Great Songs from My Favorite Year in Music: 1985, Part 34

Simple Minds - "Don't You (Forget About Me)"



(Single Release: February 1985)
I feel as though if a poll were taken of the pop culture loving public, asking them to name a song that represents the 80s, more often than not this Simple MInds song would be mentioned. The story behind the song has been often told, but is still worth mentioning. The writer / producer of the song (yes, Simple Minds did not write this track) went through several options of performers before approaching this Glaswegian group, Billy Idol among those earlier considered. If you'd like to hear what that might have sounded like, one need only go as far as Idol's greatest hits compilation, on which he covers the song. Jim Kerr and company weren't too happy about recording a song they didn't write, recorded it in a quick 3-hour session, and promptly dismissed it. It would, of course, end up to be the biggest song of their career, and arguably, one of the biggest hits of the 80s. The song was buoyed by the juggernaut that was John Hughes. With Sixteen Candles under his belt, as the first of his legendary series of films ensconced in the teenage realm, Hughes came back with The Breakfast Club in 1985. Hughes became known for having great film soundtracks, with a melange of a whopping 35 songs on Candles, an iconic soundtrack album for Pretty in Pink with a lot of cutting edge alternative music, and the tragedy that was the missing soundtrack album for Ferris Bueller's Day Off (the actual music was a triumph, it was a tragedy that it never saw release). But, it was definitely "Don't You" that became synonymous with John Hughes' oeuvre, with the remaining songs on the Breakfast Club soundtrack becoming an inspiration for acts such as M83. Back in junior high and high school, I was a big fan of the earnestness of bands like U2 and Simple Minds. They didn't do anything halfway. Even though they may not have originally cared for the song, it doesn't show in the recording, with Kerr belting out the "hey hey heys" with abandon. The lyrics may have been a bit schmaltzy and adolescent, but then again, so was I. "Don't You" is probably the best yearbook inscription put to music. I don't even want to think about how many proms used this as a theme after its release, even to this day. As such, the song is anything but dated. While some music from 1985 may sound as if trapped in the amber created by that mid-decade year ("We are the World" or "We Built This City," anyone? I think the lesson here is don't start a song title with "We."), "Don't You (Forget About Me)" has a timeless quality, as if it were written for not just one generation. Instead, it captures the sentiments of teens during any point in recent history. Someday the song's popularity may fade, but I'm okay with that not happening any time soon.