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Cover of Once Upon a Time by Simple Minds
Cover: Once Upon a Time

Song · Simple Minds

“Alive and Kicking” by Simple Minds

From the album Once Upon a Time (1985)

“Alive and Kicking” by Simple Minds appears on 46 radio countdowns from 14 stations between 1985 and 2025. It was first released in 1985 on the album Once Upon a Time. Its best result is #1 on the Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1985. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #1 alternative song of 1985, #364 alternative song of all time and #56 of the '80s.

46countdowns
14stations
#1best position
1#1 finishes
2top 10 finishes
1985–2025years charted

Watch

Simple Minds - Alive And Kicking

Video from YouTube (SimpleMindsVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Alive and Kicking" was the lead single from Once Upon a Time, the seventh album by Scottish band Simple Minds, and Virgin sent it out in 1985. Jim Kerr, Charlie Burchill and Mick MacNeil wrote it together, and the credits list Jimmy Iovine and Bob Clearmountain among the producers, which explains the gloss: this is Simple Minds scrubbed, polished and aimed squarely at the back row.

It's a song built to lift. Big, rolling layers of sound, a beat that marches rather than dances, and a chorus that swells like a crowd rising to its feet, all of it sounding like a promise that the night isn't over yet.

The world took it: "Alive and Kicking" climbed to three on the Billboard Hot 100, got to four in Canada, and it went top five across a string of European countries, going all the way to number one in Italy.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1985 11 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1985 107
1985 5 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1985 91
1985 1 Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1985 30
1986 79 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1986 90

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
– 55 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 200 Songs of the 1980s 200
1988 98 Live 105 Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) 501
1988 116 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 200 Songs of All-Time (1988) 200
1989 141 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) 495
1989 208 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) 500
1991 204 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) 500
1991 649 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) 1002
1992 195 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) 500
1994 175 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1994 121 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1994 115 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994) 500
1995 322 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) 500
1996 175 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) 500
1996 206 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1996 178 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996) 498
1998 111 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) 488
1999 205 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 300
1999 312 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999) 500
1999 1696 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 164 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
2000 1696 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 1696 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 260 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 500
2002 1688 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 482 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 1674 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 712 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 1674 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2004 303 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 500
2005 998 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 262 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 500
2007 515 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 501 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 513 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 508 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 525 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 540 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 556 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2021 125 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2023 219 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2023 683 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 1229
2025 482 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs 800

Also listed as: Alive & Kicking; Alive And Kicking.

Charting alongside it in 1985

Best songs of 1985 →
  1. 2The Perfect KissNew Order
  2. 3In Between DaysThe Cure
  3. 4Take On Mea-ha
  4. 5Road to NowhereTalking Heads
  5. 6Shake the DiseaseDepeche Mode
  6. 7ShoutTears for Fears

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