Jim Kerr

“I mean, the thing with Simple Minds is that there's many Simple Minds within Simple Minds. There was definitely an electronic art-rock phase; a lot of people associate us with the big MTV pop age. Other people you talk to and they say 'Oh, Simple Minds are stadium rock.' I'll say, 'Hang on a minute, I think it can be all those things.'”

“We're honored - honored that we've been part of something that certainly, in terms of '80s pop culture in America, people have embraced.”

“The issues are always the same. Racism, war, poverty, the geography changes.”

“You don't get to choose when you fall in love.”

“Music is an organic thing. It's always progressing.”

“What it boils down to is that we look for a melody and we look for a lyric, and we look for an atmosphere and an emotion, and we try to concoct a song out of all of those ingredients.”

“The Call should have been bigger than what they were.”

“We just knew that we wanted to be in a band. We wanted to be in a great live band and we wanted to take it around the world.”

“Mandela Day' was done in half-an-hour.”

“It's still a mysterious thing, making music.”

“To have a broad range is one thing, but to still have the Simple Minds identity is quite remarkable.”

“If you speak to Iggy Pop, John Lydon or the Foo Fighters and ask them to name their favourite three gigs I know the Barrowlands will be there.”

“It's really easy to talk about U2, but there are very few bands that have that talent and all that intelligence, and I think when they came to the start of the '90s, when all the bands that had broken through in the '80s were about to find it tough, they regrouped and brought in an extra brain.”

“I only want to play shows if I think we are going to sound good and I only want to release albums if I think we have something to say and we are doing it decently.”

“We have audiences within our audiences who only care about the greatest hits - but new material brings vitality to the set, and should stop you calcifying and being a museum piece.”

“I got into incense the first time I visited Japan with Simple Minds in the 80s, now I stock up every time I go back. There's an otherworldliness about these little cedar wood sticks - which Samurai warriors used to cleanse the spirit - that just helps you 'escape.'”

“I think that dreamers are the most powerful people in the world.”

“We did all those memorable iconic gigs at The Barrowlands and Ibrox and I remember Tiffany's because it was the first time my dad came to see us.”

“I am not really that extravagant.”

“I want to be a better singer.”