Don't You (Forget About Me)

"Don't You (Forget About Me)"

Standard international artwork
Single by Simple Minds
from the album The Breakfast Club
B-side "A Brass Band in African Chimes"
Released 20 February 1985 (US)
8 April 1985 (UK)
Format
Recorded 1984
Genre New wave
Length 4:20
6:32 (extended version)
7:17 (12")
Label Virgin
A&M (US)
Writer(s)
Simple Minds singles chronology
"Up on the Catwalk"
(1984)		 "Don't You (Forget About Me)"
(1985)		 "Alive and Kicking"
(1985)
Music sample
"Don't You (Forget About Me)"

"Don't You (Forget About Me)" is a 1985 song performed by the British 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).

Recording history

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 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."[1]

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 number-one hit in the U.S.[2] and around the world. It is the band's only number-one hit on the U.S. Top Rock Tracks chart, staying atop for three weeks. While only reaching number seven 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.

The song did not appear on the band's subsequent album Once Upon a Time but appeared on the 1992 best-of Glittering Prize 81/92. It has since been a fixture of the band's live sets - with an extended audience participation section during its inclusion on the 2015 tour to promote the band's Big Music album.[3]

Two versions were created for release. A short version of 4:23 appeared on the single and the original motion picture soundtrack album of The Breakfast Club. A longer version of 6:32 was released on 12" single. This version contains longer breakdowns and drum fills, a second appearance of the bridge and a longer ending.

John Leland from Spin wrote that "'Don't You Forget About Me,' a romantic and melancholy dance track, therefore cuts ice both in the living room and on the dance floor."[4]

Chart performance

Country (1985–86) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart 6
Belgium Singles Chart 2
Canadian Singles Chart 1
Dutch Singles Chart[5] 1
European Hot 100 Singles 2
German Singles Chart 4
Irish Singles Chart 3
Italian Singles Chart 2
New Zealand Singles Chart 3
UK Singles Chart 7
US Billboard Hot 100 1
US Billboard Top Rock Tracks 1

Music video

The music video, directed by Daniel Kleinman, takes place on a dancing floor in a dark room with a chandelier, a rocking horse, and television sets displaying scenes from The Breakfast Club.

Appearances in film and television

"Don't You Forget About Me" is heard in film The Breakfast Club, during both the opening and end credits. It also appears in the films American Pie and Pitch Perfect, the latter featuring the song as part of an a cappella medley.

"Don't You (Forget About Me)" was covered by the cast of Kids Incorporated in 1985, in the episode "New Kid in Town". The song was featured in the 2001 Futurama episode "The Luck of the Fryish," the Family Guy season 2 episode "Let's Go to the Hop," the Lizzie McGuire episode "She Said, He Said, She Said," the Regular Show episode "Fuzzy Dice," the MTV comedy series Faking It, and a musical promo for the detective series Psych. The Bob's Burgers episode "The Runway Club" features a parody of the song, "Don't You Love Cotton Candy."

Big Pun sampled part of the chorus on his song "Laughing at You", from his album Yeeeah Baby.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "A History of Simple Minds". The Official Glasgow Barrowland & Barras Market Site. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  2. ↑ "The Hot 100: May 18, 1985". Billboard. 18 May 1985. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  3. ↑ Simpson, Dave (April 2015). "The Guardian". The Guardian (2). Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  4. ↑ Leland, John (June 1985). "Singles". Spin 1 (2): 37. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  5. ↑ "De Nederlandse Top 40, week 22, 1985". Retrieved 1 March 2008.

External links

Preceded by
"Leave Right Now" by Will Young		 American Idol Farewell Song
Season 10 (2011) 		Succeeded by
"Please Remember Me" by Scotty McCreery
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