Jimmy Somerville celebrates his fiftieth birthday today, so we thought we’d shine a light on the career of this respected gay artist.
The Scottish singer, who is an outspoken advocate of LBGT rights, recently released Bright Thing, an EP of new songs which will soon be followed up with a companion remix EP.
Somerville found success as the lead singer of 80’s band Bronski Beat, a trio of openly gay men whose catchy dance songs featured strong political messages. Their debut album Age of Consent contained the hits Smalltown Boy and Why. Smalltown Boy told the story of a young man who leaves the family home because he is gay, the song was accompanied by a dramatic narrative video. The band’s second hit Why also highlighted gay prejudice in its lyrics. The album’s titled highlighted that the age of consent for homosexual acts in Britain at the time was 21, while it was 16 for heterosexual acts.
Somerville left Bronski Beat before their second album was recorded. The band went on to have more hits with a new singer. In 1985 Somerville teamed up with Richard Coles and formed a new band, The Communards. The band had their greatest success with covers of 70’s disco hits like Don’t Leave Me This Way and Never Can Say Goodbye.
In 1988 Somerville launched his solo career which has spawned five solo albums and a whole bunch of chart and underground hits including Heartbeat, Laydown and a killer cover of Sylvester’s You Make Me Feel Mighty Real. In 2002 Somerville was the guest performer in Perth for Pride month. Somerville’s latest work Bright Thing is available now through iTunes.
Graeme Watson
