FEATURE:
The Digital Mixtape
Mick Hucknall at Sixty-Five
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I will come…
to a 2022 interview from Classic Pop very soon. It is relevant because the person they interviewed, Mick Hucknall, turns sixty-five on 8th June. The lead of Simply Red, his voice is like nobody else’s. Such an evocative and consistently brilliant songwriter, he is one of the most soulful and spellbinding voices the U.K. has produced (this feature about his favourite albums is especially illuminating when it comes to Hucknall’s influences). I will end with information about a cinematic experience that has just passed. One that marked forty years of Simply Red. Their debut album, Picture Book, was released in October 1985. Before then, I want to highlight some sections from that 2022 interview:
“Mick’s earned the right to kick back. At a time when music biopics have never been so popular, his story has a Hollywood flavour to it. Abandoned by his mother, aged three, brought up by his dad, the working class lad falls in love with soul music as a teenager, but goes to that infamous Sex Pistols Manchester concert and forms his own scratchy punk band, The Frantic Elevators.
Aged 17, he writes Holding Back The Years, a personal cri de coeur which takes five years to be released by the Elevators, then another four to become a transatlantic hit for his next venture, Simply Red.
“It was the first thing I wrote that felt real, you know?” he remembers. “I didn’t know at the time it was going to be important, it was just very sincere. It was about me, being on that cusp of leaving home and yet being slightly fearful of going away – ’cos at 17 you’re still effectively a child in many ways.
“But it really set me off. It was there in the background with all these other songs that I was writing. I’ve known Neil [Smith, the Elevators guitarist who got a co-credit on the song] since I was three years old.
“We used to hang out every Friday night before going down the pub. We’d get together in my bedroom – he’d show me a song that he’d written and I’d show him one of mine. We’d work on them and then go down the pub. Then we would spend the rest of the evening talking about Beatles songs, analysing every chord and endlessly talking about music.”
Mick Hucknall (centre) with Simply Red
Fame, initially, was problematic for him. “I have to confess I don’t think I handled it well. I’m better at it now, but I wasn’t then. I’ve always been musically ambitious and stardom and all that business is something that is part of that, but I didn’t know really how to deal with it.
“I’m a working class boy from East Manchester, had been on the dole for four years and all of a sudden I’m standing on a stage with some of the biggest artists in the world and it was all a bit of a shock, to put it mildly.”
Nevertheless, fame did open doors. For Simply Red’s second album, 1987’s Men And Women, Hucknall wrote a couple of songs with Lamont Dozier; a dream come true for the young Motown devotee. “That was just fantastic. I love Lamont. He’s very different to me in how he approaches writing in that he’s very workmanlike.
“He’ll sit down and write pretty much every day, just sitting in front of the piano. Whereas I just wait until a song comes into my head. But I feel very honoured to have written with him. We did four together – two each for Men And Women and A New Flame. It was a great experience.”
A peak you reach
In his homeland, Mick’s big album was Stars, which shifted some nine million copies worldwide and was the UK’s best-selling album of both 1991 and 1992, spawning no less than five hit singles.
This was the band’s commercial peak: it’s no exaggeration to say that during those in-between years, post-acid house but pre-Britpop, Simply Red were the sound of Middle England. Mick, though, seems unable to put his finger on why that album, more than any other, connected with so many people.
“I don’t know, I think it’s one of those things with an artist’s career you build up to that point – The Beatles built up to Sgt Pepper. Each artist has their own individual moment – Van Morrison had it with Astral Weeks. Each one has this moment where everything comes together at the right time and I guess Stars was that one for me.”
He admits that following it up wasn’t easy and even though 1995’s Life included their first (and so far only) UK No.1 single, Fairground, it didn’t fare anywhere near as well commercially.
“You just think, ‘Well, I’m just going to do the best I can’, and that’s all I’ve ever really done. We did enjoy success with Life – it sold a lot of copies, but well, you know I don’t think ’The White Album’ is as good as Sgt Pepper.
“But I think the one thing that we have had across the decades is consistency. Every album we’ve ever made has gone Top Five and that’s the thing that stays in my mind more than anything.” Indeed, even when the band went independent after 1999’s Love And The Russian Winter, releasing via their ‘simplyred.com’ label, their core audience still remained loyal.
“We had the biggest independent album in the world for two years running. It wasn’t the same as being with a major ‘cos we couldn’t get the distribution in the same way, but we did enjoy success with it. It was a great thrill.”
Family comes first
In 2007, Mick appeared to draw a line under Simply Red and ‘retire’ the band. He claims it was for one reason only: his family.
“I had a father who, when I was growing up, completely dedicated his life to me and that had a major impact on me. When my daughter was born I was very much aware that if I signed a deal with a record company I would be obliged to make an album every two years and go out on the road; I’d be one of those dads who were never at home.
“I just thought, ‘I’m not going to do that.’ So I told my manager I was going to stop. I wanted to be at home bringing up my kid. It was one of the best decisions I’ve made. I’ve been there every day in her life and I’m sure it’s had a positive impact on her to have both of her parents around to help and support her as she learns how to deal with this world.”
For a few years, Mick’s only musical activity was a pair of solo covers albums – one a tribute to the soul legend Bobby Bland and a short tour with the reformed Faces.
Then in 2015 he revived the Simply Red name and signed once more to a major, BMG.
“I had been writing songs and my daughter was old enough to understand that this is my job. Also I have to remember that I am an artist with a career – I gotta go out and work! I just feel that I’ve been lucky to have been able to stop.
“Most people, even very successful people, work their arses off every day. And most dads don’t even get to see much of their kids, except at the weekends and maybe a couple of hours when they come home from work.”
So, with no original members left other than the frontman, is Simply Red now just a brand for whatever he’s doing musically? He sidesteps the question. “Well, I’ve always been the principal songwriter. Nobody else has – in any formation – consistently come up with any songs!
“I, like many people, had a very romantic vision of what a band should be, growing up with The Beatles. But then again these bands are all acrimonious – they’ve all fallen out! They all sue each other, they all hate each other and, you know, I get on great with the guys I work with so… what’s the problem? I never did get to have my Paul or my John.”
Mick insists he has no musical ambitions left – there’s not a duets album or memoir lurking uncrossed on his bucket list. But one wonders how he feels about Simply Red’s status as a band these days. Apart from a brief period around their debut album Picture Book, they have never exactly been trendy.
Fashions come and go but it’s hard to think of another multi-million selling British act that remain so resolutely unheralded, at least by critics.
Put it like this: their records don’t often crop up on those ‘100 Best 80s/90s Albums’ lists. They’ve yet to be the subject of a BBC4 documentary. That biopic will, in all probability, never be made. Does he feel they’re undervalued in 2019?
“Sometimes I do,” he admits. “And then other times I think, ‘I’ve done stuff on my own terms and been in control of what I do.’ The industry itself wants to be in control of the artist and when they don’t have that control they don’t like it.
“When you consider the control that we’ve had over the years then I’m happy with our success – we’re still selling records and we’re still putting bums on seats whenever we do a tour. If people don’t regard us in the same way as other acts, well that’s up to them! But really I don’t have any complaints,” he insists, sounding utterly serene and at ease, both with himself, and the world”.
I am going to end very soon. Before that, and from the Simply Red website fans recently had the opportunity to watch something very special on the big screen. A group that have endured for forty years, this screened performance was quite an experience by all accounts! Even though I am not a diehard, I recognise their brilliance. How distinct and talented Mick Hucknall is. Someone whose political voice is just as important as his musical one. I hope we see and hear more work from Simply Red:
“We’re thrilled to announce that Simply Red’s spectacular performance from their recent 40th Anniversary Tour will be coming to cinemas worldwide from May 15, 2025.
“Holding Back The Years: 40 Years of Simply Red – Live from Santiago” captures the band’s electrifying performance at the Movistar Arena in Chile, where they played five consecutive sold-out shows to rapturous audiences as part of their Latin American tour leg, which saw them perform to over 140,000 fans.
This special cinema event will give fans the opportunity to experience the energy and emotion of Simply Red’s 40th Anniversary Tour on the big screen, featuring stunning performances of their greatest hits and fan favorites spanning their entire career – from their 1985 critically acclaimed debut ‘Picture Book’ right through to their latest releases
Mailing list members will receive exclusive early access to tickets 24 hours before general release – watch your inbox for the presale link!
The concert film showcases why Simply Red remains one of the UK’s most successful and beloved bands, with Mick Hucknall demonstrating why he’s still considered one of the great vocalists in contemporary music. As the band continues their global tour throughout 2025, playing almost 50 arena shows including two nights at London’s O2 Arena and one night at Wembley Arena in October, this cinema event offers the perfect opportunity to celebrate their remarkable 40-year journey.
Don’t miss this chance to see Simply Red’s spectacular performance on the big screen”.
On 8th June, the incredible Mick Hucknall turns sixty-five. A titan of the music industry, his music has influenced so many people. It has touched hearts and souls! A phenomenal live performer, I wanted to take a moment to recognise his talent with a Simply Red mixtape. Featuring their best-known songs and some deeper cuts, this is the iconic Mick Hucknall at his best. Settle back for a….
SPECIAL Simply Red experience.