"It's an amazing relationship I have with Charlie. It's actually amazing that we're still friends, especially as we've been through thick and thin together."
To date, Simple Minds have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.
But it was by chance that they broke America, earning aUS number 1single with Don't You (Forget About Me) which featured in cult film The Breakfast Club.
Initially the band didn't even want to use the song as it was, at the time, the first one they hadn't written themselves.
Keith Forsey wrote it and offered it to Jim and co after Bryan Ferry had rejected it.
Jim says: "I wasn't ambivalent about doing the song but about using someone else's song.
"Keith Forsey turned up unannounced at arehearsal and we really liked him and when you like someone you're much more open to them - but we still told him we weren't going to use the song.
"Anyway, we did it in our own way, in our own style and changed our minds.
"To get a number 1 in America was something - I mean, they did invent rock and roll after all."
Black and White 050505, the band's recent studio album, garnered massive critical acclaim and they returned from their first tour of Australia in 15 years to rave reviews of their live shows.
