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Bronski Beat
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Bronski Beat was a popular British synth pop trio of the 1980s.
At their height, the band comprised of distinctive and diminutive singer Jimmy Somerville, backed by Steve Bronski and Larry Steinbacheck, both of whom played keyboards and percussion.
Formed in 1983, their debut hit came the following year - the striking tale of a boy who was cast away by his family and neighbours for being gay. Called Smalltown Boy, it peaked at Number 3 in the UK and was accompanied by a memorable video of Somerville leaving home, forlornly eating an apple on a train, being attacked by a homophobic gang and being returned to his family by the police.
The song quickly established the trio as an outlet for gay issues – all three members were gay – and the follow-up single Why? pursued the same energetic and electronic formula musically, while the lyrics focussed more centrally and darkly on anti-gay prejudice. Again, it made the Top 10 in the UK.
At the end of 1984, the trio released an album which was provocatively titled The Age of Consent. The sleeve inside listed the varying ages of consent for homosexual sex in different nations around the world. At the time, the age of consent for gay men in the UK was 21.
A third single was released from it, again causing controversy. It Ain’t Necessarily So, the George and Ira Gershwin classic (from Porgy and Bess) which questions the authenticity of Biblical tales, reached the UK Top 20. Playing the clarinet solos in the song was Richard Coles, with whom Somerville would later team up to form The Communards.
At their height, the band comprised of distinctive and diminutive singer Jimmy Somerville, backed by Steve Bronski and Larry Steinbacheck, both of whom played keyboards and percussion.
Formed in 1983, their debut hit came the following year - the striking tale of a boy who was cast away by his family and neighbours for being gay. Called Smalltown Boy, it peaked at Number 3 in the UK and was accompanied by a memorable video of Somerville leaving home, forlornly eating an apple on a train, being attacked by a homophobic gang and being returned to his family by the police.
The song quickly established the trio as an outlet for gay issues – all three members were gay – and the follow-up single Why? pursued the same energetic and electronic formula musically, while the lyrics focussed more centrally and darkly on anti-gay prejudice. Again, it made the Top 10 in the UK.
At the end of 1984, the trio released an album which was provocatively titled The Age of Consent. The sleeve inside listed the varying ages of consent for homosexual sex in different nations around the world. At the time, the age of consent for gay men in the UK was 21.
A third single was released from it, again causing controversy. It Ain’t Necessarily So, the George and Ira Gershwin classic (from Porgy and Bess) which questions the authenticity of Biblical tales, reached the UK Top 20. Playing the clarinet solos in the song was Richard Coles, with whom Somerville would later team up to form The Communards.
Top Albums
Shoutbox
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pombywa wrote:
why do all people assiociate their music to gay movements? I'm hetereosexual and still find their music cool. =) "Why?" because it is better than modern lolli-pop crap
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stoneynhvt wrote:
20+ years later and still relevant. Why? indeed!
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Insubstantia wrote:
cool non-macho disco? [5] =)
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sotiris82 wrote:
cool gay disco [4]
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oscar_mg wrote:
haha, feels a bit "one hit wonder" when looking at the charts...
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jarof40 wrote:
I agree - cool gay disco. I'm not a fag but I like it very much:)
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oioioiacab wrote:
cool gay disco [3]
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coolcat77 wrote:
cool gay disco [2]
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rodriguezzz wrote:
run away turn away run away turn away ))
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Koffanox wrote:
Do iotdodddo it!
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Lislwisl wrote:
I'd love to listen to the acoustic version from 1994 from the song smalltown boy!!!
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eroticon wrote:
cool gay disco
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balzadelia wrote:
small town boy is just fantastic , so sad but so much soul , hi five jimmy
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doestokua wrote:
AIDS Pop
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UncleGropey wrote:
You'll dance to anything by the Communards.
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alphaville84 wrote:
i checked this cover, but now you must wake me up !!! ;-I
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Beanyal wrote:
Please PLEASE check out The Gadsdens - you MUST check out their cover of Bronski beats Small Town Boy. X http://www.last.fm/music/The+Gadsdens
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mopsgesicht wrote:
do check out paradise lost's coverversion of stb. it rocks!
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mrevgen wrote:
Nice guys)
Videos
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Listeners
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wdgandy
Listening now
to Smalltown Boy -
Pilchard Chops
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to Why -
Pavle_Vujsic
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to Ain't Necessarily So -
JCN6
Top Listener
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VyachShubin
Top Listener
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mrteache
Top Listener
Recent Activity
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harvey-thepooka, aisuchoko, PELKMERSEN and 8 other people added Bronski Beat to their libraries. 2 hours ago
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Chabha tagged Bronski Beat with synthpop, pop, synth pop and 2 other tags. Wednesday morning
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Chabha and rexr added Bronski Beat to their libraries. Wednesday morning
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m_courac tagged Bronski Beat with ‘england’. Tuesday evening
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przem1k and KbearKollar added Bronski Beat to their libraries. Tuesday evening
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m_courac tagged Bronski Beat with english, uk, electronic and 6 other tags. Tuesday evening
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and 5 other people added Bronski Beat to their libraries. Tuesday afternoon
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musinum tagged Bronski Beat with ‘entp’. Monday morning
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musinum added Bronski Beat to musinum’s library. Monday morning
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musinum connected Bronski Beat to the group ENTP. Monday morning
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