Wednesday 23 June 2021

You started this fire down in my soul



How remiss of me. I neglected to pay tribute to another of our icons who turned 60 years old yesterday - the fantabulosa, fiery, elfin-like Jimmy Somerville!

Catapulted to fame in the midst of the gayer-than-gay pop explosion of the early 1980s in the UK, he (and his fellow angry young gayers in Bronski Beat) eschewed all the headline-grabbing New Romantic flounces or "gender-bending" of fellow pioneers like Steve Strange, Boy George, Marc Almond and their ilk in favour of pertinent anger. Gay rights were the issue of the moment, given the fact that unlike many countries across the world the UK still criminalised homosexuality under the age of 21; notoriously, the band's debut album in 1984 - the year I came out! - was indeed titled Age of Consent and featured on its cover all the differing rules that countries across the world applied to gay sex in law.

As I said way back in 2008:

I adored them, and especially Jimmy - small, not particularly attractive, but spunky in every sense of the word - as their rise to fame, and in particular the supremely brilliant Smalltown Boy coincided quite neatly with my own coming out. I was indeed "pushed around, kicked around, always the lonely boy..." I was "the one that they'd talk about around town, when they put you down..."

The follow-up single from Age of Consent was, if anything, even more powerful:

His split from the Bronskis gave birth to another classic era for Jimmy - no less angry, but (remarkably) even more commercially successful - with The Communards. Here's just two faves from their extensive catalogue:

Oh, how we danced to that one! Jimmy, despite the demise of band #2, remained (and remains) a force to be reckoned with. His falsetto voice is unique and unmistakeable - and he has chalked up a string of notable choons ever since - including these:

James William "Jimmy" Somerville (born 22nd June 1961), we love you!

[Indeed, a highlight of my life was when we saw him live, back in 2015]

15 comments:

  1. Blimey - that's a terrific collection! Jimmy Somerville - not to be confused with Ian Hislop.
    Sx

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    1. Ha! Jx

      PS There's hardly a duff track in his entire back-catalogue - and that's an achievement not many artists can claim.

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  2. Runaway, runaway, runaway... simply amazing stuff considering the times. Thatcher! It was a new age of oppression. And state side, no one knew what to make of any of it. Thanks for sharing all of these. Such a memory machine. Kizzes.

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    1. America is always a bit slow to discover new music from elsewhere - Duran Duran, Culture Club, Eurythmics and Bananarama hit the Billboard year-end Top 100 in 1984, but the likes of Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Bronski Beat, Ultravox, Nik Kershaw, Blancmange and The Thompson Twins (all huge here) were nowhere to be seen... Jx

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  3. 60?!?!?!?!?!

    Im going to need a minute... and a few gin and tonics.

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    1. As I said to Ms Scarlet last week, when she had the same reaction to Boy George hitting the same milestone, there are loads of our favourites hitting the Big 6-0 this year - including Suggs from Madness, Lloyd Cole, Christopher Atkins of the film Blue Lagoon, both halves of Bananarama, both of Tears for Fears, Rory Bremner, Enya, pretty little Nick Heyward, Harry Enfield, Michael J. Fox, Martin Clunes, Alison Moyet, Vince Clarke, Martin Gore, Martin Kemp and The Karate Kid Ralph Macchio - and it would have been Princess Diana's 60th next week, too... Jx

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  4. I love Jimmy!
    And when I read he was turning sixty I could not believe it. I love him with Bronski Beat and with the Communards, too!
    Smalltown Boy is my anthem.

    XOXO

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    1. Time flies - it's scary to learn that when Smalltown Boy was in our charts, the likes of Claire Foy, Calvin Harris, Trevor Noah, Gareth Gates and Siobhán Donaghy of the Sugababes were all newborn babies... Jx

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    2. hahahaha
      Now, THAT puts things in perspective.

      XOXO

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  5. Oh what fantastic memories, oh what a fantastic voice ... seems like yesterday I was dancing to these - and I'm now 62! >gulp<

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    1. Crazy, isn't it? It feels as if we were young just a nanosecond ago, but...

      ...sadly, no. Jx

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  6. Hmm. Either they weren't as popular in the U.S. and/or I was too busy running about the forests barefoot like a wood sprite.

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    1. Jimmy, Bronski Beat and Communards were never huge Stateside, but a lot depends on what radio station you listened to, I suppose. Jx

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  7. ah ! Bless him.
    Love him to bits but just wish Ms Scarlet hadn't mentioned Ian Hislop. I can't get that image out of my head now. Ha ha

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    1. If ever ITV revives Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes, there's an opportunity not to be missed... Jx

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