DAVID BURKE
© Ron Wolfson/WireImage
Before Simply Red came The Frantic Elevators, fronted by a flamehaired Mancunian with the sort of powerhouse voice the post-punk milieu couldn’t contain. After seven years paying his dues in a band that never transcended their local fanbase, Mick Hucknall shifted direction in 1984, forming Simply Red – the name referencing his avowed love of Manchester United, allegiance to socialism and, of course, those red tresses.