Simply Red is a British soul-pop group, which was established in 1985 by Mick “Red” Hucknall, Durutti Column, Tony Bowers, Chris Joyce, Sylvan Richardson, Fritz McIntyre, and Tim Kellett. However, by the time the band stopped functioning in 2010, out of the original group members, only Mick Hucknall was left. The band resumed their work in 2015. Simply Red received various British music awards. Ten of their singles reached the top spots in the UK Singles chart.
In 1985, the band members signed a contract with a recording studio Elektra and released their first album Picture Book. The LP included the single “Money’s Too Tight (To Mention), which got to the 13th spot on the UK singles chart and into the top 30 of various European charts, including Austria, Belgium, and New Zealand. The album included a single “Holding Back the Years”. This song written by Hucknall got to the top of the USA charts.
The second album Men and Women was released in 1987. This album was less popular than the first one but some songs still became hits. For example, it included “The Right Thing”, “Infidelity”, and “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye” that got into top 40 of the British chart. In 1987, Richardson left the group and was replaced by Aziz Ibrahim, who was later replaced by Heitor T.P.
