On 22 December, Paramount+ UK will premiere Everything Is Possible, a new documentary film telling the inspirational story of Simple Minds, a group of working-class kids growing up in post-industrial Glasgow who dared to dream.
Directed and produced by Joss Crowley, the film takes the viewer on an extraordinary journey from the band’s isolated beginnings in late 1970s Glasgow fired by the punk explosion, their restless and prolific early years – when they created several remarkable, groundbreaking and pioneering albums – through to their stratospheric ascent in the mid to late 1980s around the emergence of MTV, the impact of Live Aid and the international hit single ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’.
Everything Is Possible also explores the band’s challenging later years and their triumphant rebirth over the past decade, which has, once again, seen them lauded as one of the most important bands of their generation, achieving critically acclaimed albums and performing outstanding live shows to bigger audiences year on year.
Along the way, the film features candid interviews with band members, including Simple Minds’ founders, singer Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill, fellow musicians Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan, Texas’ Sharleen Spiteri, Live Aid organiser Bob Geldof and The Specials and 2-Tone founder, Jerry Dammers. Additional contributions come from writer Irvine Welsh, star of the Breakfast Club movie actress Molly Ringwald, broadcasters Murial Gray and Mariella Frostrup, and album producers John Leckie, Peter Walsh, Trevor Horn and Jimmy Iovine.
The overarching theme of the film is the lifelong friendship of Kerr and Burchill at the core of the group. Forged at the top of a sand castle on a new housing scheme in 1967, this remarkable relationship has spanned seven decades, making it an integral part of Simple Minds’ exceptional story.
“We dared to dream big dreams then we found the will to make them happen! We believe anyone can go way beyond their dreams, and that everything is possible, if you are determined to keep on trying.” Jim Kerr
Watch the trailer for “Everything Is Possible” – BELOW:
Considered one the greatest live bands of the past 40 years, Simple Minds recently announced their biggest tour since 1985. The Global Tour 2024 will see the band play to over one million people. Beginning in Australia and New Zealand in January, the tour arrives in the UK in March 2024:
March
15 Leeds First Direct Arena
16 Manchester AO Arena
18 Dublin 3Arena
19 Belfast SSE Arena
21 London The O2 Arena
23 Birmingham Utilita Arena Birmingham
24 Nottingham Motorpoint Arena Nottingham
26 Bournemouth Bournemouth International Centre
27 Cardiff Utilita Arena Cardiff
29 Glasgow The OVO Hydro
30 Glasgow The OVO Hydro
Formed in the seventies, and named after a lyric – ‘so simple minded’ – from David Bowie’s seminal 1972 single The Jean Genie, Simple Minds have become one of the most successful bands ever to come from the UK, selling over 60 million records worldwide, having number one singles on both sides of the Atlantic, and number one albums the world over, including five UK number one albums: Sparkle In The Rain (1984), Once Upon A Time (1985) and Street Fighting Years as well as the concert recording Live In The City Of Light (1987), and the compilation Glittering Prize 81/92.
Over the past 10 years Simple Minds has rekindled the magic that made them a vital artistic force in their early days, found themselves referenced by younger artists and playing to tens of thousands of people every year, all over the world. They have been the recipient of the Q Awards Lifetime Achievement and received universal critical acclaim for their recent albums. 2015’s Big Music was described by MOJO magazine as “their best album in 30 years”, and 2018’s Walk Between Worlds saw Simple Minds play their largest US tour to date and, along with 2022’s Direction Of The Heart, charted at number 4 in the UK.
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