Bronski Beat released their debut single Smalltown Boy on this day in 1984.
The song shares the story of a young gay man who is forced to leave home with his family discovers his sexuality, a story that was all too common in the 1980s.
The accompanying video shared a powerful message about homophobic bullying decades before programs were introduced into school to tackle the challenge.
The song was a huge hit around the world, including being a Top10 smash here in Australia, and made lead singer Jimmy Somerville one of the most recognisable voices in pop music.
The band formed in 1983 and featured alongside Somerville, Larry Steinbachek and Steve Bronski.
Their debut album Age of Consent highlighted on its cover the different ages gay men were allowed to have sex in different countries, and engraved into the vinyl was the number for London’s Gay and Lesbian Switchboard helpline.
The artwork for their records also prominently featured the pink triangle, a symbol of gay rights that has its origins in the holocaust.
Over the years Smalltown Boy has been recorded by a wide range of artists including Orville Peck, British Electric Foundation, Jose Gonzales, Dido, Sharon Corr, and many others.
It’s also interpolated into the Real McCoy 90’s dance hit Tell Me Why, and The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers borrowed the riff for his song I Can Change.
The band famously played a benefit gig to aid the Lesbians and Gays support the Miners campaign, which is dramatised in the feature film Pride.
In 1985 lead singer Jimmy Somerville quit the band and formed The Communards with Richard Coles, who had been playing saxophone with the band. He later launched a highly successful solo career, and was the headliner at Perth’s Pride celebrations in 2002.
Steinbachek and Bronski went on to record more music with a variety of lead singers. Steinbachek died in 2017, and Bronski passed away in 2021, leaving Somervile as the sole surviving original member of the band.
Update: Jimmy Somerville comments on the 40th anniversary
After this article was posted Jimmy Somerville released a video commenting on the milestone, and recalled the first time the band appeared on the iconic British television program Top of the Pops.
“I just remember doing our first Top of the Pops, beamed into the nation’s front rooms, and then the same all over Europe on pop shows. There was three young gay men, out, proud and in your face.
“We had a message, and that message now still resonates 40 years later. We seem to be regressing. In so many places, in so many countries rights are being chipped away at, and there’s a real surge of homophobia, aggression, and discrimination towards anyone who basically wants to be themselves, and love who they choose.” Somerville said.
Take a look at his video post.
Somervile recorded a new version of the song in 2014 to celebrate its 30th anniversary.
