Born on this day in 1961, Jimmy Somerville escaped a tough life in Glasgow, he ran away to London at 17 years old & became a rent boy. Then a wealthy doctor took him off the street & set him on a path that eventually led to pop stardom.
For 25+ years, Jimmy Somerville’s thrilling voice has been blasted from my home, be it a top floor apartment on Capitol Hill is Seattle, or my working class bungalow in North Portland. I have loved his music from first listen in 1984 & the love affair continues. Some of his tunes have been anthems for a time & place in my life: Been So Long, Hurts So Good, Because Of Him, & Safe In His Arms. He is on my sound system this evening as I write this post.
Noted for his tiny stature & his soaring strong tenor voice & ringing falsetto, Jimmy Somerville shot to fame in the mid-1980s as the lead singer & songwriter of the openly gay pop group- Bronski Beat.
Bronski Beat's 1st single- Smalltown Boy, & its video, dealt with the problems of being gay in provincial Britain. It was an instant success, going to #3 on the pop charts & establishing the group's reputation.
In 1984, when Somerville was 23 years old when he formed Bronski Beat as a collaborative with Steve Bronski & Larry Stenbachek. The musicians met while they were working on a video by young gay men & lesbians entitled Famed Youth. It was during this project that Somerville realized that he could sing.
Bronski Beat's debut album Age of Consent included a pink triangle on the cover & listed the age of consent for gay sex in European countries on the inside sleeve as a means of calling attention to the disparity between British & other European laws at that time.
The album a series of songs dealing with various aspects of gay life, the album sold more than a million copies. In 1985, Bronski Beat teamed up with another gay singer- Marc Almond, to record a version of Donna Summer's- I Feel Love, also a hit.
A series of disagreements over politics broke apart Bronski Beat in 1985, & Somerville formed another group- The Communards, with another gay musician- Richard Coles.
The music of The Communards was also politically tinged. It featured songs dealing with issues such as gay relationships-There Is More to Love than Boy Meets Girl, & the loss of friends to AIDS-For a Friend. Other hits for The Communards: You Are My World, & covers of Don't Leave Me This Way & a Gloria Gaynor's Never Can Say Goodbye.
Honest about his sexuality & political, Somerville made no secret of the fact that he was an active member of the Labor Party Young Socialists & the Anti-Nazi League.
With the end of The Communards in 1988, Somerville spent time in L.A., where he put his energy towards the fight against AIDS. He became an active member of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power). As a result of his activities with ACT UP, he was arrested in 1990.
In 1989 Somerville released his 1st solo album- Read My Lips. The title makes reference to President G.H Bush's electoral promise not to raise taxes, which he of course broke. Many of the songs on the album are overtly political. Somerville: "It's a song with a really potent message & it's emotional & angry at the same time. I'm really proud of it because I've done this disco anthem that has taken elements that have made dance music what it is today . . . . It's so difficult to get across politics, emotion, & anger in a 4 minute pop record & I think I've managed to achieve that."
Somerville's solo albums- Dare To Love (1995), Something to Live For (1999), Manage The Damage (1999), & Home Again (2004), are all dominated by disco & dance music. The song- Lay Down, is a hymn to fellatio; the title track of Manage The Damage is dedicated to Matthew Shepard. His last album- Suddenly Last Summer (2209) is made up of beautiful, simple, acoustic covers, including a wry- My Heart Belongs To Daddy. Thanks for the wonderful, brave & inspiring music & happy birthday, Jimmy. Mr. Somerville turns 49 years Old today.
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