Holding Back The Years
Encyclopedia
"Holding Back the Years" is the 7th track of Simply Red
's debut studio album Picture Book
. The song was a smash success for the group and quickly rose to the top of charts across the world. It remains their most successful single, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100
for the week ending 12 July 1986. It is one of two Simply Red songs (the other being their cover of "If You Don't Know Me by Now
") to reach number one. "Holding Back the Years" reached No.2 in the UK and was a worldwide hit. It had initially been released in the UK the year before, reaching #51.
, wrote the song when he was seventeen, while living at his father's house. The chorus did not come to him until many years later. His mother left the family when he was three; the upheaval caused by this event inspired him to write the song. The song was co-written by Neil Moss, who was also a member of the Frantic Elevators.
He recorded a version of the song with his first group the Frantic Elevators in 1982 but the real success came when the Simply Red version was released in 1985. In 2005, a brand-new stripped down acoustic
version of the song was released on the album Simplified
, and this version received heavy airplay on smooth jazz
radio stations.
and the famous scene where Hucknall watches the coastal view from his window can be seen on the cover of the single, in its music video and, for a brief time, in the music video of "If You Don't Know Me by Now
". The other band members play the role of the local cricket team who see Hucknall off on his journey.
EastEnders
& Shameless
actress Maggie O'Neill
made her acting debut as the schoolteacher in the video, where she is seen engaging in sexual foreplay in a church graveyard. This apparently causes great consternation to her pupils who witness their teacher's liaison whilst innocently playing.
Simply Red
Simply Red were a British soul band that sold more than 50 million albums over a 25-year career. Their style drew influences from blue-eyed soul, new romantic, rock, reggae and jazz...
's debut studio album Picture Book
Picture Book (album)
Picture Book is the debut album by British pop group Simply Red, released in October 1985. It contains the #1 single "Holding Back the Years" and a cover of The Valentine Brothers' "Money’s Too Tight ".-Track listing:Side one...
. The song was a smash success for the group and quickly rose to the top of charts across the world. It remains their most successful single, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
for the week ending 12 July 1986. It is one of two Simply Red songs (the other being their cover of "If You Don't Know Me by Now
If You Don't Know Me By Now
"If You Don't Know Me by Now" is a song written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff and recorded by the jersey soul musical group Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, which became their first hit after being released as a single in 1972 topping the R&B chart and peaking at number three on the Pop chart.The...
") to reach number one. "Holding Back the Years" reached No.2 in the UK and was a worldwide hit. It had initially been released in the UK the year before, reaching #51.
Background
Frontman of the group, Mick HucknallMick Hucknall
Michael "Mick" Hucknall is a British singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the British band Simply Red, and is recognisable for his smooth, distinctive voice and wide vocal range, as well as his red curly hair.-Early life:...
, wrote the song when he was seventeen, while living at his father's house. The chorus did not come to him until many years later. His mother left the family when he was three; the upheaval caused by this event inspired him to write the song. The song was co-written by Neil Moss, who was also a member of the Frantic Elevators.
He recorded a version of the song with his first group the Frantic Elevators in 1982 but the real success came when the Simply Red version was released in 1985. In 2005, a brand-new stripped down acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
version of the song was released on the album Simplified
Simplified (Simply Red album)
Simplified is a Simply Red album released in 2005. It features new, rearranged recordings of the band's older songs, and four new songs: "Perfect Love" and an alternate version, "My Perfect Love", a cover of Leon Russell's "A Song for You", and "Smile"....
, and this version received heavy airplay on smooth jazz
Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
radio stations.
Music video
The video for this song was filmed in the English coastal town of WhitbyWhitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a combined maritime, mineral and tourist heritage, and is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey where Caedmon, the...
and the famous scene where Hucknall watches the coastal view from his window can be seen on the cover of the single, in its music video and, for a brief time, in the music video of "If You Don't Know Me by Now
If You Don't Know Me By Now
"If You Don't Know Me by Now" is a song written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff and recorded by the jersey soul musical group Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, which became their first hit after being released as a single in 1972 topping the R&B chart and peaking at number three on the Pop chart.The...
". The other band members play the role of the local cricket team who see Hucknall off on his journey.
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
& Shameless
Shameless
Shameless is a British television drama series set in Manchester on the fictional Chatsworth council estate. Produced by Company Pictures for Channel 4, the first seven-episode series aired weekly on Tuesday nights at 10pm from 13 January 2004...
actress Maggie O'Neill
Maggie O'Neill
-Biography:The youngest of six Catholic brothers and sisters, born to head teacher parents, O'Neill grew up in the Midlands, where she was educated at a convent school, and after being inspired by a sixth-form drama teacher, "fell" into acting....
made her acting debut as the schoolteacher in the video, where she is seen engaging in sexual foreplay in a church graveyard. This apparently causes great consternation to her pupils who witness their teacher's liaison whilst innocently playing.
Cover versions
- American jazz singer Jimmy ScottJimmy ScottJimmy Scott , aka "Little" Jimmy Scott, is an American jazz vocalist famous for his unusually high contralto voice which is due to Kallmann's syndrome, a very rare genetic condition. The condition stunted his growth at four feet eleven inches until, at age 37, he grew another 8 inches to the...
released an album in 1998 entitled Holding Back The Years which featured a notable cover version of the song. - Instrumental group Pieces of a DreamPieces of a Dream (band)Pieces of a Dream is an American R&B/jazz group from Philadelphia. The group was formed in 1976 by bassist Cedric Napoleon, drummer Curtis Harmon, and keyboardist James Lloyd. At the time, the three were all teenagers...
released a cover from their album Makes You Wanna. - The song was covered by Another Level in 1999.
- JazzJazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
vocalist Erin BodeErin BodeErin Bode is an American singer, reluctant to be classified as a jazz vocalist. Though Bode began her recording career in 2001, she has already garnered much praise...
covered the song on her 2006 album Over and OverOver and Over (Erin Bode album)Over and Over is the second studio album released by jazz vocalist Erin Bode. It was recorded over three days in mid-May 2005 and released on January 31, 2006 by the label Max Jazz...
. - It was also covered by Umphrey's McGee on their New Years Run on 29 December 2007.
- It has also been covered by The Isley BrothersThe Isley BrothersThe Isley Brothers are a highly influential, successful and long-running American music group consisting of different line-ups of six brothers, and a brother-in-law, Chris Jasper...
and singer-songwriter Angie StoneAngie StoneAngie Stone is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She has been nominated for three Grammy Award. She is more successful on the charts R&B charts, with four Top 10 albums, forms including a number one album and 10 singles on the R&B chart,...
. - During live performances, Dave Matthews BandDave Matthews BandDave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is a U.S. rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was...
has used it as an interpolationInterpolation (music)Interpolation in music refers to an abrupt change in musical elements from the main theme.-In classical music:In music and musical composition, especially 20th century and later, interpolation is an abrupt change of elements, with continuation of the first idea...
and outroConclusion (music)In music, the conclusion is the ending of a composition and may take the form of a coda or outro.Pieces using sonata form typically use the recapitulation to conclude a piece, providing closure through the repetition of thematic material from the exposition in the tonic key...
for "If I Had It All". This happened most frequently during the Summer 2006 tour. - It has been covered by Randy CrawfordRandy CrawfordRandy Crawford is an American jazz and R&B singer. She has been more successful in Europe than in the United States, where she has not entered the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist...
on her 1995 album Naked and True. - Guitarist Craig ChaquiçoCraig ChaquicoCraig Chaquico is an American guitarist of Portuguese and Native American descent. He has had over thirty years of success in a variety of genres: in the 1970s with the post-Summer of Love Jefferson Starship, in that band's 1980s incarnation, Starship, and in the 1990s and 2000s as a...
covered the song from his 1997 album Once in a Blue Universe. - Jazz singer Gretchen ParlatoGretchen ParlatoGretchen Parlato is an American jazz singer. She has performed and recorded with musicians such as Lionel Loueke, Wayne Shorter and Kenny Barron....
recorded a cover on her 2011 album The Lost and Found.
In popular culture
- "Holding Back the Years" was used as the soundtrack to a party political broadcast for the Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
in the 2005 UK general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 2005The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
campaign. - The song appeared in the film Love & Basketball.
- The song appeared in the film Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.
- The song appeared in Only Fools & Horses in the episode "Little ProblemsLittle Problems"Little Problems" is an episode of the BBC sit-com, Only Fools and Horses. It was the final episode of series 6, and was first screened on 12 February, 1989...
", after Rodney and Cassandra's wedding, when Del Boy is on his own in the function room. Director Ray Butt recalls during filming of the scene writer John Sullivan anxiously commenting "Nobody's laughing". Butt replied: "That's 'cause they're all crying.". - The song has been sampledSampling (music)In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
by multiple rap groups, including Brand NubianBrand NubianBrand Nubian is an American hip hop group from New Rochelle, New York, consisting of three MC's: Grand Puba , Sadat X and Lord Jamar , and two DJs: DJ Alamo and DJ Sincere...
for their single "Hold On" and 8Ball & MJG8Ball & MJG8Ball & MJG is an American Rap and Crunk duo from Memphis, Tennessee. The two rappers met at in 1980.They first appeared on the rap scene with their 1992 underground album Listen To The Lyrics...
for "Comin' Out Hard". - The song appeared in the American television series Miami ViceMiami ViceMiami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989...
in the episode "By Hooker By Crook", during the ending with Sonny Crockett and Christine (Melanie GriffithMelanie GriffithMelanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. She is an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner for her performance in the 1988 film Working Girl...
) on his sailboat, Saint Vitus' dance. - The song appeared in the American sitcom Everybody Hates ChrisEverybody Hates ChrisEverybody Hates Chris is an African American television period sitcom inspired by the teenage experiences of comedian Chris Rock , while growing up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York . The show is set from 1982 to 1987; however, Rock himself was a teenager during years...
during the episode "Everybody Hates The Ninth-Grade Dance."