Virgin | UK Promo | 12" | 1995 | VSTDJ 1534

Simple Minds: Hypnotised UK Promo 12″ [1995]

1. Hypnotised [Extended Remix]
2. Hypnotised [Extended Remix instrumental]
3. Hypnotised [Malfunction Mix]
4. Hypnotised [Malfunction Mix instrumental]

1995 was the year that Simple Minds came back home from the wilderness of arenas for me. It had been thin ice between us for the previous ten years and no one was shocked more than I was when I heard the new Simple Minds single on the radio… in my car no less, and actually liked it. “She’s A River” won’t be confused with “I Travel;” not even a million years from today. Still, for all of its commercial heft, it managed to actually make me really like it in a way that had not happened in far too long.

I bought “Good News From The Next World” and was pleasantly surprised that the band’s reunion with Keith Forsey, writer and producer of the band destroying “Don’t You [Forget About Me]” single, acquitted himself rather nicely in the proceedings. This was a solidly great, albeit commercial record, that stood out from the horrible 90s music scene rather proudly and managed to provide lots of great songs and arrangements that kept my interest all the way through. Without this album, there’s probably no way I’d be raving about Simple Minds in 2012. This was a not inconsequential achievement for the group in 1995, having been reduced to the duo of Kerr and Burchill plus session players.

So naturally, being The Monk, I bought every single variation necessary to obtain all of the single mix variations for the Record Cell. For years I thought smugly, that I had it all covered, but the addition to the impeccable Dream Giver Redux Simple Minds fansite of this UK promo 12″ caught my eye in a big way whilst perusing the godlike discography that is hosted within. I delved into my Discogs.com account and added it to my wantlist and waited. Fortunately, not for long before a very clean copy of this gem turned up available.

The two A-side mixes of “Hypnotised” by Tom Lord-Alge and Tim Simenon are respectively the “Extended Mix” with a more radical, dubby “Malfunction Mix” that takes the song a bit off the rails and into the wilderness, courtesy of the always capable touch of Mr. Simenon. Those tracks are here, but for the first and last time, there are also straight instrumental takes of those commercially released tracks. Nothing to shatter one’s worldview, but whenever Tim Simenon is working the faders, it’s well worth a listen, and it certainly holds up without the lead vocals.

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