Back in The Breakfast Club's days, we lusted after bad boy Judd Nelson, swooned over Molly Ringwald and hummed Don't You Forget About Me until our lips were numb.

Simple Minds gave us comfortable rock rebellion but, like St Elmo's Fire, their Eighties anthem soon dimmed.

After big-gun hits such as Alive And Kicking, Sanctify Yourself, Belfast Child and Waterfront, the band started firing blanks.

While their Celtic contemporaries U2 repeatedly struck the bull's-eye, Simple Minds let their stadium success dilute their passion and rugged edge.

By the early Nineties, Simple Minds had been dumped in the uncool bunker along with fellow hollow-rockers Marillion.

Nick Hornby even poked fun in High Fidelity.

Hornby has a dig via his character Dick, a music nerd who refuses to date a girl once he discovers she is a Simple Minds fan.

Despite having the street-cred of a Normski kagoule, Simple Minds refused to give up.

History suggests this is down to the driving determination of frontman Jim Kerr.

It was Kerr who famously threw hundreds of records out of a high-rise flat in Glasgow after a dispute with a record company.

Disillusioned by music-industry apathy, he now looks towards e-business to distribute the band's music.

His deep-rooted commitment was also obvious when his favourite football club, Celtic, suffered a financial crisis.

Kerr teamed up with Celtic legend Kenny Dalglish and U2's Bono to form a consortium to buy the ailing club.

He lost out to Irishman Dermot Desmond but the gesture reflected his heart-felt dedication.

So when Kerr, the former husband of both Chrissie Hynde and Patsy Kensit, found Simple Minds on the wrong side of trendiness, he instinctively fought back.

Unfortunately, there have been no easy answers for the flagging pop group but Kerr has found solace in the evolving nature of rock music.

With his blinkers off, he has realised rock music no longer stands alone as a genre but can be mashed with dance beats and electro samples.

While recording the band's new album, Cry in Sicily, Kerr met Italian dance outfit Planet Funk and eagerly incorporated their rhythms into the new Simple Minds sound.

The result is an album which strays from punk, electro pop and arty rock into more hip-shaking, funky territories.

It's important to remember that Simple Minds could have joined the nostalgia circuit, playing to 30-something former new romantics with kids and mortgages.

That they continue to make new music, without major record company backing, is a feather no one can take from their cap.

Call 0870 900 9100.