Derek Forbes (born 22 June 1956, Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish bassist and sometime guitarist, best known for his work with Simple Minds (with whom he played from their 1979 debut album, Life in a Day until shortly after their 1985 hit, "Don't You (Forget About Me)").
His departure from the band was due to stylistic musical differences with the rest of the band during the recording of "Don't You (Forget About Me)" and prior to the release of Once Upon a Time. Forbes reunited with the band briefly during the recording of Néapolis, but he only recorded bass lines for the song "War Baby". Forbes quit the band once more after touring for Néapolis, again citing his differences with the band and their musical direction.
Forbes started his musical career in the U.K. Subs. He contributed to their singles, "Gimme Your Heart" and "Party in Paris".
After Simple Minds, Forbes went on to play in number of other bands, including Propaganda and Oblivion Dust. He currently he plays in Fourgoodmen, a Scottish new wave covers band.
In 2009, Derek Forbes was voted Scotland's Greatest Ever Bassist by the readers of Dear Scotland [1]
External links
This
The working title of Life In A Day
After the split of Johnny And The Self Abusers, Kerr and Burchill formed Simple Minds. The drum and bass sections were poached from the remnants of the Abusers, namely Brian McGee and Tony Donald. With Duncan Barnwell on second guitar, and the eventually recruited (after two newspaper advertisements) Mick MacNeil on keyboards, the seminal Simple Minds played their first gig on January 17, 1978 supporting Steel Pulse at Satellite City in Glasgow. Word quickly spread on the streets of Glasgow that Simple Minds were a band to see. Even though they were only playing pub gigs, the band would put on full makeup and even had a lighting show (which really consisted of only three bulbs), but it was sufficient to ignite the imaginations of the audience.
Still playing fractions of the old Abuser’s set, the band quickly started adding their own songs to their repertoire, enough to cut their first demo tape. Sent out to the music press and record companies, it was described by the NME as the best demo tape they’d ever heard.
Bruce Findlay, the manager of a chain of Scottish record shops called Bruce’s Records and, more importantly, the manager of an independent record company called Zoom also heard the tape. Although liking it, he couldn’t take on Simple Minds as he already had enough acts on his books. But his interest in the band remained and after seeing them at their residency, The Mars Bar, he made up his mind. Not only did he become the band’s manager, he also signed them with a special deal to Zoom which involved a direct signing to the parent company, Arista Records.
The band’s structure was still not finalised; Tony Donald left before cutting the first demo tape, and was replaced by Derek Forbes from another Glasgow punk band, The Subs the band consited of, Callum Cuthbertson - Vocals Kevin Key - Guitar Derek Forbes - Bass Alli Mackenzie - Drums http:www.boredteenagers.co.uk/SUBS.htm
On this date in 1978, The Subs released their one and only record, a 7 inch single fronted by "Gimme Your Heart". It was backed by "Party Clothes". The Glasgow, Scotland power pop band was published by Stiff Records in a one off deal.
http://www.boredteenagers.co.uk/SUBS.html . Duncan Barnwell left after it became apparent that two lead guitars were not required thus leaving the band as a quintet; which it remained as until the late 80’s. A second demo tape was cut, and all agreed that enough ideas were collected for a debut album.
Notes
- ^ Vote for Scotland's Greatest Ever Guitarist, Dear Scotland, 9 December 2009
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