Simply Red
Stars

THE REVIEW

"A New Flame" (1989), the third studio album by the band centered around Mick Hucknall, garnered significant acclaim throughout Europe. It was all thanks to a mosaic that gradually came together, filling in gaps and smoothing rough edges.

The charismatic leader agreed to bring back Stewart Levine for production after realizing that hiring the late Alex Sadkin for "Man And Woman" (1987) had been a mistake. "If I could ever remix an album from scratch, I’d have no doubt: ‘Man And Woman’. It’s a shame to talk about someone who's no longer here, but Alex was more of a programmer than a producer." The album wasn’t to be discarded, quite the opposite, it contained pleasant tracks but was far from the evolution the band and management were hoping for.

However, Mick never admitted the mistake; he let events take their natural course. Levine returned to the fold, the Brazilian Heitor Texeira Pareira (better known as Heitor T.P.) replaced Sylvan Richardson on guitar (what a leap in quality: listen, for instance, to the solo in "Enough"), the right covers were included in the album, and the group finally planted their flag at the mountain's peak: "A New Flame" was the best-selling album of 1989 in Europe.

Almost two years later, at the end of 1990, Mick reunited the band to start sketching what would become their best-selling album: "Stars". Stewart Levine was of course confirmed as the producer. The sessions began in a heavy atmosphere, in Paris, coinciding with the start of the Gulf War. Elliot Rashman, the band's longtime manager, took the implicit confirmation of every member for granted, but Hucknall had other things on his mind. Completely captivated by the sound of Soul II Soul, a dance group mixed with hip-hop that rocked between 1989 and 1991, he wanted to incorporate Gota Yashiki, who was a superb programmer for Soul II Soul, into the project. Yashiki accepted enthusiastically, even though he only marginally knew Simply Red ("I must have a vinyl of 'Love Fire' at home, somewhere"), and started working on the rhythm section with the longtime drummer, Chris Joyce. It didn’t take long to realize that Yashiki was not only a forward-thinking and enterprising programmer but also a great drummer. It was during this period that Hucknall started to claim Simply Red as an entity under his control, with other members being expendable in a logical rotation and maturation process. "Firing Joyce was one of the hardest things in my entire career, but I did it for the good of the band." It was an epochal step that marked the new sound of Simply Red forever. Levine agreed that the band needed to improve significantly in the rhythm section; he was equally disappointed because he was the one who had recruited Joyce for the debut album "Picture Book" (1985), but he had no objections, nor could he do anything to retain bassist Tony Bowers, probably tired of the experience with the group, deftly replaced by Shaun Ward.

"A New Flame", in its magnificence, had an important limitation in Mick's eyes: the most impactful songs, or at least the first two singles, "It's Only Love" and "If You Don't Know Me By Now" were covers. Moreover, for the magnificent "You've Got it" and "Turn it up", he had collaborated with Lamont Dozier, while Joe Sample had provided a significant contribution for "Enough", which masterfully closed the album. This time Mr. Hucknall did almost everything by himself. Except for "Something Got Me Started" and "Thrill Me", to which the keyboardist Fritz McIntyre contributed ("The real rock of the band, the true cornerstone: Simply Red is Mick's magnificent voice and Fritz's luscious keyboards", Rashman would declare later), all the tracks were written by him. And considering that the album was a smash, surpassed seven million copies, and garnered acclaim everywhere, well, hats off to you, Micky. Bravo.

Except in America. Already lukewarm with "A New Flame", it almost completely ignored "Stars". Supporting this preamble, it should be noted that the band didn’t make a drama out of it: they didn’t do much to create a following in the USA, probably content with the whirlwind of enthusiasm generated in Europe.

Stylistically, the album is flawless: the leading singles, "Something Got Me Started" and "Stars", are spot-on; "Thrill Me" is engaging and superb live (Mick: "Fritz came up with that magnificent keyboard riff..."), "Your Mirror" is both feisty and sweet, "She's Got It Bad" is fun and easy to read, "For Your Babies" is moving and fresh. Then, in the opinion of the writer, there is a decline. "Model", which winks at UB40, is a hybrid with little personality, "Freedom" and "Wonderland", both with a political background, are musically sparse. An exception: "How Could It Fall". Where the instrumentalists unleash in the intro (notable is the contribution of saxophonist Ian Kirkham) to then hand over the baton to Hucknall.

Again, the opinion of the writer: "A New Flame" remains on another level. More impactful, fresher, more explosive, and complete. And indeed, it sold well. But what consecrated the band for centuries was "Stars", because it was liked in every aspect: from the cover to the promo videos, from the arrangements to the contribution of the new members. Not by chance, the tour filled stadiums and arenas and gave Simply Red extra work to the point that "Life", its successor, came out in late 1995.