Don't You (Forget About Me)
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| “Don't You (Forget About Me)” | |||||
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| Single by Simple Minds from the album The Breakfast Club soundtrack |
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| Released | 1985 (US) 8 April 1985 (UK) |
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| Format | 12", 7" | ||||
| Recorded | 1984 | ||||
| Genre | Pop Rock | ||||
| Length | 4:19 | ||||
| Label | A&M | ||||
| Writer(s) | Keith Forsey and Steve Schiff | ||||
| Simple Minds singles chronology | |||||
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"Don't You (Forget About Me)" is a song written for the soundtrack of the 1985 John Hughes movie The Breakfast Club. The songwriters were disco producer Keith Forsey (who won an Oscar for "Flashdance... What a Feeling") and Steve Schiff (edgy post punk guitarist songwriter from the Nina Hagen band.)
Forsey asked both Bryan Ferry and Billy Idol to record the song, but both declined; Idol would later perform a cover of it on his 2001 greatest hits compilation. Schiff then suggested Forsey ask the Scottish New Wave band Simple Minds, who initially refused as well, but then agreed under the encouragement of their label, A&M. According to one account, the band "rearranged and recorded 'Don’t You (Forget About Me)' in three hours in a north London studio and promptly forgot about it." [1]
Ironically, the track would become their most famous song and is considered a defining song of the 1980's. Continuing the rock direction recently taken on Sparkle in the Rain but also glancing back at their melodic synth-pop past, it caught the band at their commercial peak and, propelled by the success of The Breakfast Club, became a number-one hit in the U.S. and around the world. While only reaching number seven in the UK, it stayed on the charts from 1985-1987, one of the longest time spans for any single in the history of the chart.
Despite its success, the band continued to dismiss the song; the most obvious slight being its absence from their subsequent Once Upon a Time album. It finally appeared on the 1992 best-of Glittering Prize 81/92.
The song was covered by the emo band Empathy on their 1994 full length Under the Lost Smile. It also featured audio samples from the film.
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[edit] Chart performance
| Country | Peak position |
|---|---|
| The Netherlands | 1[2] |
| United Kingdom | 7 |
| United States | 1 |
[edit] Music video
The music video, directed by Daniel Kleinman, takes place on a dancing floor in a dark room with a chandelier, a rocking horse and Sony televisions. Jim Kerr, the band's lead singer, dances in many scenes.
[edit] Other appearances
The song has been covered by numerous musicians including Absinthe Blind, Billy Idol, Life of Agony, Bouncing Souls, God Lives Underwater, as well as Rufio on the Punk Goes 80's album. Yellowcard played a version of "Don't You (Forget About Me)" as a live twentieth anniversary tribute to The Breakfast Club at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards. New Found Glory recorded a version of it for their From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II album. The song was featured in the movies Not Another Teen Movie, American Pie, The Business, as well as in television episodes of South Park ("Asspen"), Futurama ("The Luck of the Fryrish"), Ghost Whisperer ("A Vicious Cycle"), Family Guy ("Let's Go to the Hop"), American Dad, Lizzie McGuire, Scrubs ("My Drama Queen"), and Corner Gas ("Spin Cycle"). Michael Johns also covered it on American Idol Season 7 during 80s week.
In 1992 UK dance duo Best Company released their electronic version which was a hit in the UK dance charts.
A hi-NRG dance version by Belle Lawrence, was released through the Almighty Records label.
The song is included in the PlayStation 2 Game "SingStar 80's"
The official website for the search for Madeleine McCann released a video montage of the missing girl, set to "Don't You (Forget About Me)".
The song was also performed on March 4, 2008 during season 7 of American Idol by top 8 male contestant, Michael Johns, from Atlanta, Georgia. Notably identified by judge Randy Jackson as a cool song taking Johns back to his Australian roots and his Michael Hutchence vibe - implying that the song was originally sung by INXS, but, obviously, was sung by Simple Minds.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Preceded by "Crazy for You" by Madonna |
Billboard Hot 100 number-one single May 18, 1985 |
Succeeded by "Everything She Wants" by Wham! |
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