Mick Hucknall: The artists that made me
We caught up with the Simply Red frontman
Last updated 23rd Oct 2019
Simply Red are back with their brand-new album, 'Blue Eyed Soul', following a four-year hiatus. Magic Drivetime presenter, Richard Allison, caught up with frontman, Mick Hucknall to find out more about the album, the artists that influenced him and the upcoming performance at Magic of Christmas.
After twenty-five years playing in Simply Red, Mick revealed the reason for taking time out was very simple – he wanted to focus on being a father, “I wanted to bring up my kid and be there on a daily basis.”
Mick revealed that Otis Redding was a huge influence on him, “He’s always someone that I looked up to as a singer, and I’ve tried to sing along with in my early teens, to try and figure out how he does it.”
Mick recalled a magical moment in his career when playing at the Ritz in New York, “The power went down right mid-way through the set and the only thing that was working was the microphone, much to the irritation of the musicians. I thought, 'I’m so bad at playing jokes, what am I going to do now?' I’m so bad at remembering jokes…. And I thought, 'What am I going to do?' And I started singing ‘Dock of the Bay’ a capella, to the crowd.
"It was so magical… There’s that famous whistling at the end of the song, and I start whistling, and some of the audience try but some of them can’t whistle. So they all burst out laughing at some of the people that couldn’t whistle, and then literally at that point, the power came back on. It was one of those magical moments that you get with a live performance, just such a fantastic thing.”
Simply Red were one of the first artists announced to play this year’s Magic at Christmas at the London Palladium – an incredibly special venue for musicians. “The first time I played there was around December 1989, and I was very honoured as they chose ‘Holding Back the Years’ of one of the moments of the 80’s, one of the songs of the decade. I went on stage and performed it with an acoustic guitar. It means a great deal to me, it’s a magical place.”
Another of Mick’s musical influences is the late great George Michael, and he chose to play the slightly less known track ‘Older’ in tribute. “This song is actually my favourite George Michael song. I can’t help having an air of sadness when I speak to you about him because, of course, he’s left us, but then again he hasn’t left us, as the beautiful thing about songwriting, recordings and being an artist – when you’re not here you’re still here. I feel very sad that George is not with us, but at least we have the music.”
As Richard Allison point out, you’re never too far away from a Bee Gee’s song, and Mick has very fond memories of the track ‘Jive Talkin’’. “I was in Ayrshire in Scotland, in Butlins, doing the Duke of Edinburgh award.
"My mate and I were very into Northern Soul at the time and ‘Jive Talking’ was being played in clubs that were playing Northern Soul. We used to wear all the clothes, the big loons and stuff, and I just remember me and him dancing to this, on the dance floor in Butlins in Ayrshire, doing flips and twirls and all this kind of stuff to this track.”
When will Simply Red's new album 'Blue Eyed Soul' be released?
Moving to the present day, Mick revealed his plans for his upcoming tour, “What I want to do in these turbulent times that we’re living in…I think if someone’s going to take the time to buy a ticket and come to one of my shows, I want to do my best to give them what they want.
"I don’t want to bang them over the head with, ‘I’m going to play you my new album, in its entirety’. It’s not going to be like that. I’m going to play some of my new songs, but I’m largely going to feature our biggest hits, and some of the Simply Red fans' favourite tracks. It’s going to be a ‘Best Of’ tour, with three or four tracks off the new album”.
'Blue Eyed Soul' will be released on 8th November 2019.
Simply Red will be joining us for an afternoon of amazing festive live music at the iconic London Palladium on Sunday 24th November from 3pm. The event will be hosted by Magic Radio's very own Harriet Scott and is sponsored by brand new film, Last Christmas.
Other confirmed artists are;
Will Young
Simply Red
James Morrison
Beverley Knight
Jack Savoretti
Buy your tickets to Magic of Christmas.
When is Simply Red's tour?
Simply Red will embark on a UK arena tour in October 2020 and tickets are on sale now - get tickets from Magic Radio Tickets.
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