Someone Somewhere (In Summertime)
Candian 7" promo 
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Simple Minds
Foregrounder
Someone Somewhere (In Summertime)
(DJ 59/VS 1155)
"There was a spirit in us - I don't know how you could describe it, but it's the kind of
spirit that these great bands have that make them different, you know - when we recorded this LP
it dominated us and dominated our thinking. A lot of people have shied away from optimism, but I don't
think there's anything wrong with saying that things are going to be all right." - Charles Burchill, in
conversation with Tom Harrison, Vancouver Province, Oct. 25/82
That feeling of optimism pervades New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84),
the fifth album from Simple Minds as well as the second Canadian
SP to be culled from that set, Someone Somewhere (In Summertime).
The first single was Glittering Prize; now
PolyGram Canada is making Someone available in both
7" and 12" format. The "A" side of the commerical 7-incher is a remix (with King Is White And In The Crowd
on the "B" side), while the DJ version has Someone on both sides;
the 12-inch, a limited edition, contains a third, instrumental track, Every Heaven.
Someone is already receiving tremendous support from such
AOR stations as CFOX, CKIK, CHEZ, CHUM-FM and CHOM; the album from which it is drawm is quite simply a stunning
collection of the Minds' poetic, melodic and arresting music. It received rave reviews from critics on both
sides of the Atlantic, and in Great Britain not only climed to the Top Three on the LP charts but has also
just been certified gold.
"Someone Somewhere (In Summertime) heralds a new hue for
Simple Minds' previously shadowy terrain ... Emphatic hope radiates through
their fifth album," wrote Ellie O'Day in the Georgia Straight; that optimism strikes every
listener and is particularly evident on Someone, "a song which
evokes images of those romantic interludes that inevitably fade as quickly and gloriously as an Alberta
summer" (Bryan Williamson, Calgary Herald). The Minds have been accused of being depressing, but,
said Jim Kerr (to Tarin Elbert, Music Express),
"If we got into dark passages, we always thought that there was a light at the end of the line. I think
our music has always been about hope and it's always been about glory, and it's always been about positive
things. Unfortunately, to be positive you have to be negative first, just to clear everything out of the way and
see where you really stand. And that's probably what we were doing at times."
It was perhaps that optimism, that feeling that things were going to be all right, that buoyed up the band
during their accident-prone Canadian tour in November. After the second time the Minds'
equipment was spilled across a highway, everyone was set to head home; as Adam Sweeting
of Melody Maker (who accompanied the band on their jaunt here) described it, even the landscape seemed to
have turned against Simple Minds as they drove across the frozen
and mesmerizing monotony of the prairies. Their arrival in Toronto, however ("...once more see the city
lights," as it says in Someone, gave them all the feeling
that they were in business again; the final dates in Ottawa, Montreal (unanimously acclaimed the best of the tour
by the band), and Toronto were magic, leaving audiences entranced. In town for his own concert the next night,
Peter Gabriel (with whom the Minds toured in '80) attended the Toronto
gig at the Concert Hall; he told Jim Kerr afterwards, "You're home and
dry."
And indeed they are! Formed in Glasgow in 1978, the band consists of
Jim Kerr, lead vocals;
Derek Forbes, bass;
Charles Burchill, guitar;
Michael MacNeil, keyboards;
and Mel Gaynor (a new recruit, who played on several of the
tracks on the LP including Someone on drums.
Someone Somewhere demonstrates the band's maturity and
sophistication as it captures that feeling of yearning - for someone, somewhere, in summertime
(even if it now wintertime). The vocals soar, the drums pound, and the guitars and keyboards canter in
delicate rhythmic strides, creating a flavour and an atmopshere that are simply
Simple Minds: simply gorgeous.
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