- The working title of the album was Children Of The Game, a Jean Cocteau reference.
- It was
changed to Life In A Day after the band wrote the title song
whilst selecting and rejecting material in a barn near Edinburgh in January, 1979.
- Their first choice of producer was John Cale. Arista vetoed this suggestion.
- Their second choice was John Anthony, who'd produced Van Der Graff Generator and others. Again, this was vetoed.
- But Arista did allow their third choice, the legendary John Leckie.
- The album was recorded in the grounds of Farmyard Studios in Amersham, using the
Rolling Stones Mobile, an ex-army mobile unit. It was freezing in this huge truck - hence the
sly footnote: "Recorded at a very low temperature."
- After recording the songs, the final mixing was done at Townhouse and Abbey Road studios.
- Whilst at Abbey Road, Derek Forbes called up everyone he knew, enthusing that
he'd played the actual harpsicord used on Sgt. Peppper.
- The album track listing was finalised in mid March - this reel-to-reel copy master from early in the month reveals a different
track ordering.
- The cover artwork was designed by Carole Moss, a friend of
John Leckie. She also photographed the band against the blinds in the
Rolling Stones Mobile - this was the basis of all the artwork of the inner sleeve.
- Journalist, and Zoom press officer,
Brian Hogg designed the tambourine labels.
- Original LPs included an inner sleeve with album credits and artwork.
All the text appeared to be Jim's handwriting.
- Some original copies also included posters.
- The album was licensed through Arista/Ariola throughout Europe and
PVC Records in the USA. PVC decided to change the artwork, making the title easier to read.
- Life In A Day and Chelsea Girl were selected as singles.
- The band hated the final result and quickly disowned the album, despite parent label
Arista being pleased with its chart placing.
- Life In A Day was the only album issued by Zoom Records.
- In 1986, Virgin finally issued the album on CD. This caught out one reviewer,
who assumed it was the follow-up to Once Upon A Time. He commended
Simple Minds on their brave new direction.
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