Simply Red — News — Cardiff Live

On this day, 25 July 1999, British soul and pop band Simply Red played Cardiff Castle

Formed in Manchester in 1985 The band is led by singer and songwriter Mick Hucknall, who, by the time the band initially disbanded in 2010, was the only original member left.

Since the release of their debut studio album Picture Book (1985), they have had ten songs reach top 10 in the UK Singles Chart, including "Holding Back the Years" and "If You Don't Know Me by Now", both of which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. They have had five number one albums in the UK, with their 1991 album, Stars, being one of the best-selling albums in UK chart history.

Simply Red Review - Guardian

The first surprise is that Mick Hucknall's speaking voice is at the exact high pitch of his singing one. Finishing 'A New Flame' at the second of Simply Red's shows at Cardiff Castle, he says: 'That's the first time I've played that in a long time,' and it is as if the stage has been invaded by a castrated Mancunian choirboy, wearing his testicles as cuff links.

Not that the two women next to me seem to mind. Possibly inspired by Hucknall's past romance with 'Welsh lovely', Catherine Zeta Jones, they keep up a robust, drunken display of appreciation for his none-too-obvious physical charms. 'Get down off that stage, come over here, and fuck me!' hollers the first, slopping beer over her open-toe sandals. Her friend says little, merely lifting her top occasionally to solemnly flash her bra at the thankfully oblivious Hucknall. All of which goes to prove that there's someone for everyone. Even for Mick Hucknall, voted the Ugliest Man in Pop 240 years running by the Great British Public.

Why do we all hate Mick Hucknall so much? Could it be his Pomagne Socialism, that relentless schmoozing of New Labour in general, and Tony Blair in particular? It's all very well hearing that Blair plays Simply Red's music when travelling, but you suspect Hucknall listens, gooey-eyed, to Blair's speeches in his own car. (While it is accepted that politics and music occasionally get into bed together, Mick, dear boy, no one expects them to actually shag.)

All that apart, there are no serious grounds for disliking Hucknall. Even at his egomaniacal worst (the video for 1991's 'Stars', where Hucknall, carrot locks flowing majestically, runs through space dressed in one of God's old nighties), there were just enough tunes to see him through. Simply Red have made their share of deeply dull stadium music, but there was always the odd original gem ('Holding Back the Years', 'For Your Babies'), or well realised cover ('Money's Too Tight To Mention', 'If You Don't Know Me By Now'), to keep even the most cynical pop fan interested.

However, if Simply Red are surprisingly good at Cardiff, the crowd are better. As Hucknall is introducing his ridiculously huge band (I stopped counting after about 11), some wag shouts: 'What's the singer called then?' And, while I've seen people hold lighters in the air in silent homage, I have never seen a crowd hold their cigarettes in the air before.

As the set unfolds, it becomes clear that Hucknall intends to play it safe, sticking to old hits. And quite right too. At one point, he squeakily asks the crowd if they want to hear some new numbers, and it is a credit to their manners that no one shouts back: 'No, of course not.' In the end, Simply Red play quite a few new numbers, all of which send everyone racing off for a fortifying lager or Fab ice lolly.

This thirtysomething crowd, part noisy hen party, part lairy stag night, haven't paid a disgracefully inflated £27.50 a head to act as guinea pigs for completely fresh material, or even relatively recent material. They want to hear the stuff from Picture Book and Stars, songs which, for them, were first-date soundtracks or marriage-proposal anthems.

And they want to hear Hucknall's voice of course, which is better than any white guy's deserves to be. If it is true that, to be convincing, white male soul singers, should aim to sound like black female soul singers, then Hucknall is blessed indeed. At Cardiff, his voice soars into the high notes, dips seamlessly back down into the low ones, and goes for riffing little walks when it feels like it. All without him breaking into a sweat.

People are technically incorrect when they go on about Hucknall's great voice. He hasn't got a great voice, he's got seven great voices. Fashionable he will never be again, but, long after the snobbery and childish sneering have faded, Mick Hucknall's voice will probably be remembered as one of Britain's best.