Simple Minds' Jim Kerr: 'It's cool for our kids to like us now'

Simple Minds Jim Kerr says the band have become cool again, thanks to endorsements from the likes of The Horrors and Manic Street Preachers. The frontman noticed the change in attitude thanks to his children. "A few years ago, if I was playing in London my kids would never come or want to come. Now not only do they want tickets, but tickets for their mates too."

In an interview Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill talk about how The Horrors' citing the Glasgow band as a major influence on their 2011 album 'Skying' has led to a raft of praise from other artists.

Now the band are about to release 'X5', a box set of their first five albums over six discs.

Manic Street Preachers frontman James Dean Bradfield recently said of Simple Minds' second and third albums: "'Real To Real Cacophony' and 'Empires And Dance' — there's no one to touch them, in my view," while Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie said: "'Real To Real Cacophony' is really hard European disco."

Moby also claimed: "Barely a week goes by when I don't listen to one of the first four or five Simple Minds albums."

Currently rehearsing for a UK tour, Kerr said: "We've noticed all the different styles in rehearsals and how the songs don't sound dated.

The band are best known for their 1985 No 1 hit 'Don't You (Forget About Me)', used as the theme from legendary John Hughes teen drama film The Breakfast Club, and are working on new material. Kerr added: "There will always be new music. It's what we do. We'd never just do the nostalgia thing and become a musical museum. "We're enjoying being fashionable again. We like bands like The Horrors so it's back to the future — for now anyway."