About

Hucknall was a Manchester art student when he saw the Sex Pistols at the city’s Free Trade Hall in 1976, one of the few people who can legitimately claim to have been at the concert that gave birth to the Manchester punk rock scene. It was Hucknall’s own punk band, the Frantic Elevators, that recorded the original version of Holding Back The Years, but Hucknall was too much of a melody-loving soul to be a three-chord wonder for long, and in 1985 Simply Red were born. “For me, music has to be instinctive,” says Hucknall, on the soulful direction his band took. “It’s why I rejected the academia of being an art student: I knew that I had to make something that gets to people without their knowing why. Above all I have an obsession with melody, which I inherited through my love of the Beatles. All I’ve ever really wanted to do is to create melodies that are simple but refined. I’m evangelical about it: music takes you to a place that nothing else can take you to and it’s my job to contribute to that.” It’s the reason why Simply Red, despite their longevity, despite a following that has seen them sell 60 million albums, have never fitted in or been defined by a trend or movement. It has helped give the music a timeless quality that has seen the band have top ten hits through the 80s, 90s and 2000s.

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Performance

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Legacy result from the last 50 uploads.

Reach Out I'll Be There (Live Version)

Legacy 492.7x

Raw median baselineLegacy 492.7x

78.3K total viewsRecent median 159 viewsFrom last 50 uploadsSep 23, 2026

Money's Too Tight (2008 Remaster)

Legacy 18.6x

Raw median baselineLegacy 18.6x

3.0K total viewsRecent median 159 viewsFrom last 50 uploadsOct 18, 2026

Something Got Me Started

Legacy 6.2x

Raw median baselineLegacy 6.2x

992 total viewsRecent median 159 viewsFrom last 50 uploadsOct 08, 2026

If You Don't Know Me by Now

Legacy 5.8x

Raw median baselineLegacy 5.8x

914 total viewsRecent median 159 viewsFrom last 50 uploadsSep 28, 2026

Stars

Legacy 4.9x

Raw median baselineLegacy 4.9x

778 total viewsRecent median 159 viewsFrom last 50 uploadsSep 13, 2026

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