AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Simply Red

Artist:Simply Red
Song:If You Don't Know Me By Now
Album:Greatest Hits





The British group Simply Red may not have invented blue eyed soul. But they sure perfected it with a string of hits. If You Don't Know Me By Now was one of their two number one hits. They were much bigger for a longer time period in England. The leader of Simply Red was Mick Hucknall (born June 8, 1960 in Denton, Lancashire, England). He led the punk band The Frantic Elevators for several years. Like a lot of British groups of the late 70s, they were heavily influenced by The Sex Pistols. But the punk scene was very crowded and The Frantic Elevators were unsuccessful. So Hucknall got together with manager Elliott Rashman and put together a group of session musicians. They were going to call the group Red, Hucknall's nickname. When a promoter got confused about the name, it became Simply Red. Bassist Tony Bowers, drummer Chris Joyce and trumpeter Tim Kellett were all members of The Durutti Column. Other members were keyboard player Fritz McIntyre and guitarist Sylvan Richardson. They signed with Elektra in 1985. At first they had success in England but were unable to break through in the US. The 1989 cover of the Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes classic If You Don't Know Me By Now topped the Billboard Hot 100. Holding Back The Years also reached #1. Richardson left and was replaced by Heitor Pereira. As I said, they were much bigger in England but Simply Red's success continued until 1995 when everyone left and Hucknall formed a new Simply Red. You can get all their hits on this budget comp. Hucknall continued to record and tour as Simply Red until he retired the name after a 2009 tour. Hucknall has also recorded solo but Simply Red had become a solo act with session musicians. I suppose he could have used the name forever. Maybe he felt guilty about that. I don't know. Here's the video for If You Don't Know Me By Now by Simply Red.