‘New Gold Dream – Live From Paisley Abbey’ finds Simple Minds at the very top of their game. Reminding people why, after 45 years, they are still such a revered band and why New Gold Dream is such a critically lauded, groundbreaking album.
Having celebrated its 40th birthday last year, the mesmerising New Gold Dream was the album that began Simple Minds crossover as a major force in the pop music of the 1980s, reaching number 3 on the UK album chart. Working with Peter Walsh, the band was able to realise the sophisticated, accessible pop sound they were striving for whilst continuing their quest for experimentation.
This achievement was reflected in three incredible and successful singles: ‘Promised You A Miracle’, ‘Glittering Prize’ and ‘Someone, Somewhere (In Summertime)’, which U2’s Bono picked as one of his Desert Island Discs when paying tribute to the band and New Gold Dream’s influence on him and U2.
Tonight, Sky Arts transmit a one-off filmed live performance of Simple Minds playing their seminal 1982 album New Gold Dream. The performance was filmed a short distance from the band’s hometown of Glasgow, in the stunning setting of the 12th-century Paisley Abbey.
Recorded late last year, the programme is part of Sky Arts’ ‘Greatest Albums live’ series, which captures iconic artists playing classic albums from their illustrious careers.
New Gold Dream – Live from Paisley Abbey offers fans the chance to buy the audio of this special one-off performance, either as a digital download, CD or a limited edition red transparent marble vinyl LP housed in a gatefold sleeve.
“When it came to choosing a venue to perform New Gold Dream, we wanted to do it somewhere locally. And obviously the band being from Glasgow, it had to be somewhere nearby. But it also had to be somewhere at some Grandeur and something that was just out of the norm, because it is a special album for us. And so Paisley Abbey, knowing its history and knowing the look of the place, we thought this would be something special.” – Jim Kerr
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 ten 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 played 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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