I just got the email from the Simple Minds mothership minutes ago and I’m a little shocked at how reality has refused to bend to my expectations. I you can set the Wayback Machine for about five years ago, there was to be a Simple Minds book called “Book Of Brilliant Things.” Then it morphed into strictly a fan history of the band and not at all what I was expecting. Then the name changed to “The Heart Of the Crowd.” Cheeky of them to steal a crucial Magazine lyric but that band had already done their book and were not using it. Memo to self [and everyone reading this]: the 2nd edition of Helen Chase’s Magazine biography is out and I need to post on it!

Ultimately, “The Heart Of The Crowd” was a tough slog for this fan as it was 90% about the fans’ themselves and featured scant band input. When that book shifted title and emphasis, I famously declared “I’m certain that Jim Kerr will be writing his autobiography in the imminently coming years, and that it will be called “Book Of Brilliant Things.” As we see, not so much!

Meanwhile, Graeme Thomson wrote the book that I only bothered to rough draft with his “Themes For Great Cities: A New History of Simple Minds.” I’ve wanted that since it was announced in 2022 and last year, when in the UK, I made certain to buy a copy! But it’s still in the “to read” pile…along with a book by John Foxx! Now we hear that the Jim Kerr memoir has manifested and it’s not at all what I was expecting as I prepare my dish of crow.

The angle on this upcoming book is evidence of some intelligence behind the scenes since the most predictable thing in the world would have been Jim Kerr’s autobiography. Fortunately, that resulting book, coming our way was written by Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill… with Graeme Thomson in there adding his editorial sauce. The subtext of the book is the lifelong friendship between Jim and Charlie which dates back to their early schooldays.

This should bring some freshness to the resulting 350+ pages and give it a fighting chance to attain some vitality by the inclusion of the crucial Mr. Burchill to the long history of the band. I love the vintage photo of the belligerent young toughs in their quiana shirts with the Toryglen Tower behind them in a haze. It’s very real and of the tale even if I question its commerciality. I’m amazed some suit somewhere [in summertime] didn’t demand a Live Aid shot of the band on this 40th anniversary year of the event. Instead, this book has the cover that it absolutely should have.

The book will be released on October 2nd of 2025 and can be pre-ordered from many places at £25.00 in hardcover. There are signed copied out there but the Simple Minds web store is already sold out of the signed copies with Kerr, Burchill, and Thomson’s signatures. It looked like there was no upcharge for the signed copy from the band store. Och, those thrifty Scots usually price things right for this Monk. Fortunately, other resellers still have their contingent of signed copies if you look around. For the sake of argument, we’ll link to Rough Trade UK for their offering. DJ hit that button!

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