Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall Grows Up
Posted May 1, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Mick Hucknall knows there’s some irony in the fact that he’s holding back the years.
The man who still fronts Simply Red has gone from 80s superstar to 2007’s crooner.
He still tours with his band and they’re still putting out great albums.
But he knows the days when his face and his voice were radio regulars and his concerts were instant sell-outs are far behind him.
“The trouble with your being in fashion is that you don’t stay in fashion for very long,” he muses, sitting in a Toronto hotel room after having played the Hummingbird Centre the night before.
“When you go out of fashion, you’re really kind of out of fashion. And when you’re out, you really go into nostalgia. I just try and go with my own road and choose the style of music that really suits me.”
Which explains his aptly titled new CD and 10th opus called “Stay”.
The album speaks of changes in Hucknall’s life, including the fact he’ll soon be a father.
He admits his life has changed from his more glamourous rock star days two decades ago.
“I was a kid in a candy store, you know, and I could eat all the sweeties,” he laughs. “And I sure did. I started with the partying very heavily. You don’t really get anything at the end of it, and you get kind of fat and you get tired and you get lazy.
“There’s no doubt that shared experiences, sharing a life with somebody is far more inspiring and exciting.”
Simply Red’s new CD is in stores now. For fans of the band who grew up with Hucknall, his attitude and his music are both still simply great.
