Everyone gets songs stuck in their heads that just won’t go away. They sneak into your subconscious. They are epic earworms that you find yourself humming uncontrollably, singing in the shower, or tapping the beat to with your foot or ballpoint pen when you should be working. Sometimes they even keep you awake at night. Whether they are current hits, one-hit wonders, movie soundtrack gems, holiday favorites, or songs from your youth, their catchy vocals, riffs, hooks, and choruses seem to linger for days.
Here, those songs find a home, no matter the genre. Here, those epic earworms are revisited, explained, and celebrated. Here, you may find the song that haunts you tomorrow. Here is today’s unescapable song of the day…and the story behind it.
Today’s Epic Earworm: Simple Minds — “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”
One of the biggest hits of 1985 came from one of the biggest movies of 1985, the John Hughes classic “The Breakfast Club.” Simple Minds’ soundtrack contribution, “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” was a massive hit. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for 22 weeks. The song landed in the Top 10 in countries all over the world and quickly became the Scottish new wave rockers’ biggest hit. The multi-platinum single is still a big part of pop culture today, 40 years after the epic earworm was released.
Too Cool For School
Ironically, Simple Minds didn’t want anything to do with the song. Steve Schiff and Keith Forsey wrote the song, and it was offered to the Scottish band to record for the soundtrack. The group passed on the song. Frontman Jim Kerr thought that they should only record their own material and that they were too hip for the song.
Simple Minds‘ manager, Bruce Findlay, thought that the song was a hit and tried to convince the band to reconsider by arranging a screening of the film. The band still declined. Forsey then began shopping the song to other artists. Brian Ferry of Roxy Music liked the song, but he was busy recording his own album at the time and had to pass on it. A&M Records suggested Corey Hart, who had just had a big hit with “Sunglasses at Night,” but Forsey did not think that Hart’s voice was right for the song. Billy Idol, a frequent Forsey collaborator, also passed.
Finally, Kerr’s wife, Chrissy Hynde of the Pretenders, urged him to give the song a chance. After spending a few weeks getting to know Forsey, the band finally decided to give the song a chance. Kerr added in the “Hey, Hey, Hey” at the beginning and the “La La La La” at the end. He had intended to replace them with new lyrics as the band worked through the song, but Forsey loved them and insisted that Kerr keep them. Guitarist Charlie Burchill added in some power chords, and the rest is history. Burchill later told The Guardian that, looking back now, the band was embarrassed that they had dissed the epic earworm for so long.
