Simple Minds - Don't You (Forget About Me)

What this video is

Released in February 1985, 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' was written by Keith Forsey and Steve Schiff specifically for John Hughes' The Breakfast Club and became inseparable from the teen film's cultural legacy. Simple Minds—a Scottish post-punk band with little prior US recognition—initially declined the track but ultimately recorded it in approximately three hours in a North London studio. The song reached No. 1…

Why it matters

A defining artifact of the New Wave/Post-Punk mainstream crossover moment, this video demonstrates how mid-1980s MTV functioned as a bridge between alternative British rock and mass American teen culture. The film-soundtrack nexus it represents—a Scottish art-rock band fronting a John Hughes teen…

The director

British director born 23 December 1955. After graduating from Hornsey Art School, Kleinman began his career as an illustrator and storyboard artist before directing his first music video in 1983. He pioneered post-production special effects in music videos…