lead the group towards a musical identity loss compared to their beginnings. Which are characterized by a sound never banal, ranging from the jazz of "Sad Old Red", to the funk of "Come To My Aid", "Look At You Now" and "No Direction", up to the superb closure with the song that gives the album its title.

Certainly, this record is not recommended for detractors of funk-blues or even the 80s in general, as it oozes the spirit of that era from the first to the last second: not only with Fritz McIntrye's keyboards (second voice, songwriter, and a prominent personality of the group: not coincidentally he was the last of the original composition to leave, in '95), but also Tim Kellet's trumpet make a great impression in the general picture. One last curiosity: "Holding Back The Years," one of the most inspired moments of the entire album, is co-authored by a certain Moss, whose name unfortunately I do not know; this is because the song was composed by him and Hucknall during the Redhead's stint in the Punk group The Frantic Elevators, in the early 80s before forming Simply Red.

After "Picture Book" will follow other episodes, not always very happy, but this one, extracted from the context of today’s band, increasingly lost in the odious quagmire of the worst kind of pop, remains one of the cornerstones of the English group’s over twenty-year career.