In the 1980s Simple Minds were up there with U2 as part of a new wave of stadium-filling rock bands.

They topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, performed in front of a global TV audience of 1.5 billion at Live Aid, headlined Wembley Stadium and have shifted north of 60 million copies of their albums.

And, on Thursday, June 20, Simple Minds headline an open-air show at Margate’s Dreamland with a set list bursting at the seams with hits.

There will be the likes of Alive and Kicking, Don’t You (Forget About Me), All The Things She Said, Promised You A Miracle, Let There Be Love and their chart-topping Belfast Child.

“Margate has always been a great crowd for us,” says Jim Kerr, the band’s lead singer.

“We’ve played at the Winter Gardens a couple of times [in 2003 and 2013] and we always knew there would be a great audience encouraging us.

“I remember great nights in Margate - and there's only one Margate, right? And it's hip and happening now.”

Given Simple Minds have toured almost relentlessly over the last few decades, Kerr’s knowledge of times past and the towns he’s visiting now is impressive.

Everything you need to know about attending Dreamland’s Summer Series concerts

But, now 64, he may be forgiven for pondering who booked the tour dates for this jaunt around the UK this summer.

On Tuesday they play Scarborough, the following day trek the sharp end of 200 miles to North Wales and then the day after almost 300 miles to Margate.

To make matters worse, they’re then off to Cornwall two days later.

“That's just the first week of eight weeks,” he jokes, “but listen, when did touring ever have anything to do with logic?

“But we spent the spring playing big arenas [they were at the O2 Arena in March] so it’s good to get a bit off the beaten track and we love these outdoor shows, the fresh air, what’s not to like?”

This year also marks the 45th anniversary of their first show in the county - a slot as a support act at the Odeon in Canterbury - the venue which would morph into the old Marlowe Theatre.

“We were opening for [post-punk rockers] Magazine back then - we loved them.

“They were great times. We were beyond excited just to have a record deal and go and play.

“We knew back then that this was the start and we had to forge a reputation, win over the audience, prove ourselves and learn our trade.

“Who would have thought nearly half-a-century later, we're still learning our trade.”

For a man who has commanded stadium audiences, it’s fair to say, despite his modesty, he’s got stagecraft down to a fine art.

Because Kerr is a bona fide rock star and once one of the pillars of showbusiness columns.

Courtesy of high-profile marriages - first to The Pretenders’ lead singer Chrissie Hynde (the pair were married for six years and had a daughter together) and then to Patsy Kensit (their marriage lasted four years and produced a son), he came under the full glare of the media.

“It never really suited me,” he admits this week, speaking to KentOnline during a break in the band’s summer touring schedule.

“It would be naive to think if you're in a big band and you marry a beautiful starlet, it's not going to be manna from heaven for the tabloid press.

“But do I miss it? Not at all.

“It's a fantastic balance we've struck now where we can go out and play all these big arenas around the world and still walk down the road and buy a pint of milk without being bothered.”

Today his life is split between being on the road and a life in Italy - a long way from his Glasgow roots.

Since 2001 he has owned a hotel on the east coast of Sicily - investing some of his accrued riches over the years into a land he first fell in love with back in 1982. He lives, with his long-term partner, nearby.

“I own it, but don't run it,” he explains when I ask if he’s more Basil Fawlty than rock star today (“I’m not even as good as Basil Fawlty,” he quips).

“Although I have to say I built it. I come from a family of builders. So I bought the land and put it all together. I didn’t actually get down among the cement, but what else are going to do if you don’t like racehorses or sports car?”

He also once teamed up with Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish in a bid to buy his beloved Celtic Football Club - a move he now describes as “a little misguided”, adding “I think Celtic dodged a bullet and so did I”.

For those who were not around when the band enjoyed their commercial heyday in the 1980s and toppling into the 1990s, it’s hard to underplay just how big they were.

After breaking through into the charts in the early 1980s with hits like Waterfront, it was Don’t You (Forget About Me) in 1985 which catapulted them into the stratosphere.

Used in the movie The Breakfast Club (the band famously needed serious persuading to record the track) it went to number one in the US and triggered a huge surge in their popularity.

The album which followed it, Once Upon A Time, was one of those everyone owned - spawning hit singles such as All The Things She Said, Sanctify Yourself and, perhaps their most endearing hit, Alive and Kicking.

At the time, the band were of a similar size to U2 - a group they’ve long been good friends with.

They were one of the big names at the Mandela Day concert at Wembley Stadium in 1988 as pressure grew to release Nelson Mandela from jail in South Africa and end the apartheid regime.

The following year they secured their first UK number one with the Ballad of the Streets EP - led by Belfast Child and including the song Mandela’s Day which they written for and debuted at the Wembley show.

Followed by the album Street Fighting Years, the tour saw them sell-out the big arenas and headline their own Wembley Stadium show.

Over the years, the adulation ebbed and flowed. And the band’s line-up changed.

Today, just Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill remain of the original line-up which formed back in Glasgow in 1977. The pair have been friends since they were at primary school.

As for this week’s Margate show? Expect a barrage of hits and a jaunt through the band’s remarkable career.

Simple Minds perform at Dreamland as part of the venue’s Margate Summer Series on Thursday, June 20 - tickets can be bought here.

They are supported by fellow Scots Del Amitri.