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.
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.
As the second release on Simply Red's own label, Simplified finds the smooth soulsters reworking classics of their back catalog as well as introducing some new songs all in a stripped-down and stylish manner. Featuring such Simply Red classics as "Holding Back the Years" and "More," Simplified works well as a reintroduction to the band. And that's probably the main intention here. Although lead vocalist Mick Hucknall – whose burnished vocals sound superb here – and the band have largely kept a low profile since the early '90s, they haven't stopped touring and recording and as such have cultivated a devoted fanbase.
Blue is the sixth studio album by Simply Red, released on East West Records on 19 May 1998. The album includes five cover versions: "Mellow My Mind" from the 1975 Neil Young album Tonight's the Night; two versions of the frequently covered "The Air That I Breathe", written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood; the Gregory Isaacs hit "Night Nurse"; and "Ghetto Girl" by Dennis Brown, from whom the band would cover another song in 2003. New versions of previously recorded Simply Red songs also appear here: "Come Get Me Angel" is a rewritten version of the 1996 single "Angel", and "Broken Man" was first released as a B-side in 1987. Mick Hucknall and the production team of Andy Wright and Gota Yashiki are the only musicians featured in the Blue CD booklet's photography; this is a first for a Simply Red album, as all prior albums featured photos of the various band members credited. "The Air That I Breathe Reprise" samples "Jack and Diane" by John Mellencamp.
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.