Simple Minds ca. 2002: L-R: Eddie Duffy, Jim Kerr, Mel Gaynor, Andy Gillespie, Charlie Burchill

I am a Simple Minds collector [within reason]. One thing that has stuck in my craw was that in the new millennium, it suddenly became very challenging to buy all of the tracks/mixes of this band due to their many, many licensing deals with labels all over Europe. Where in the good old days, just buying the UK Virgin pressings netter you 95% of what was released, in the new era, things were highly Balkanized with vinyl and CDs being issued willy-nilly and to make matters more confusing, Jim Kerr teaming up with DJs on “other” projects concurrent with the Simple Minds imprint. This exploded in 2002-2004 at exactly the moment where I had the least amount of money in my life to spend on music, so there is a lot of material missing in my Record Cell.

In 2002, I grabbed the last few items ca. 1986-1998 for a BSOG that I had made that year, and it covered two phases of their long career with non-LP tracks/mixes accounted for in a huge brick of music. What I will enumerate now will be the contents of the third phase of their career [1999-2016] and this will take time and get fairly messy. But until I do this, It’s hard knowing exactly what I still need, so strap in and get comfortable. It’s another Simple Minds thread at PPM. Hopefully, one that will last days instead of months. Titles I do have in red.

PART 1

John ’00’ Fleming VS Simple Minds
Belfast Trance
UK 12″ | Nebula ‎– Belf 001 | 2001

1. Belfast Trance (New Vocal Mix)
2. Belfast Trance (Original Vocal Mix)

This DJ wax was issued in 2001.

Simple Minds
Dancing Barefoot 
UK CD5 | Eagle Records ‎– EAGEP198 | 2001

1. Dancing Barefoot 3:51
2. Gloria 3:45
3. Being Boiled 3:51
4. Love Will Tear Us Apart 4:49

I actually bought this in a store in Knoxville during a visit there in 2001. It sported a dreadful version of the Joy Division number.

Simple Minds
Homosapien
UK 12″ | Remote Recordings ‎– REMOTE 016 | 2001

1. Homosapien (Malcolm Duffy Mix) 8:01
2. Homosapien (Malcolm Duffy Dub Mix) 6:46

I was shocked to see this issued on another label than Eagle Rock, which had Simple Minds signed in 2001, but the band retained the right to shop DJ projects to any label interested, making the next four years of collecting them almost impossible, as you’ll see. I recently got this, sparking this thread.

Simple Minds
Homosapien
UK CD5 | Remote Recordings ‎– REMOTE 016CD | 2001

1. Homosapien (Malcolm Duffy Edit) 3:30
2. Homosapien (Malcolm Duffy Mix) 8:01
3. Homosapien (Malcolm Duffy Dub Mix) 6:46

The impossible to find CD single of this title had the succinct 7″ edit of the A-side.

John ’00’ Fleming VS Simple Minds
Belfast Trance
UK CD5 | Nebula ‎– Belfcd 001 | 2002

1. Belfast Trance (Vocal Radio Edit) 3:52
2. Belfast Trance (New Vocal Mix) 7:57
3. Belfast Trance (Dub Mix) 7:46

A trance mix would only improve the awful “Belfast Child.” But these side DJ projects really muddied the waters at this time. There are many of them, too.

Simple Minds
Cry #1
GER CD5 | Eagle Records ‎– EAGXA218 | 2002

1. Cry 3:58
2. Lead The Blind 3:59
3. Homosapien (Vince Clarke Remix) 3:58

The 2xCD5 singles were no longer on the UK label. The Eagle CD singles for “Cry” were a German release.

Simple Minds
Cry #2
GER CD5 | Eagle Records ‎– EAGXS218 | 2002

1. Cry 3:58
2. For What It’s Worth
3. The Garden

The B-sides here were left over tracks from the last two albums; “Our Secrets Are The Same” and the cover album “Neon Lights.” Neither would have improved the albums they were cut from.

Simple Minds
Cry 
ITAL 12″ | Absolutely Records ‎– ABR 014 | 2002

1. Cry (Clubinvest Mix)
2. Cry (Phunk Investigation Radio Edit)
3. Cry (Dubinvest)

While Germany got the “Cry” B-sides, Italy got the remixes of “Cry.” And there were a lot of them.

Simple Minds
Cry [remixes]
ITAL 12″ | Absolutely Records ‎– ABR 015 | 2002

1. Cry (Tazz Glasgoal Remix)
2. Cry (Tazz Dub)

Italy got two 12″ers of this title.

… to be continued