Mick MacNeil
Mick MacNeil | |
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Born | (1958-07-20) 20 July 1958 (age 66) Isle of Barra, Scotland |
Genres | Rock, post-punk, new wave, pop rock, alternative rock |
Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
Instrument(s) | Keyboards, accordion |
Years active | 1978–present |
Michael Joseph MacNeil (born 20 July 1958) is a Scottish songwriter and keyboardist. He is best known as a former member of the group Simple Minds.[1]
Early life
One of seven siblings, MacNeil grew up in a musical family listening to traditional scottish folk music, and was trained as a folk music accordionist between the ages of seven and sixteen.[2] At 16 he formed a band called the Barnets with his drum-playing brother, playing cover songs at local cabaret clubs, weddings and social clubs and once appearing on the television programme Junior Showtime.[3][4]
Career
MacNeil joined Simple Minds as their keyboard player in spring 1978. At this point he had only recently discovered pop music and was unaware of contemporary new wave bands Magazine and Ultravox, to which his keyboard playing would be compared.[3]
During his time with Simple Minds, MacNeil was recognised as one of the main composers that contributed to the band's success throughout the 1980s,[3] releasing the UK number three album New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84) in 1982, and then scoring four consecutive UK number one albums with Sparkle in the Rain (1984), Once Upon a Time (1985), Live in the City of Light (1987) and Street Fighting Years (1989), and one UK number one single "Belfast Child" (1989).[5] Exhausted by the relentless touring schedules MacNeil left the band at the end of the decade.[3]
After leaving Simple Minds, he occasionally joined Simple Minds-related projects such as Fourgoodmen (along with fellow ex-Simple Minds member Derek Forbes plus Ian Henderson and Bruce Watson)[6] and XSM (with Forbes and original Simple Minds drummer Brian McGee).[6] In 2003 and 2018 respectively, MacNeil contributed with accordion backing tracks to Simple Minds songs "Dirty Old Town" and their cover version of "Brothers in Arms" on the album Reimagines the Eighties.[3] He also contributed keyboards and programming to a reformed Visage on their final studio album Demons to Diamonds (2015).[7] In 2016 he accepted an Ivor Novello Award for Simple Minds "Outstanding Song Collection".[8]
MacNeil released a solo album called People, Places, Things on his own record label, Mix Records, in 1997.[citation needed]
Equipment
During the early years of Simple Minds (the first four albums, between 1978 and 1982) MacNeil used a Farfisa organ and a "tiny wee Korg, two oscillators on it... It was a stupid sound, but it had lots of good noises on it."[2] He added a Roland Jupiter-4 programmable polyphonic synthesiser in the early 1980s, which featured heavily on the Sons and Fascination and Sister Feelings Call albums.[citation needed]
In 1986, MacNeil's stage equipment included a Yamaha CP-70 piano (used as his master keyboard via MIDI), a Yamaha DX7, an Emulator II, an Oberheim OB-8, a Roland Jupiter-8 and an unspecified Kurzweil keyboard using an Apple Macintosh for program saving. He was also using an Elka accordion with MIDI capacity.[2]
References
- ^ Chadbourne, Eugene. "allmusic ((( Mick MacNeil > Biography )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
- ^ a b c "Simply Said - Simple Minds", article by Tony Bacon in Making Music (archived at mu:zines Music Magazine Archive)
- ^ a b c d e "Mick MacNeil". Dreams Giver Redux.
- ^ Dave Thomas "Simple Minds Glittering Prize", Omnibus Press 1985, p. 17
- ^ "Simple Minds Official Chart History". Official Charts company.
- ^ a b "Michael MacNeil". Discogs. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ "Visage "Demons to Diamonds"". therealvisage.com.
- ^ "Simple Minds Win Ivor Novello Award". Simpleminds.com. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
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- Jim Kerr
- Charlie Burchill
- Ged Grimes
- Sarah Brown
- Gordy Goudie
- Cherisse Osei
- Brian McGee
- Tony Donald
- Duncan Barnwell
- Mick MacNeil
- Derek Forbes
- Kenny Hyslop
- Mike Ogletree
- John Giblin
- Eddy Duffy
- Mel Gaynor
- Andy Gillespie
- Catherine AD
- Life in a Day
- Real to Real Cacophony
- Empires and Dance
- Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call
- New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84)
- Sparkle in the Rain
- Once Upon a Time
- Street Fighting Years
- Real Life
- Good News from the Next World
- Néapolis
- Our Secrets Are the Same
- Neon Lights
- Cry
- Black & White 050505
- Graffiti Soul
- Big Music
- Acoustic
- Walk Between Worlds
- Direction of the Heart
- Live in the City of Light
- Real Live 91
- Sunday Express – Live (Volumes 1 & 2)
- 5X5 Live
- Acoustic in Concert
- Live in the City of Angels
- Themes for Great Cities 79/81
- Celebration
- Glittering Prize 81/92
- The Promised
- The Best of Simple Minds
- Early Gold
- Silver Box
- Celebrate: The Greatest Hits
- "Love Song"
- "Promised You a Miracle"
- "Glittering Prize"
- "Someone Somewhere (In Summertime)"
- "Waterfront"
- "Speed Your Love to Me"
- "Up on the Catwalk"
- "Don't You (Forget About Me)"
- "Alive and Kicking"
- "Sanctify Yourself"
- "All the Things She Said"
- "Ghostdancing"
- "Belfast Child"
- "This Is Your Land"
- "Kick It In"
- "Let There Be Love"
- "See the Lights"
- "Stand by Love"
- "She's a River"
- "Mandela Day" (US)
- Themes – Volume 1: March 79–April 82
- Themes – Volume 2: August 82–April 85
- Themes – Volume 3: September 85–June 87
- Themes – Volume 4: February 89–May 90
- Themes – Volume 5: March 91–September 92
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