Text: Adam Sweeting
Design: Malcolm Garrett
Photographs: Jamie Morgan, Janette Beckman, Peter Anderson, Lenny Love, George Golfie, Sheila Rock, Malcolm Garrett and Adam Sweeting.

Colour. 14 pages.

Available during the second UK leg of the New Gold Tour (November 1982), the first Simple Minds tour programme was a colourful, informative affair. After Jim's handwritten introduction, Adam Sweeting packed the 14 page brochure with a band history, biographies of the four main players, thoughts and talk. Malcolm Garrett added the illustrations and pictures; alongside his iconic New Gold Dream graphic artwork were pictures from the Sons And Fascation Tour and the first leg of the New Gold Tour (including candid pictures of the group larking around through to the wrecked remains of tour lorries).

Some of Sweeting's text was taken from his forthcoming, and yet untitled, Simple Minds book.

A large number were produced so it's still relatively common today.

Text: Adam Sweeting
Design: Malcolm Garrett
Photographs: Kersten Stelten, Jamie Morgan and Herbie Yamaguchie.

Colour. 20 pages.

Although repeating the formula of its predesessor, and was designed and written by the same people, this tour programme was a much glossier and sturdier production. Adam Sweeting's text was edited excerpts from the forthing, now titled, Mission In Motion: Inside Simple Minds and Malcolm Garrett filled the rest with previously unpublished photo shoots, live shots and the brash artwork from the Sparkle In The Rain album.

A large number were produced so it's still relatively common today.

Design: Masahiko Araki
Photographs: Peter Ashworth, Adrian Boot, Jamie Morgan, Ilpo Musto and Herbie Yamaguchi.

Colour. 24 pages.

Prepared for the Japanese leg of the Tour De Monde by UDO Artists, this 24 page programme featured the usual studio photography of the band along with loads of previously unpublished black and white live shots. There was also a brief biography (although it's all in Japanese). It's also the same size as an LP, so was obviously designed to be filed away with your copy of Sparkle In The Rain.

Only a small number were produced making this programme extremely collectable.

Simple Minds, like the other artists featured at the JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, were represented in the glossy programme by a simple one page photograph. The snap was probably taken during the Sparkle In The Rain tour and features Mick, Jim and Mel on stage.

Copies of this programme are still easy to come by, but ensure it's the JFK Stadium version and not the Wembley Stadium one.

Concept, Photography And Design: Anton Corbijn
Coordination And Design: Neil Storey/ARDVRECK
Layout: Steven Lawrance/Channel One
Typesetting: Wendy Inglis
Simple Minds logo: Mick Haggerty

Colour. 32 pages.

This programme was simply a showcase of Anton's Corbijn's photo sessions with the Simple Minds around New York and New York state. The majority of the programme's pages comprised black and white shots of the various members of the band against rural or urban backdrops.

It was intended to be sold during the 1985 dates of the tour (as it only featured the tour dates for November and December) but copies were still on offer during the first UK dates.

They printed huge numbers and given its durable glossy cover, mint copies are still plentiful today.

Concept Photography: Anton Corbijn
Design: Anton Corbijn/Vicky Mockett
Coordination And Design: Neil Storey/ARDVRECK
Layout: Steven Lawrance/Channel One
Typesetting: Wendy Inglis
Simple Minds Logo: Mick Haggerty

Colour. 40 pages.

Sold during the second half of the Once Upon A Time tour, this programme included more shots of the band around New York State, several concerts shots from an early performance, and pictures of the supporting musicians (such as Robin Clark and Sue Hadjopoulos).

Apart from some lyrics, there was absolutely no text (not even a list of tour dates). It was essentially an art book.

They printed huge numbers and given its durable glossy cover, mint copies are still plentiful today.

Black and white. 20 pages.

Produced specifically for the Reggio Emilia gig (of the 4th February) this programme comprised of a lively cut-and-paste job of various pictures and lyrics with a group biography and discography. It was obviously put together by someone knowledgable of the band's history and releases as I can't knock it for its accuracy.

Black and white. 24 pages.

Sold at the Ibrox Park Stadium and Milton Keynes Bowl gigs, this black and white programme (with colour cover) was packed full of interviews, reviews and lyrics culled from Melody Maker and Smash Hits. As the official programme was little more than an art collection, this naughty bootleg complimented it extremely well.

It's well worth tracking down today just for those old articles from 1982 through to 1985.

Programme Photography: Guido Harari
Programme Design: David Corp
Simple Minds Logo: Mick Haggerty
Programme Printing: L.D. Kikaku
Colour. 32 pages.

Sold only during the Japanese dates of the Once Upon A Time tour, this huge, glossy programme was packed full of colour Guido Harari shots of the band on stage and in various locations. Whilst some eventually appeared as artwork for Live In The City Of Light and Promised You A Miracle Live, most of the shots are exclusive to this programme.

Unfortunately all of the associated extensive text was in Japanese.

Very rare and very desirable.

Text: Alfred Bos
Design: Assorted Images
Photographs: Guido Harari, Andy Earl and Malcolm Garrett.

Colour. 36 pages.

With lively (if not slightly incomprehensible) text by official biographer Alfred Bos and the design dream-team of Malcolm Garrett, the Street Fighting Years Programme was a glossy work of art.

Not only was the current tour well documented (with dates and brief biographies of all concerned) but the history of Simple Minds was covered with a tour dates history and discography. (This tied in with the 10th anniverary of the band).

Printed in huge numbers, sold at all the Street Fighting Years gigs and common still today.

Black and white with glossy colour cover. 20 pages.

The deceptive glossy colour cover gives way to a slim black-and-white reproduction of miscellaneous pages from Dave Thomas' Glittering Prize.The discography (which only runs to Sparkle In The Rain) is also included.

Poor. A cheap and cheerful knock-off.

Sold at the Wembley gig on the 16th April 1990, the tour programme was a massive solid affair packed with photographs, essays, biographies and single page features of all the artists involved. Simple Minds were represented by a single arms-aloft picture of Jim and a brief biography of the band.

The programme should also include a free poster.

Graphic Design: Stylorouge
Photography: Andy Earl, Simon Fowler and Guido Harari.

Colour. 40 pages.

It was back to basics with the Real Life tour and the same was true of the tour programme.

It was primarily a picture book (mainly of the previous Street Fighting Years Tour peppered with portrait shots and stills from the See The Lights video) with biographies of the five major players and snatches of lyrics.

The front cover design was cut through the paper, a design repeated for the limited edition Real Life CD single.

Black and white. 20 pages.

Not all bootleg tour programmes are good as this example proves. Real Live Tour is simply a black and white, 20 page, reproduction of the first pages of Dave Thomas' book Glittering Prize, and a discography cheekily copied from the official tour programme.

Sold at the August UK gigs, this programme is becoming quite rare, but would only be of interest to completists.

Design And Art Direction: Stylorouge
Band Photography: David Scheinmann
Textural Photography: Rob O'Conner and Stuart Mackenzie.

Colour. 40 pages.

Following on from the corrugated cardboard sleeve of the limited edition She's A River CD, the press releases and the promotional calendar came the tour programme.

And very nice it was too. 40 pages of glorious colour pictures of Jim and Charlie in Jaipur, India, speckled with a brief band update, biographies of the two main players and a brief album discography.

Copies are becoming scarce but it's well worth tracking down.

Colour: 32 pages.

This full colour, rather flimsy, programme features two page biographies of each of the artists. The Simple Minds pages included pictures of Jim in the "floating cage" which was suspended over the Proms' audience. Other pictures included some promo shots from the Good News From The Next World era and adverts for The Promised.

Simple Minds' one appearance in 1999 was at this benefit gig for Kosovo refugees now settling in Scotland. The programme was typically glossy with two page biographies of all the artists appearing.

Colour: 24 pages.

This programme followed the same format as the previous Proms program. This time the two page biography of Simple Minds included a full page picture of Jim and Charlie at the 1997 Proms concerts.

Photography: Matthew Ashton, Stuart Mackenzie and Dino Squilino
Editoral: Jim Kerr and John Hatfield
Graphic Design: 2fluid_creative.

Colour. 32 pages.

The programme was packed with quotes from Jim, a band history, tour dates and discography. The pictorial content was almost random with a selection of shots from the Good News From The Next World Tour, recent band portraits and miscellaneous textural shots.

Colour. 20 pages.

After ignoring the various full page adverts you're left with several pages devoted to Simple Minds. With lots of colour pictures and a full biography it's definintely worth tracking down this programme from Jim's home town.

Editorial: Ian Condie
Photography: Dino Squilino, Matthew Ashton and Guido Karp.
Graphic Design: 2fluid_creative.

Colour. 32 pages.

Although some colour appears, the majority of this programme is a black and white pictorial record of the band. Far more coherent than The Floating World Tour Programme, the band are pictured out-and-about and on stage. A biography, tour dates and introduction from Jim complete the text content.

Design: Fabrique.
Art Direction And Design: Chris Van Diemen, Jeroen Vap Erp and Brecht Hoffmann.
Photography: Chantel Wouters and Chris Van Diemen.
Band Photography: Sarah Cresswell and Hilko Nackaerts.

Colour. 28 pages.

This lavish production features black and white stills from the album artwork, pictures of the band taken during the Home video and various live shots. These are accompanied by various quotes from Jim.

Colour: 32 pages.

Like previous Proms tour programmes, the colour, rather flimsy, magazine feautres biographies of each of the artists and various adverts. The Simple Minds section included several pictures of Jim and Charlie along with mention that the new album was expected in 2009.

Tour Book Design: Kate Stretton for de-lux.
Photography: Anton Corbijn.
Special thanks to all the photographers: Guido Harari, Peter MacArthur, Sarah Cresswell, Bob Thacker and Matthew Ashton.

A huge thank you to Simon Cornwell for digging deep into his never ending archives to supply us with many great images and memorabilia.

Colour. 32 pages.

This lavish, large 32 page programme is too grand to be called just a programme; all involved referred to it as the 'tour book' (a name reflected in the credits in the back).

It recalls the earlier New Gold Dream, Sparkle In The Rain and Street Fighting Years programmes by filling the glossy pages with both picture and text. Photographs and memorabilia from the earliest Simple Minds gigs through to the last Black And White tour are included.

Included with a lengthy Q&A session with the band are contributions and essays from Jim, Bruce Findlay, Alessia Bighi (fan), Pauk Kerr, Rosy Giuffre (fan), Pete Walsh (on the recording of New Gold Dream), Michelle Armour (fan), Kay Melrose (Simple Minds' PA), Jaine Henderson (early lighting), Barry Wright (promoter), John Ramsey (EFX Audio), Frank X Gallagher, Steve Pollard (lighting and set design), Steve Robinson (fan), Billy Sloan and Simon Cornwell (on the Dream Giver website). I also supplied memorabilia scans and wrote the discography and tour histories.

Graffiti Soul Artwork: Joe Blake, Chris Gallagher and Ryan MacDonald for Curious
Tour book printing: Alan Hill for Hill Shorter Ltd
Tour merchandise design: Kate Stretton and Ben Aitchison for Live Nation Merchandise European Division
Photography: Simple Minds in Munich Andreja Babic @ Fotografie AB (pages 9, 13, 18 and 19)
Photography: Simple Minds in Venice Tommaso Gastaldi (pages 3, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 15, 19, and 21)
Thanks to Hilko Nackaerts for contributing all other photography.
Interview: Pierre Perrone
Thanks to Simon Cornwell for sharing his thoughts, memories and as always - his neverending archives.

Colour: 28 pages.

The Graffiti Soul Tour Programme continues the high standards set by the 30 Years Live Tour Programme. It's stuffed full of colourful Graffiti Soul artwork spreads, dynamic live shots taken during the summer tour (including the spectacular backdrop of Venice) and thoughts and words by Jim, journalist Pierre Perrone and myself.

There are also archive shots and illustrations from Sons And Fascination, which is the second featured album of the tour.

Editorial: Simon Cornwell and Elaine Gwyther
Contributors: Billy Sloan, John Leckie, Steve Hillage, Peter Walsh, Bruce Findlay and Jim Kerr
Memorabilia: Billy Sloan, Ronnie Gurr and Simon Cornwell
Photography: Paul Khera, Peter McArthur, Sheila Rock, Richard Coward, Jill Furmanovsky, Jamie Morgan and Virgin Records
Graphic Design: Martin Astley at Hill Shorter
Printing: Hill Shorter

Colour: 24 pages.

The tour programme explores the world of 5x5, with new interviews by John Leckie, Steve Hillage and Peter Walsh, a tour retrospective by Billy Sloan, and lots of archive pictures of the band and memorabilia. There’s also a 5x5 discography, biographies of the five band members and introductions and thoughts from Jim Kerr and Bruce Findlay.

Editorial: Pierre Perrone
Additional content: Simon Cornwell
Photography: Paul Cox, Paul Khera, Lisa Williams and Vincent Barker
Design: Peacock
Printing: Hill Shorter

Colour: 28 pages.

This colour tour programme included an introduction from Jim, the Greatest Hits + press release, current live pictures (from the 5X5 Tour) and a lengthy album by album retrospective by Pierre Perrone.

Editorial: Billy Sloan
Photography: Vince Barker, Paul Cox
Additional Photography: Loraine Ross, Alex Lake
Design: Peacock
Lettering: Ruth Rowland
Printing: Hill Shorter

Colour: 52 pages.

The tour programme included pictures taken at the previous Greatest Hits + gigs by Vince Barker and Paul Cox and a lengthy contemporary account of Big Music by Billy Sloan.

Editorial: Billy Sloan
Photography: Vince Barker, Paul Cox
Additional Photography: Loraine Ross, Alex Lake
Design: Peacock
Lettering: Ruth Rowland
Printing: Hill Shorter

Colour: 52 pages.

The tour programme included pictures taken at the previous Greatest Hits + gigs by Vince Barker and Paul Cox and a lengthy contemporary account of Big Music by Billy Sloan. This reprint of the original, sold during the Arena Tour featured a new introduction by Jim (writing about support act The Stranglers) and an advert for the (Get A) Grip (On Yourself) 7" single.

Editorial: Billy Sloan
Photography: Paul Cox, Alan Wild
Additional Photography: Isabella Charlesworth and Mark Allan
Design: Stuart Crouch Creative
Hand Lettering: Ruth Rowland
Printing: Hill Shorter

Colour: 52 pages.

The tour programme included pictures taken at the album sessions, the video shoots, the Ivor Novello Awards and at Hackney Empire. Billy Sloan wrote the sleeve notes which included interviews with every member of the band. Invidual pages were devoted to support acts KT Tunstall and The Anchoress whilst there was also adverts for Acoustic the the forthcoming Acoustic Live.

Editorial: Adrian Thrills
Photography: Dean Chalkley
Art Direction and Design: Stuart Crouch Creative
Cover Image: Heitor Magno
Test Card Graphics: Anthony Dry
Printing: Hill Shorter

Colour: 48 pages.

The main part of the program included an essay about Walk Between Worlds, written by Adrian Thrills after interviewing Jim and Charlie. All the other musicians were given two-page spreads where they wrote a short biography and thoughts about the tour. Included were pages devoted to the various formats of Walk Between Worlds and merchandise. And extra pictures from the Dean Chalkley photoshoot were included throughout.

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