Act Of Love was one of the first songs written for the first post-Abusers line-up of Simple Minds. It was written by Charlie's in early January 1978, a couple of days before the band's first gig at Satellite City. It was completely dominated by one of Charlie’s distinctive guitar riffs, which drove the entire song, and underpinned the verses and its limited choruses. It opened their first gig at Satellite City, therefore becoming the first ever song played by the fledgling group.

Unfortunately no recordings of Act Of Love by the all-guitar early line-up of Simple Minds exist. By the time it was demoed in May 1978, both Mick MacNeil and Derek Forbes had joined the group, adding their own signature parts to the track’s basic sound. Their limited time with the band showed, particularly with MacNeil's arrangement, which was just a staccato single-note for the versus, and a straightforward follow of the melody for the choruses.

The unofficial recording from the Mars Bar in July 1978 revealed how much the song had evolved. Not only were MacNeil and Forbes filling out its simplistic structure with more elaborate lines, but a police siren was added to parts of the song, adding to its urgent, hurried progression. Whether this was prompted by, or prompted, the use of a blue police light in a translucent head which spun around as an early, primitive light show is unknown.

The song's gradual relegation through the set-list during the rest of 1978 suggested it was slowly falling from grace. From pole-position in January 1978, it had dropped back to mid-set by July 1978, and had disappeared from the ranks altogether by the winter. By the time of the recording of Life In A Day, it was either forgotten or dropped. Tape box logs from the album sessions reveal that Act Of Love was never officially recorded.

It was formally officially released on the The Early Years 1977-78 CD in March 1998. Questions over legalities, especially the financing of demo tape, saw the CD being swiftly withdrawn.

It wasn't entirely forgotten however. One possibly extremely oblique reference was found in the run-out groove of Lostboy's debut album where an extremely knowledgeable engineer wrote 'ACT OF LOVE' in the run-out. Alternatively, it could've been a nod to the first line of Celebrate. But given Lostboy’s reference to early Simple Minds, especially by covering such rarities as Someone and New Warm Skin, then the etching was probably a homage to this song.

And Jim, probably searching as far back as possible, namechecked Act of Love in a Walk Between Worlds interview, suggesting it had early potential and could be reworked and recorded in the future. This was in response to some criticism of using ideas and shelved demos from older albums for new releases – in doing so, Jim probably picked the oldest bona-fide Simple Minds song he could think of.

But the genie was out of the bottle, and the long-forgotten song, which Jim had always wanted to return to, wouldn't leave them alone. While recording the next Simple Minds album in Hamburg during 2020 and 2021, they periodically returned to the song. 'We tinkered around with it,' says Jim. 'When we listened to the original demo, we loved its spirit and its general form, but it sounded like a youth club band song. How could we do that now, adding extra pieces without losing the essence?'

It was finally nailed by Charlie on a holiday in Thailand. He sent Jim the outline of an updated version of the track. 'It was Act Of Love with a new bit, and it sounded great.' It was recorded during the album sessions in Hamburg in November 2021 and released on the 17th January 2022 as the band's first post-COVID single, and promotion for the resumption of the 40: Best Of tour.

The single was further promoted by a lyric video and Radio Two airplay on the same day.

Sweet angel call out Don't want to speak to no fool Time to get under the spotlight Time to ignore every rule Then it came From above An act of love It was an act of love Then it came From above An act of love It was an act of love I had a white-hot fever Head in my hands I was a born believer Head full of plans Tell you, still I want to tell you Faith is my weapon Love is my shield I have nothing to lose So much to reveal Tell you, still I want to tell you It was an act of love We were up there in the good times We walked on through the bad We still shone when the lights went out Tell you now Still I want to tell you now I had a white-hot fever Head in my hands I was a born believer Head full of plans Tell you, still I want to tell you Faith is my weapon Love is my shield I have nothing to lose So much to reveal White hot fever I’m still a born believer It was an act of love Tell you now Still I want to tell you now Tell you now It came in from above Tell you now Still I want to tell you now Tell you now It came in from above It was an act of love Faith is my weapon Love is my shield Got nothing to lose So much to reveal It was an act of love Faith is my weapon Love is my shield Got nothing to lose So much to reveal It was an act of love I was a born believer It was an act of love

Demo Version (4:18) Producer: Lex McEwan and Simple Minds
Single Version (4:00) Producer: Andy Wright, Gavin Goldberg and Simple Minds Mixed by: Alan Moulder
Single Version Instrumental (4:00) Producer: Andy Wright, Gavin Goldberg and Simple Minds Mixed by: Alan Moulder

Single Version (4:00) Producer: Andy Wright, Gavin Goldberg and Simple Minds Mixed by: Alan Moulder