Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band, formed in Glasgow in 1977. They are one of most commercially successful Scottish bands ever, having achieved five UK number one albums during their career and sold over 60 million records worldwide. Despite various personnel changes, they continue to record and tour. The band scored a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for their 1985 hit "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (UK #7, US #1, CAN #1), from the soundtrack of the film The Breakfast Club.
The next record, Sparkle in the Rain, was produced by Steve Lillywhite and released in February 1984. It gave rise to successful singles like "Waterfront" (which hit No. 1 in a few European countries) and "Speed Your Love to Me" and "Up on the Catwalk". Sparkle in the Rain topped the charts in the UK and hit the Top 20 in several other countries (including Canada, where it reached No. 13). In 1984, Jim Kerr married Chrissie Hynde from the Pretenders (who renamed herself Christine Kerr). Simple Minds did a North American tour where they played as headliners supported by China Crisis during the Canadian leg and in support of the Pretenders in the US while Hynde was pregnant with Kerr's daughter. The marriage lasted until 1990. Despite the band's new-found popularity in the UK, Europe, Canada and Australia, Simple Minds remained essentially unknown in the US. The band's UK releases on Arista were not picked up by Arista USA who had 'right of first refusal' for their releases. The 1985 film The Breakfast Club broke Simple Minds into the US market, when the band achieved their only No. 1 U.S. pop hit in April 1985 with the film's closing track, "Don't You (Forget About Me)". The song was written by Keith Forsey and Steve Schiff; Forsey offered the song to Billy Idol and Bryan Ferry before Simple Minds agreed to record it. The song soon became a chart-topper in many other countries around the world. At around this point, the camaraderie that had fuelled Simple Minds began to unravel, and over the next ten years the band's line-up underwent frequent changes. Jim Kerr subsequently recalled "We were knackered. We were desensitized. The band started to fracture. We were lads who had grown up together, we were meant to grow together, politically, spiritually and artistically. But we were getting tired with each other. There was an element of the chore creeping in. We were coasting and this whole other thing was a challenge." The first casualty was bassist Derek Forbes, who was beginning to squabble with Kerr. Forbes began failing to turn up for rehearsals, and was dismissed. Forbes remained in touch with the band (and soon reunited with another former Simple Minds bandmate, drummer Brian McGee, in Propaganda). Forbes was replaced by former Brand X bass player John Giblin (who owned the band's rehearsal space and was a session musician who had worked with Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush). Giblin made his debut with Simple Minds at Live Aid in Philadelphia, where the band performed "Don't You (Forget About Me)", a new track called "Ghost Dancing" and "Promised You a Miracle". Simple Minds were the first band to be approached to play the Philadelphia leg of Live Aid.

Q: What was Sparkle in the Rain?
A: Sparkle in the Rain, was produced by Steve Lillywhite and released in February 1984.

Q: Did it win any awards?
A: Sparkle in the Rain topped the charts in the UK and hit the Top 20 in several other countries

Q: Did you learn anything else interesting in the article?
A: Simple Minds did a North American tour where they played as headliners
What other successful albums did they have?
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