"simply Red"

Simply Red's second major hits collection not only celebrates their illustrious 25-year career but also marks the end of it, thanks to Mick Hucknall's announcement that he will henceforth only be working under his own name. The much more comprehensive 25 features all but two of the tracks included on 1996's Greatest Hits, plus several tracks from the commercially inconsistent last decade. Of course, it's the late-'80s and early-'90s material that made Simply Red, essentially a solo vehicle for Hucknall, a household name. The likes of "A New Flame," "Holding Back the Years," and debut hit "Money's Too Tight (To Mention)" all showcase their signature blue-eyed soul sound, which has helped to sell over 50 million records worldwide.

This October, Simply Red will release Remixed Vol. 1 (1985-2000) a two-CD collection of their hit singles in remixed form from the band’s first 15 years.

This two-disc, European import serves up a nice career overview of U.K.-based, blue-eyed soul/Sophisti-Pop outfit Simply Red. Split into two parts, disc one ("Hold Me") focuses on the ballads ("Holding Back the Years," "If You Don't Know Me by Now," "Stars," and "We're in This Together"), while the second disc ("Thrill Me") narrows its sights on the group's penchant for radio-friendly dance-pop ("The Right Thing," "Moneys Too Tight (To Mention)," "Something Got Me Started," and "Fairground"). At 38 tracks, Very Best of Simply Red may be a bit much for the casual fan (2008's definitive 25: The Greatest Hits remains the group's most cohesive and streamlined collection), but it's a goldmine for listeners who have followed Mick "Red" Hucknall and his rotating cast of players since 1985.

Picture Book is the debut album by British pop group Simply Red, released in October 1985. It contains the #1 single "Holding Back the Years", the band's most successful single, and a cover of The Valentine Brothers' "Money's Too Tight (To Mention)". Three other singles were released from the album: "Come to My Aid", "Jericho", and "Open Up the Red Box". The album includes 'lively' and 'energetic' groove beats and ballad orientated keyboard undertones that help songs such as "Holding Back the Years" to be so effective. Members Tim Kellett and Fritz McIntyre are acclaimed by Hucknall to be the most influential in the album based on the distinctive sound of their playing.

Simply Red entered a holding pattern after 1991's Stars, turning out two records in a row that essentially replicated its charms, only with diminishing returns. Mick Hucknall must have realized he was stagnating, since 1999's Love and the Russian Winter is the first time since Stars that he's shaken up his sound. It's still recognizably Simply Red, as it trades in '70s soul and jazz-pop influences, but there are a number of reasonably contemporary influences added into the mix. As it turns out, these influences are largely based in house music, which means that Simply Red took some weird middle ground between Everything But the Girl and Soul II Soul.

Simply Red are a pop institution, at least in areas of the world that are not the United States, and like all institutions, they're in need of a monument to their longevity. Song Book 1985-2010 is that monument, a four-disc box set that tells their story, concentrating on their hits but also adding a disc of new recordings where they revisit deep cuts from their catalog, refashioning them so they sound similar to latter-day Simply Red. This last disc is for the diehards but the rest is for those who have enjoyed hits from "Holding Back the Years" through "Stay," the group's last charting U.K. Top 40 single. All the hits are here, along with enough album tracks to give this weight, and if it's too much for American fans who only remember "Holding Back the Years," "If You Don't Know Me by Now," and maybe "Money's Too Tight (To Mention)," with its comprehensive sprawl it nevertheless illustrates the longevity of Mick Hucknall's blue-eyed soul group.