Blobby got the theme pick this month, so he threw out some choices, and I kind of steered him in a direction. And that direction would be songs released on soundtracks, and as Blobby stated: “music that appears / appeared initially on soundtracks. not cast offs from other albums that ended up on a soundtrack.” I think I can manage this one. At least better than last month’s.

All I have to do is say “The Breakfast Club”, and you can probably guess what song I’m talking about. Because nothing else musically in that movie from 1985 was memorable.

Probably like many youth of that era, I identified with the movie. But that’s for another post. Back to the song.

“Don’t You (Forget About Me)” was written by songwriting duo Keith Forsey and Steve Schiff, who both wrote stuff for many other movies in the 1980s. Originally, Keith Forsey wanted Bryan Ferry (of Roxy Music) to sing the song. Which didn’t happen. Then Annie Lennox. And Cy Curnin (of The Fixx). Chrissie Hynde (of the Pretenders) was interested in the song, but she eventually said no. She suggested her husband Jim Kerr, the lead singer of Simple Minds. Kerr wasn’t so keen on the idea: the song was not their style (I’d personally argue that one. It feels a lot like “Sanctify Yourself” and “All The Things She Said” and “Alive And Kicking“… and the list goes on.); he didn’t want to perform anything the band didn’t write; and he didn’t like the song. The other Simple Minds members convinced Kerr to do the song, hoping it would help them break into the American market. Which, guess what, it did.

“Don’t You (Forget About Me)” as performed by Simple Minds:

This is one of those songs on my “play it at my wake” list. Mostly because I’m a sadist. 😉