''Life in a Day'' is the debut album by

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 in April 1979 by record label Zoom. It reached number 30 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

. The title track and "Chelsea Girl" were issued as singles.

Recording

The album was recorded between mid-December 1978 and early-February 1979 in the grounds of Farmyard Studios,

Little Chalfont Little Chalfont is a village and civil parish in south-east Buckinghamshire, England. It is one of a group of villages known collectively as The Chalfonts, which also comprises Chalfont St Giles and Chalfont St Peter. Little Chalfont is located ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

, using the mobile unit The Mobile Studio, with further recording at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music ...

(including the recording of an orchestra for the track "Pleasantly Disturbed"), and mixed at Townhouse Studios, London. The original working title for the album "Children of the Game" (a reference to

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the s ...

's novel of that name) had been dropped and changed to "Life in a Day" after the band had written the title track in January 1979. After the band's first choice of producer

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various sty ...

was vetoed by

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertain ...

, the album was produced and mixed by

John Leckie John William Leckie (born 23 October 1949) is an English record producer and recording engineer. His production credits include Magazine's ''Real Life'' (1978), XTC's ''White Music'' (1978) and Dukes of Stratosphear's ''25 O'Clock'' (1985), t ...

. The album was completed in late February 1979. The recording sessions yielded the full album, the b-side "Special View" and two unfinished out-takes, "Rosemary's Baby" and "Children of the Game". The track-listing and mastering was finalised in March 1979.

Release and reception

''Life in a Day'' was released by the independent label Zoom Records and licensed to

. The album's artwork was created by Carole Moss, a friend of John Leckie. The album spent six weeks in the UK LP charts and reached number 30 on 12 May 1979.Life in a Day
OfficialCharts.com. Retrieved on 5 April 2021 The title track was released on 30 March as Simple Minds' first single and reached No. 62 in the UK charts, spending two weeks there. "Chelsea Girl", considered the strongest track on the album, was held back as the second single by Arista Records, but it failed to chart at all. A tribute to

Nico Naftiran Intertrade Company limited (NICO) is a Swiss-based subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). NICO is a general contractor for the oil and gas industry. NIOC buys the vast majority of Iran's gasoline imports. NICO is a key pl ...

and the

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

film ''

Chelsea Girls ''Chelsea Girls'' is a 1966 American experimental underground film directed by Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey. The film was Warhol's first major commercial success after a long line of avant-garde art films (both feature-length and short). It w ...

'', it was a popular live song for the band.Thompson, Deve.
Chelsea Girl
Allmusic.com. Retrieved on 31 January 2013. Andy Kellman of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

rated the album the lowest of Simple Minds' first five album releases, remarking on its derivativeness of

Magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

and

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy Mackay (saxophone ...

and ranking "Someone" as the best track.Kellman, Andy.
Life in a Day
Allmusic.com. Retrieved on 31 January 2013. '' NMEs Tony Stewart praised the lyrics and arrangements despite noting the overt influences of 1970s music, and rated "Murder Story" the standout track. Although noting the album as overproduced and undermining the band's sound, he rated the album favourably. In a 2012 interview, the band's 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 ...

expressed regret that the album's production had resulted in the tracks lacking "a real spark" that was part of their live performances, and described his feelings about the album as "bittersweet". He recalled at the time, "as we were about to drive up to Scotland, someone gave me a cassette of '' Unknown Pleasures'' by

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after atte ...

... and I thought, we've completely blown it."—ruing that their live material had sounded more like

Velvet Underground Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short pile, giving it a distinctive soft feel. By extension, the word ''velvety'' means ...

and less like

the Boomtown Rats The Boomtown Rats are an Irish rock music, rock band originally formed in Dublin in 1975. Between 1977 and 1985, they had a series of Irish and UK hit record, hits including "Like Clockwork", "Rat Trap", "I Don't Like Mondays" and "Banana Repub ...

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the album's liner notes. ;Simple Minds *

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orche ...

s * Charles Burchill –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

, vocals, arrangements *

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 Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, vocals, arrangements * Brian McGee –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, vocals, arrangements *

Michael 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 ...

– keyboards, vocals, arrangements ;Technical *

– producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

, arrangements *George Chambers – tape operator *Carole Moss – cover photography,

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...

Charts

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Simple Minds albums 1979 debut albums Albums produced by John Leckie