And the Welcome everyone to Soda Jaker on song rating. I'm Brian here with Simon and joining us for this special 250 the and Lynch Pin of Simply Red, the band with which he's notched up five number one albums

and 50 million record sales across almost four decades.

He also happens to be possessed of a voice that's as soulful and distinctive as they come and he's in terrific form on simply

read 13 studio album Time which sees the band reunited with their original label

Warner Music we are thrilled to welcome the great Mick Hucknell to the show.

Mick was born in Manchester in 1960 and raised in Denton, Greater Manchester by his father Reg, a professional barber.

He discovered his love for singing at a very early age and received his first record player

aged 11 counting amongst his early influences the likes of the Beatles, the Stones, Bowie and Led Zeppelin.

As he entered his teens he fell in love with R&B and soul music, later discovering a similar affinity for jazz and reggae.

Crucially, Mick was also part of the punk generation and as an impressionable 16 year old was in attendance at the Sex Pistols Historic Gig at Manchester's

lesser free trade hall in the summer of 76. That same year he and his friend Neil

Moss inspired by the likes of the Pistols and Manchester's own Buzzcocks, began writing their own songs

and subsequently formed The Frantic Elevators, Mick juggling the group with his fine art studies at Manchester Polytechnic.

Celebrated Eric's club promoter and DJ Roger Eagle managed the band for a period and became an early mentor to the young Mick further shaping his musical tastes.

Keen to take his music in the direction better suited to his increasingly expressive voice,

I'll guess the part of the elevators in 1983 and a year later simply read was born.

The band signed to Electra in 1985 and scored their first top 20 hits with Money's Too Tight to Mention, Mick having discovered the Valentine Brothers original while working as a DJ in the early 80s.

Their debut album Picture Book, produced by Stuart Levine, a frequent future collaborator, was released the same year and generated

their first US number one single in the Stairingly evocative holding back the years, written

when Mick was just 17.

The follow-up, 1987's men and women included writing contributions from the late Great

Lamontosia, more about that in the interview, as did 1989's A New Flame, which debuted at number

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