Kerr, Jim, Charlie Burchill & Graeme Thomson - Our Secrets Are The Same: Friendship & Fame At The Heart Of Simple Minds

The long-awaited memoir from Simple Minds' founder members and lifelong
collaborators, Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill. 

'Easter 1977. Southside Glasgow. Eleven o'clock on a Sunday morning. Charlie and I have
found our John the Baptist in a converted bungalow across the road from our alma mater,
Holyrood Secondary School.
Outside, old grannies and kids are coming back from Mass.
Inside, the windows are shaking.
Destiny is calling.
We are seventeen and ready for something. Anything.'
A candid, moving and kinetic story of self-realisation through the power of music, Our
Secrets Are The Same is the remarkable joint memoir by Simple Minds' founder
members, Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill. It not only reveals the inner workings of one of
the most innovative and successful British bands of the past half-century, but the deeply
personal tale of an extraordinary friendship which powered teenage dreams into visionary
action.
Jim and Charlie first met at the age of eight, when their families moved to the same
housing estate in Toryglen, on Glasgow's southside. More than fifty years later, they live
on the same street in Taormina, Sicily. In the decades between, their lives have been
uniquely and intimately entwined.
Together they embarked upon the ultimate adventure: forming a rock band from ground
zero and ascending to the most elevated heights, while at times negotiating the inevitable
falls from grace a prolonged career in music entails.
What did they discover?
That life is not so much about finding yourself as creating yourself. That you can indeed
transcend whatever circumstances in which you were born. That dreaming is necessary
but not enough; at some point you have to rise up and forcefully bend fantasy into reality.
And in doing so, it helps immeasurably to find a soulmate who believes in the cause as
fervently as you.
For both Jim and Charlie, the group they formed in 1977 became a personal crusade; a
means of making something from nothing. Simple Minds are renowned worldwide for their
string of hits and powerhouse live shows. For its two principals, however, the band
became a way of being. Making music offered a passport to numerous experiences once
unimaginable to two kids from Toryglen.
Their remarkable story traces the arc of working-class aspiration, social change, chemical
awakenings, cultural infiltration, unwavering drive and thrilling creative fusion. Along the
way, there are brushes with David Bowie, Bob Dylan, U2 and Nelson Mandela. Breakfast
with Alice Cooper. Dinner with Lou Reed. And a few scrapes with the boys in blue:
'The police approached me and Jim. They said they'd had a report that two people had
broken into the record store and taken some albums. That was merely a pretext. The
truth was they just didn't like the look of us.
The policeman said: 'Right, what do you two do?'
'We're rock stars,' says Jim.
'What band are you in?'
'Simple Minds.'
'Never heard of you.'
'That's cos we don't make music for cops . . .'
It was worth a night in the cells, that line.'
Exploring key songs, places, years and events in the Simple Minds story, and told in the
distinct voices of both men, Our Secrets Are The Same explores a bond which has
encompassed stratospheric highs and humbling lows, marriages and divorces, fatherhood,
fickle fame, tricky inter-band dynamics, the occasional explosive bust up, and a ruthless
streak to rival the Sicilian Mafia.
'We came from a place where you had to fight for your dreams; a tough existence
instilled a certain grittiness. Barely eighteen years old, we were already recognising that
the band was by now the most precious thing in our lives, and that the risk of appearing
to be tough-minded bastards from time to time was already an unspoken necessity. It
was just part and parcel of what we were convinced was required in order to do what was
right for Simple Minds.'

Through the numerous occasions when their private and professional lives have been
thrown into flux, Jim and Charlie have always known they have one thing they could rely
on unconditionally: each other.
Their connection is grounded in shared experiences and a set of values and codes so
deeply ingrained they don't need to be spoken. For Our Secrets Are The Same is not just
the story of two rock stars, but of two sons, brothers, partners and parents who have
never forgotten where they come from. Two men who have remained deeply bonded to
their roots and each other, while fulfilling a teenage dream to form a world-class live band
and take their music around the globe.
Fascinating and funny, evocative and inspiring, this unforgettable memoir captures a
unique journey through life and music, and a friendship like no other.