| The small town boy has turned 40. How did that happen? It seems only yesterday that we first heard the distinctive falsetto voice sing out about isolated gay teenagers living in provincial towns. OutUK sends birthday respects to Jimmy Somerville, a pop singer with a political conscience and a will to right the world. |
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Jimmy Somerville was 25 when Bronski Beat debuted with the landmark hit 'Smalltown Boy' in 1984. Somerville had arrived in London five years earlier.
It was only supposed to be a weekend visit, but the gay Glaswegian loved the place so much he decided to stay put. He made ends meet by selling his meat. "That ginge minge got me by, as did my baby face. Gotta do what you gotta do." He was able to ditch the 'dilly lifestyle after a benevolent stranger offered him a room. Having settled in London, Somerville spent much of the early 80s sticking up for his militant beliefs. "I wanted to right the world. I really believed, and still believe, it can be done." In the summer of '83 Somerville met Larry and Steve and Bronski Beat was born. Recorded as "a soundtrack for isolated homos everywhere", their album 'Age of Consent' became a classic for a gay generation. After a string of hits things started to go "squiffy", so Somerville upped and left. Having teamed up with friend Richard Coles, the Communards broke it big when 'Don't Leave Me This Way' hit number one in 1986. But there was more to the collaboration than disco camp. | |
Singles Collection CD £11.99 From Amazon | Wanting to raise awareness of AIDS they released the single 'For a Friend' the following year. It was one of the first pop records to address the disease, and, for many, one of the sweetest songs ever recorded. During the late 80s, frustrated at the complacency surrounding the epidemic, Somerville became heavily involved with AIDS activist group, ACT UP. |
| After three years and two albums, Somerville left the Communards on a high. Having gone solo he released 'Read My Lips' in 1989 "Read My Lips was created during a period of intense political involvement and if I think back it was also a period of bereavement. By this time I had known too many people who were sick or who had died. I was still angry." | |
 Manage The Damage CD £8.99 From Amazon |
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| Find out more about Jimmy Somerville at: www.jimmysomerville.co.uk | |