Don't You (Forget About Me)
| "Don't You (Forget About Me)" | ||||||||||
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| Single by Simple Minds | ||||||||||
| from the album The Breakfast Club (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | ||||||||||
| B-side | "A Brass Band in African Chimes" | |||||||||
| Released | 20 February 1985 (US) 8 April 1985 (UK) |
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| Recorded | 10 July 1984 | |||||||||
| Genre | New wave, synthpop, pop rock | |||||||||
| Length | 4:20 6:32 (extended version) 7:17 (12") |
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| Label |
Virgin A&M (US) |
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| Simple Minds singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Don't You (Forget About Me)" is a 1985 pop song performed by Scottish rock band Simple Minds. The song is best known for being played during the opening and closing credits of the John Hughes film The Breakfast Club. It was written by producer Keith Forsey and Steve Schiff (guitarist and songwriter from the Nina Hagen band).
Forsey asked Cy Curnin from The Fixx, Bryan Ferry and Billy Idol to record the song, but all three declined; Idol later performed a cover of it on his 2001 compilation album Greatest Hits. Schiff then suggested Forsey ask Simple Minds who, after refusing as well, agreed under the encouragement of their label, A&M. According to frontman Jim Kerr, the band were reluctant to record the song as they felt they should only record their own material, relenting after persuasion from Kerr's wife at the time, Chrissie Hynde, and a phone call from Forsey in which he expressed his admiration for the band. 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."
Continuing the rock direction recently taken on Sparkle in the Rain but also glancing back at their melodic synthpop past, it caught the band at their commercial peak and, propelled by the success of The Breakfast Club, became a #1 hit in the U.S. and around the world. It is the band's only #1 hit on the U.S. Top Rock Tracks chart, staying atop for three weeks. While only reaching #7 in the UK, it stayed on the charts from 1985 to 1987, one of the longest time spans for any single in the history of the chart.
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Wikipedia