Songoftheday 11/3/14 - Strangled by the wishes I begged for hoping for the unmade for to get to me the sooner or later...

Simply Red - "Holding Back The Years"
from the album Picture Book (1985)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 14

Today's Song of the Day comes from a British band who, like compatriots Sade, are identified for their striking lead vocalist. Simply Red came together in the mid-80s as a "backing band" of sorts for singer Mick Hucknall. The red-haired vocalist was formerly in the post-punk band the Frantic Elevators, and a reworked song from that time became their first American success.

After assembling a new band under the Simply Red moniker, they released their debut album Picture Book in 1985. The first single from the set, a remake of an minor hit R&B single from the Valentine Brothers, "Money's Too Tight (To Mention)", and reached the top-20 on the British singles chart. They would release three more singles from the album, but missed the top-40 on all, including "Holding Back The Years", which would end up getting re-released in 1986. The original version, recorded by Mick and song co-writer Neil Moss with the Frantic Elevators, was a bar-band ballad that is quite lovely...

With Simply Red, Mick went a different route with the song, tapping into a lite-R&B arrangement produced by Stuart Levine, who helmed the likes of Boz Scaggs and Minnie Riperton. And with a fluid bass and bluesy keys leading up to the trumpet solo, it was blue-eyed soul bliss..

"Holding Back The Years" not only brought Simply Red almost to the top of the British chart, landing in its second trip at #2, but it did one better in America by reaching the #1 spot on the pop chart in July of 1986. The single also crossed over to both the adult contemporary (#4) and R&B (#29) genre charts in Billboard magazine. Internationally, besides its success in England, the single topped the chart in Ireland and went to #6 in Canada.

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Here's Simply Red live on British telly promoting the song...

In 1988, the jazz outfit Pieces Of A Dream recorded an instrumental quiet-storm version for their Makes You Wanna album...


New York rap group Brand Nubian sampled "Holding Back The Years" for their single "Hold On", which climbed to #39 on the rap chart in 1994...

The Isley Brothers took on the song for their Mission To Please set in 1996...

Neo-soul singer Angie Stone put some church into "Holding Back..." for the Love & Basketball soundtrack in 2000...

Finally, here's Mick and the band for a stripped down version in 2003...

A British act desires the western life.