Erasure this morning announced both ‘Total Pop!,’ a seven-date greatest-hits tour of U.K. forests next summer to coincide with the release of their next studio album, and a new version of ‘A Little Respect’ recorded to raise awareness about gay bullying and teen suicides.

With a new best-of set due sometime early next year, Simple Minds on Monday announced plans for a unique summer trek across Great Britain: the seven-date ‘Greatest Hits U.K. Forest Tour,’ which is exactly what it sounds like — a ‘series of dates in spectacular woodlands locations.’

Jim Kerr reports that Simple Minds recently hit the studio to record tracks — including a ‘New Gold Dream’-era castoff — that are earmarked for both ‘an extensive compilation’ due out in early 2011 and what eventually will become the band’s 16th studio album.

On May 26, 1984 — just three months after the release of ‘The Smiths’ — a young and occasionally smiling Morrissey appeared on the BBC TV game show ‘Pop Quiz,’ which pitted two teams of musicians against each other in a battle of musical knowledge hosted by a ridiculously attired DJ named Mike Read.

Ex-Bauhaus leader Peter Murphy took to his Facebook page today to update fans on a number of projects, including his Dalis Car reunion with Mick Karn (sessions being ‘next week’) and the pending release of his new solo album Ninth (‘shouldn’t be too long now’).

Given that today is Jim Kerr’s 51st birthday, we dedicate this installment of Vintage Video to the Simple Minds frontman. Here’s a performance of one of the band’s most rousing anthems, ‘Waterfront,’ filmed Sept. 15, 1989, at L’Arena in Verona, Italy, during the band’s ‘Street Fighting Years’ tour.