Happy Birthday Mick Hucknall
British vocalist Mick Hucknall got his start in punk music -- a far cry from the smooth blend of pop and blue-eyed soul that would later catapult his band, Simply Red, into the international mainstream. Born in Manchester, England, in 1960, Hucknall experienced a musical awakening at the age of 16, when a live performance by the Sex Pistols inspired him to start his own punk band. He promptly formed the Frantic Elevators, an amateur group that released several recordings on local labels throughout the late '70s and early '80s. The band split in 1984, but not before recording a promising song entitled "Holding Back the Years." Hucknall recorded the song for a second time on Picture Book, the 1985 debut of his new band, Simply Red. The revised single proved to be a worldwide hit, effectively launching Simply Red's long streak of Top 40 hits (many of which, including Cole Porter's "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes' "If You Don't Know Me by Now," were cover songs)...
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