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Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr has paid tribute to film director John Hughes, who died on August 6 aged 59.

The director featured a number of UK bands – such as Simple Minds, The Smiths and Echo And The Bunnymen – in his films, which included 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off', '16 Candles' and 'Pretty In Pink'.

Simple Minds' 'Don't You Forget About Me' was used prominently in Hughes' 1985 hit movie 'The Breakfast Club', and the song shot to Number One on the US Billboard chart as a result of the film's popularity.

Writing in his diary at Simpleminds.com, Kerr paid tribute to Hughes, who died of a heart attack, and revealed that Simple Minds will be dedicating 'Don't You Forget About Me' to his memory on their forthcoming tour.

He said: "And so it is that during the forthcoming 'Graffiti Soul' Tour, and when each and every night we dig into ourselves in order to pull out the greatest ever version of 'Don't You Forget About Me', it is John Hughes that I will be considering, and how in particular it was his enthusiasm for the sound of Simple Minds that made us go the extra mile back in December '84 when we pulled up at a draughty and soulless Wembley recording studio [to record the track]."

Kerr went on to thank Hughes for helping the band to "kick down the door" into the US mainstream.

He added: "John Hughes and his movie 'The Breakfast Club' gave us above all the thrilling opportunity that everyone who starts a band dreams of. The opportunity that is of aggregating the kind of success that enables an act to go through the door and into what is considered to be 'The Big League'.

"That we were maybe destined for it in any case is neither here nor there. The fact is that John helped us kick the door down and once there, no one could ever lock us out or tell us again what it felt like to be Number One in America. Because thanks to John Hughes and his film 'The Breakfast Club', we had been there and done it for ourselves, and not so many can say that, unfortunately!"

Blog - Why John Hughes' Movies Would Have Been Nothing Without Their Soundtracks

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Date/Time	Venue	Town/City	Seetickets	Viagogo
Jul 08, 2012 19:00	O2 Academy Newcastle	Newcastle	Buy Simple Minds Tickets from £37	Buy Simple Minds Tickets from £60
Jul 08, 2012 19:00	O2 Academy Newcastle	Newcastle	Buy Simple Minds Tickets from £37	Buy Simple Minds Tickets from £60