"Don't You (Forget About Me)" is a song by the Scottish rock band

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for " Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United ...

, released as a single in 1985. It was written and composed by the producer

Keith Forsey Keith Forsey (born 2 January 1948) is an English pop musician and record producer. Early life Forsey began his career as a percussionist in the mid-late 1960s as the drummer for The SpectrumCaptain Scarlet and the Mysterons - The Vault - Chris ...

and Steve Schiff, a guitarist and songwriter from the

Nina Hagen Catharina "Nina" Hagen (; born 11 March 1955) is a German singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her theatrical vocals and rose to prominence during the punk and new wave movements in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is known as ...

band. Forsey and Schiff wrote it for Simple Minds, and offered it to several acts before Simple Minds agreed to record it. The song was used in the 1985 John Hughes film ''

The Breakfast Club ''The Breakfast Club'' is a 1985 American teen coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes. It stars Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy. The ...

'' and the 2010 film ''

Easy A ''Easy A'' (stylized as ''easy A'') is a 2010 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Will Gluck, written by Bert V. Royal, starring Emma Stone, Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson, Thomas Haden Church, Dan Byrd, Amanda Bynes, Penn Bad ...

''.

Theme

"Don't You (Forget About Me)" was written by the producer

and the guitarist Steve Schiff while they were scoring the 1985 film ''

''. Forsey and Schiff were inspired by the scene in which an introvert and a school bully bond while no one else is watching. Forsey said, "It was: don't forget, when we're back in the classroom, you're not just a bad guy and we've got other things in common."

Recording

Schiff and Forsey were Simple Minds fans and wrote the song with the band in mind. Forsey played a demo for the band's label,

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

, which invited him to meet the band backstage after one of their "Tour du Monde" shows in the U.S. However, A&M did not notify Simple Minds that Forsey would appear, and the band declined to record the song. Forsey offered "Don't You (Forget About Me)" to

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ''The Independent'', Ferry an ...

, who declined as he was working on his album '' Boys and Girls.'' Ferry said later: "It was just bad timing ... Keith Forsey sent me a demo of the song and it sounded like a hit to me. Simple Minds did a great version of it."

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

, whom Forsey was producing at the time, also declined. A&M suggested Corey Hart, who had a hit at the time with "

Sunglasses at Night "Sunglasses at Night" is a song by Canadian singer Corey Hart. It was released on January 21, 1984 as the first single from his debut album, 1983's ''First Offense'', and became a hit single in the United States, officially rising to number 7 on ...

", but Forsey did not think Hart was the right singer.

Cy Curnin Cyril John Curnin (born 12 December 1957, Wimbledon, England) is a singer/songwriter and musician and is the lead vocalist for the new wave music group, the Fixx. As a songwriter, he has co-written over a dozen songs that have appeared on the ...

, the lead singer of

the Fixx The Fixx are a rock band from London, England, founded in 1979. The band's hits include " One Thing Leads to Another", " Saved by Zero", " Are We Ourselves?", and " Secret Separation", each of which charted in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot ...

, also declined. According to the Simple Minds frontman

Jim Kerr James Kerr (born 9 July 1959) is a Scottish singer and the lead singer of the rock band Simple Minds, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States. Ot ...

, Simple Minds were reluctant to record the song as they felt they should only record their own material. He said in 2018: "We are Simple Minds—we don't do songs that sound like Simple Minds. We are Simple Minds. We do our own songs." The band also were frustrated that their attempts to find success in the US market had not found significant radio airplay, and did not see how recording the song would change this. The band relented after persuasion from A&M and from

Chrissie Hynde Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician. She is a founding member and the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band the Pretenders, and one of the band's two remaining original members alon ...

, Kerr's wife at the time, and after receiving a phone call from Forsey in which he reiterated his admiration for the band. According to one account, the band "rearranged and recorded 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' in three hours in the north London studio and promptly forgot about it," believing that it would be a throwaway song on the soundtrack to a forgettable movie. In the process of recording, Simple Minds added parts such as Kerr's "la la la" vocal fills. They resumed work on '' Once Upon a Time'', their next album. However, some of the band members had realised they had recorded something with commercial potential.

Music video

The music video, filmed inside

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Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

, was directed by

Daniel Kleinman Daniel Kleinman (born 23 December 1955) is a British television commercial and music video director who has designed every title sequence for the ''James Bond'' series of films since ''GoldenEye'' (1995), with the exception of ''Quantum of ...

. It takes place in a darkened room with a

chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent ...

, a

rocking horse __NOTOC__ A rocking horse is a child's toy, usually shaped like a horse and mounted on rockers similar to a rocking chair. There are two sorts, the one where the horse part sits rigidly attached to a pair of curved rockers that are in contact wit ...

, a

jukebox A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons, with letters and numbers on them, which are used to sele ...

, and television sets displaying scenes from ''The Breakfast Club''. The room gets increasingly cluttered with random objects as the video progresses until the last minute. The video was published on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

on 3 December 2010; as of July 2022, it had been viewed more than 240 million times.

Release and reception

The song became a number-one hit in the US in May 1985 and in Canada in June 1985. It is also the band's only number-one hit on the US Top Rock Tracks chart, staying atop that chart for three weeks. While only reaching number seven in the UK, it stayed on the charts from 1985 to 1987, one of the longest timespans for any single in the history of the chart. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' said that "though the lyric theme is a simple enough declaration, the lead vocals and vivid orchestration make the tune complex and moving." The song did not appear on the band's subsequent album '' Once Upon a Time'', but it did appear on the 1992

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

compilation ''

Glittering Prize 81/92 ''Glittering Prize 81/92'' is a compilation album by Simple Minds, released in 1992. It spans the period from ''Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call'' (the first album recorded by Simple Minds for Virgin Records) to ''Real Life Real l ...

''. It soon became a fixture of the band's live sets – with an extended audience participation section during its inclusion on the 2015 tour to promote the band's ''Big Music'' album. Two versions were created for release. A short version, 4:23 in duration, appeared on the single and the original motion-picture soundtrack album of ''The Breakfast Club''. A longer version, 6:32 in duration, was released as a

12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

. This version contains longer breakdowns and drum fills, a second appearance of the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...

, and a longer ending. John Leland from ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally ...

'' wrote, Don't You Forget About Me,' a romantic and melancholy dance track, therefore cuts ice both in the living room and on the dance floor."

Track listing

7″: Virgin/VS749 (UK), 7″: A&M Records/AM-2703 (US)

# "Don't You (Forget About Me)" – 4:20 # "A Brass Band in Africa" – 5:10

12″: Virgin/VS749-12 (UK), 12″: A&M Records/SP-12125 (US)

# "Don't You (Forget About Me)" – 6:32 # "A Brass Band in African Chimes" – 9:22

12″: Virgin/VSX 1250 (Canada)

# "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (extended version) – 6:32 # "Don't You (Forget About Me)" – 4:20 # "A Brass Band in Africa" – 5:10

1988 3″ CD: Virgin/CDT2 (UK)

# "Don't You (Forget About Me)" – 4:20 # "A Brass Band in African Chimes" – 9:22

1988 CD: A&M Records/75021 2375 2 (US)

# "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (live) – 9:02 # "Bass Line" – 4:37 # "The American" – 3:33

1990 CD: Virgin/THEME10 (UK)

# "Don't You (Forget About Me)" – 6:35 # "Up on the Catwalk" (extended version) – 7:36 # "A Brass Band in African Chimes" – 9:24

Personnel

– lead vocals *

Charlie Burchill Charles Burchill (born 27 November 1959) is a Scottish musician and composer, best known as the guitarist of Simple Minds. He is one of the founders of the group. Style During Simple Minds' early to mid-1980s period, Burchill's guitar had a dis ...

– guitar, keyboards *

Mick MacNeil Norman Michael MacNeil is a Scottish songwriter and keyboardist born 20 July 1958 on the Isle of Barra, Scotland. He is best known as a former member of the group Simple Minds. MacNeil joined the band in 1978 and left in 1990. He released the ...

– composer, keyboards *

Derek Forbes Derek Forbes (born 22 June 1956) is a Scottish bassist, vocalist, and occasional guitarist. He is mostly associated with the Scottish band Simple Minds, having joined in time to record their early demos in 1978 and stayed with the band during ...

– bass guitar *

Mel Gaynor Mel George Gaynor (born 29 May 1959) is a British drummer, best known as the longtime drummer for the rock band Simple Minds. Biography Gaynor was born to a Jamaican father and an Afro-Brazilian mother. He began drumming at age 11 and had ...

– drums, percussion

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Notes

References

External links

* AllMusic: Keith Forsey {{Authority control The Breakfast Club 1985 singles 1985 songs Simple Minds songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Dutch Top 40 number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by Keith Forsey Song recordings produced by Keith Forsey Songs written for films Virgin Records singles A&M Records singles Billy Idol songs Victoria Justice songs Victorious