"Don't You (Forget About Me)" was written by Keith Forsey and Steve Schiff specifically for The Breakfast Club (1985). Simple Minds were initially reluctant to record it because they preferred to perform their own material, and singer Jim Kerr was not particularly impressed with some of the lyrics. Before the Scottish band finally accepted the song, it had also been offered to other artists including Bryan Ferry and Billy Idol, both of whom turned it down.
Eventually the band agreed to record the song after developing a friendship with Forsey, while Kerr's then-wife, Chrissie Hynde, also encouraged him to give it a chance. Released in 1985 and featured prominently in The Breakfast Club, the song became Simple Minds' biggest hit in the US, spending one week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1985. It was their only US chart-topper and also reached No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart. The famous "la-la-la-la" ending was improvised by Kerr during the recording session and was originally meant as a placeholder, but Forsey insisted on keeping it.