Simply Red
Picture Book

THE REVIEW

From ‘Stay’ [2007] to ‘Blue Eyed Soul’ [2019] through ‘Big Love’ [2015], I haven't wasted time on them anymore.

I don't like people who whistle absentmindedly, not in terms of musical vinyl records. And the latest studio works of Simply Red, and 'Simply Red' means Mick Hucknall, have nothing to do with me.

Simply Red stopped pleasing me the moment Mick was no longer hungry.

In 1985 Mick was hungry, devilishly hungry. Try to catch it in ‘Money’s Too Tight (To Mention)’, when he sings ‘…so I went to the bank…’, the way he says 'bank...', how he attacks the experience.

He was hungry, I said, even in the studio. Stewart Levine, the producer chosen for the debut album, had his work cut out for him disciplining, slowing him down, teaching him how to approach a microphone during recording.

The cliché, or rather, the postulate, that Simply Red were ‘Mick + the band’ was immediately clear to those who revolved around the project.

The feeling was unique and unambiguous: what a voice, the singer: amazing. But the songs and the rest of the group? There was work to be done.

Elliot Rashman, the long-time manager, Stewart Levine, and Hucknall himself worked to polish, implant, and invigorate. Dave Fryman, a guitarist who also has a writing credit in ‘Red Box’, was let go because he was judged a weak point in a crucial role. The replacement was recruited from Levine's notebook: Sylvan Richardson, akin to the type of sound the producer wanted.

‘Holding Back The Years’ was completely re-arranged. Again, the manager and producer had to do their best to convince Mick, who was reluctant to review his work, partly due to his haughty character, partly due to a cursedly ingrained underlying pride.

With Richardson recruited, the rest of the core was confirmed: Tony Bowers on bass, the splendid Fritz Mcintyre on keyboards, Chris Joyce on drums, and Tim Kellet on the trumpet.

The cornerstone of the project, Hucknall's voice softened by Mcintyre's luxurious keyboards. Levine, for his part, made the previously live-performed tracks listener-friendly and structured, filling in evident gaps.

Elektra, a subsidiary of Wea, stepped forward to sign the project.

The highest points of the album turned out to be the lead single, ‘Moneys Too Tight (To Mention)’, a cover by the Valentine Brothers, the title track boasting a poignant DNA, and the jazz-fusion ‘Sad Old Red’. But driving the wagon and taking them to number one in America was ‘Holding Back The Years’ which, as of today, remains their everlasting trademark.

The other two extracted singles, ‘Come To My Aid’, which opens the album, ‘Jericho’ and 'Red Box', had little impact. In selected markets, a limited edition of ‘Love Fire’ was also released.

In retrospect, Hucknall and Levine have contrasting opinions on ‘Picture Book’.

‘It sounds too dated, too sparse. Some tracks, reinterpreted and reworked in life, deliver. For the rest, I struggle to listen to it today’ says the leader. On the other hand, the manager, who will also work on another three albums, ‘A New Flame’ (1989), ‘Stars’ (1991) and ‘Life’ (1995), considers it the best ever made with the band: fresh, powerful, complete.

The one writing to you places himself halfway. ‘Picture Book’ is a solid, linear album. It features some weak points: I am not convinced by the guitar, too sparse, and the overly academic approach to the drums.

Not by chance, in what remains, for me, their milestone (‘A New Flame’) Heitor TP will replace Richardson, and for the multi-golden ‘Stars’ the crazy intuition was placing Gota Yashiki on the drums instead of Joyce.

The hunger, as I said, divides man from beast if only because the former has the faculty to choose. Here, Mick was a bit of a man and a bit of a beast. He chose, and he chose well. He bit into the opportunity with ferocity, having the foresight not to tear it to pieces.