Simply Red 樂(lè)隊(duì)于1985年初在曼徹斯特成立，它是英國(guó)最成功的靈歌風(fēng)格的流行樂(lè)隊(duì)之一。樂(lè)隊(duì)的領(lǐng)袖人物是Mick Hucknall，正是他的高亢嗓音使得樂(lè)隊(duì)給人一種真正的靈歌感覺(jué)，并最終使樂(lè)隊(duì)同一些僅僅稱(chēng)得上熟練的靈歌樂(lè)隊(duì)區(qū)別開(kāi)來(lái)。 樂(lè)隊(duì)的許多成員在后朋克時(shí)期繁忙的曼城搖滾樂(lè)壇上非常活躍。 Hucknall曾是車(chē)庫(kù)樂(lè)隊(duì) The Frantic Elevators 的靈魂人物，而貝司手 Tony Bowers、鼓手 Chris Joyce和銅管樂(lè)手 Tim Kellett 都來(lái)自 The Durutti Column 樂(lè)隊(duì)。后來(lái)鍵盤(pán)手 Fritz McIntyre 和吉他手 Sylvan Richardson也加入了樂(lè)隊(duì)。共同演出了一陣子后，樂(lè)隊(duì)加入了 Elektra 公司。最后樂(lè)隊(duì)由于參加了 James Brown 1985年的英國(guó)巡回演出，并在演出中獲得了很大成功，因而聲名大振。 同年夏天，Simply Red 以一首《Moneys Too Tight(To Mention)》打入英國(guó)排行榜前 20名。隨后樂(lè)隊(duì)推出了他們的首張專(zhuān)輯《Picture Book》。 隨著專(zhuān)輯成為金唱片，樂(lè)隊(duì)在全歐洲的名氣與日俱增， 最終他們以一曲《Holding Back the Years》在英美兩國(guó)都獲得了極大的成功， 在美國(guó)成為冠軍曲，英國(guó)榜第2名。樂(lè)隊(duì)的第2張專(zhuān)輯《Men & Women》成功發(fā)行， 確立了 Hucknall世界一流歌手的地位。1989年的專(zhuān)輯《A New Flame》直達(dá)英國(guó)榜冠軍，并在美國(guó)產(chǎn)生了他們第2首冠軍單曲——翻唱 Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes樂(lè)隊(duì)的《If You Dont Know Me By Now》。 他們的第4張專(zhuān)輯—1992年的《Stars》產(chǎn)生了 3 首熱門(mén)歌曲：《Something Got Me Started》、《Wonderland》和《For Your Babies》，此專(zhuān)輯獲得了英國(guó)最佳專(zhuān)輯獎(jiǎng)。 隨后他們?cè)?998年和1999年又分別推出了兩張專(zhuān)輯 《Blue》和《Love & The Russian Winter》，并且在前不久又推出了他們的最新大碟《Its Only Love》，相信這些都將他們帶來(lái)更多的成功。 by William Ruhlmann The British soul-pop band Simply Red was formed in 1984 by singer Mick Red Hucknall (born Michael James Hucknall, June 8, 1960, Manchester, England) with three ex-members of Durutti Column, Tony Bowers (born October 31, 1952) (bass), Chris Joyce (born October 11, 1957, Manchester, England) (drums), and Tim Kellett (born July 23, 1964, Knaresborough, England) (brass, keyboards), plus Sylvan Richardson (guitar) and Fritz McIntyre (born September 2, 1956, Birmingham, England) (keyboards). The group signed to Elektra Records and released Picture Book (October 1985), which featured Moneys Too Tight (To Mention), a Top 40 cover of a 1982 R&B chart single by the Valentine Brothers, and Holding Back the Years, a Hucknall original that topped the U.S. charts. The single caused the album to go platinum, and made the group one of the major successes of 1986. Men and Women (March 1987), which featured two collaborations between Hucknall and soul songwriter Lamont Dozier, was less popular, though it generated the Top 40 hit The Right Thing. (In the U.K., Infidelity and a cover of Cole Porters Evry Time We Say Goodbye also made the Top 40.) Richardson left in 1987 and was replaced by guitarist Aziz Ibrahim, who was replaced by Heitor T.P. (born Brazil). The third album, A New Flame (February 1989), went gold due to the cover of the 1972 Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes hit If You Dont Know Me by Now that hit number one and became a gold single. (In the U.K., Its Only Love and A New Flame also made the Top 40.) By the time of the fourth album, Stars (September 1991), Bowers and Joyce had left, with Shaun Ward joining on bass and Gota on drums, and saxophonist Ian Kirkham had become a permanent member. Stars was a relative commercial disappointment in the U.S. (though it spawned Top 40 hits in Something Got Me Started and Stars and eventually went gold), but it became a major success elsewhere, especially in the U.K., where it was the best-selling album of 1991, topped the charts for 19 weeks, and spawned the Top Ten hits Stars and For Your Babies and the Top 40 hits Something Got Me Started, Thrill Me, and Your Mirror. Worldwide, it had sold eight-and-a-half-million copies by the second quarter of 1993. Ward and Gota were gone by the release of Simply Reds fifth album, Life (October 1995), leaving a lineup of Hucknall, McIntyre, Heitor T.P., Kirkham, and backup singer Dee Johnson. The album again proved more of a success at home than in America, topping charts all over Europe, as did its leadoff single, Fairground, while spending only three months in the U.S. charts. Blue followed in 1998, and a year later Simply Red issued Love and the Russian Winter. After establishing their simplyred label, Home was released in 2003. Two years later, the band released Simplified, a collection of old tracks and new songs, followed by another two-year absence before the notable Stay in 2007.