After school and travel, Derek ended up as long haired hippy playing acoustic guitar in a Spanish nightspot called Paddy's Bar. (He was supposed to play an organ in a kindergarten, but missed the appointment because got dead drunk the previous night.) He ended up switching to bass because because the bass player couldn't sing and play at the same time.

In 1977, Duncan Barnwell jetted in to tell him he had to return home. Punk had exploded across the UK and bands called Johnny And The Self Abusers and The Jolt were playing over Glasgow.

Tempted by these stories, he returned to Glasgow on his 21st birthday, and joined as bass player of The Subs, one of Scotland’s many punk bands of the period. He was asked to stand in for one gig, but ended up joining and can be heard on their one single Gimme Your Heart, which was released on Stiff Records.

By May 1978, the band imploded when Ali MacKenzie quit, and he was making plans to play lead guitar again. However Jim and Charlie, impressed with his upfront bass playing, asked if he could help out with some demos, as the Simple Minds bass player, Tony Donald, had left the group. "Jim had always come to watch us, even when the Self Abusers still existed, but I didn't know he wanted me to play bass in the new band. They wanted help with a demo. Michael was already with them."

Derek accepted a temporary role and helped to cut the demo tape. However, his guitar was stolen at the CaVa studios, and to cut his losses, he asked if he could become the band’s permanent bass player. ""That's when I also started with make-up and silver pants. It was a New York Dolls trip, women's sandals, a Leonard suit, something new every night. I looked like a panda bear, with great black smudges around my eyes."

His new placement in Simple Minds reunited him with school friend Duncan Barnwell, but it was to be a short partnership, as Duncan was asked to leave in November 1978.

discography

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live appearances