Jimmy Somerville's Brand New Website Is Up And Running!

 

So says the Webmaster: We thought it was time it had a slightly new structure and layout and here it is...We hope you find it easy to use. You can also keep up with what Jimmy is up to on an even more regular basis by LIKING Jimmy's Facebook page. Jimmy is just finishing a new EP which will be released at the start of 2012 - we hope to bring you a sneak preview of some of the tracks soon!! 

Photo: Jimmy Somerville International Fanpage

Happy 25th Birthday Communards.

 

The debut album from The Communards was released in July 1985 and spent 45 weeks on the charts in the UK. Communards went platinum and produced the UK #1 "Don't Leave Me This Way" which went on to be the biggest selling single in the UK in 1986 and also went to #1 on the US Billboard Dance chart. 

"Don't Leave Me This Way" was a hit for Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes in 1975 and for Thelma Houston in 1976. The Communards' version was "memorable for the vocal interplay between the falsetto of Somerville and the husky tones of guest singer Sarah Jane Morris." 

The other singles released from Communards were "You Are My World," "Disenchanted," and "So Cold The Night." The liner notes of Communards dedicated the song "Breadline Britain" to Margaret Thatcher and "Don't Leave Me This Way" to the Greater London Council. 

Active from 1985 to 1988, The Communards were formed by Jimmy Somerville and the classically-trained pianist (and now Church of England priest) Richard Coles. 

Quote: jimmysomerville.net

Smalltown Boy.

Music Club Deluxe, a division of Demon Music Group, has just released For A Friend: The Best Of Bronski Beat, The Communards and Jimmy Somerville, a comprehensive music collection spanning the 25+ year career of the great Jimmy Somerville. The 2-CD set contains ten Top-20 singles, popular album tracks, and remixes.

A staff favorite here at Waist High, Jimmy Somerville co-founded Bronski Beat in 1983. Bronski Beat's groundbreaking debut single, "Smalltown Boy," went to #3 in the UK and "was one of the first songs to bring the issue of homophobia into the mainstream. The song is the tale of a boy who is cast away from home for being gay. The video shows Jimmy Somerville running away from home, trying to make friends at a swimming pool, and being attacked by a homophobic gang."

Although many groups "in the early to mid '80s had an openly gay image, Bronski Beat were one of the first groups to openly address the gross inequality experienced by gay people in society."

The follow-up single to "Smalltown Boy," "Why?," went to #6 in the UK, and the band's third single, "It Ain't Necessarily So," made it into the UK Top-20 as well.

In 1985 Jimmy Somerville left Bronski Beat and formed The Communards with classically trained pianist Richard Coles. Later in the year he contributed his signature voice to the Fine Young Cannibals' version of "Suspicious Minds," which made it to #8 in the United Kingdom.

The Communards first single was "You Are My World," and was followed by a cover of "Don't Leave Me This Way," which spent four weeks at #1 in the UK and was the country's biggest selling single of 1986. The album Communards spent 45 weeks in the UK album charts.

From the album Red, The Communards took the Jackson 5's' "Never Can Say Goodbye" to #4 in 1987.

Somerville launched his solo career in 1988, released some singles, and then "left the limelight and was absent from recording for a number of years."

In 1995, his song "Heartbeat" went to #1 on the U.S. dance charts.


For A Friend: The Best Of Bronski Beat, The Communards and Jimmy Somerville track list:
CD 1
1. Smalltown Boy
2. Why?
3. It Ain't Necessarily So
4. I Feel Love (Medley With Marc Almond)
5. Screaming
6. Run From Love
7. Hard Rain
8. Don't Leave Me This Way
9. La Dolarosa
10. Disenchanted
11. So Cold The Night
12. You Are My World
13. Forbidden Love
14. Breadline Britain
15. Tomorrow
16. There's More To Love (Than Boy Meets Girl)
CD 2
1. Victims
2. For A Friend
3. Never Can Say Goodbye (Freddie Bastone's San Paulo Remix)
4. Comment Te Adieu
5. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
6. Read My Lips (Enough Is Enough)
7. Heartbeat
8. By Your Side
9. Safe (Safe Sex Todd Terry Short Session)
10. To Love Somebody
11. Lay Down
12. Dark Sky
13. Something To Live For (Sounds Of Live Remix)
14. Can't Take My Eyes Off You
15. Come On
16. Could It Be Love
17. Sweet Unknown
18. People Are Strange

Material: The great Richard Evans via remembertheeighties.com, waisthigh.net, wikipedia.org via waisthigh.net, wikipedia.org, and demonmusicgroup.co.uk

Happy Birthday Jimmy Somerville.

Waist High favorite Jimmy Somerville co-founded Bronski Beat in 1983. Their biggest hit, "Smalltown Boy," was considered groundbreaking in 1984, as it was the striking tale of a boy who was cast away by his family and neighbours for being gay.

Somerville left Bronski Beat in 1985 and formed The Communards with classically trained pianist Richard Coles. They had a number of hits, including a cover version of Thelma Houston's "Don't Leave Me This Way," which spent four weeks at number one and became the biggest selling UK single of 1986. In that same year, he also sang backing vocals on the Fine Young Cannibals' version of "Suspicious Minds."

The Communards split in 1988 and Somerville launched his solo career.

In 1995 he went to #1 on the U.S. dance chart with "Heartbeat." His fourth solo album, Home Again, was released in 2005. The Very Best of Jimmy Somerville: Bronski Beat and the Communards was also released in 2005, and includes "Smalltown Boy," "Why," "Disenchanted," "Never Can Say Goodbye," "I Feel Love/Johnny Remember Me," and "Aint Necessarily So."

Material: wikipedia.org

Happy Birthday Jimmy Somerville.

 

"Jimmy Somerville first shot to fame back in 1984 with groundbreaking band Bronski Beat. 'Smalltown Boy,' their debut single" from The Age Of Consent, went to #3 in the U.K. and "introduced the world to Jimmy's unusual 'falsetto squeal' as he once described it." 

Bronski Beat "went on to have several lively pop dance hits in 1984 and 1985, including a cover of former gay icon Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love,' on which they joined forces with Marc Almond." After leaving Bronksi Beat, Somerville formed The Communards with friend Richard Cole. They released Communards and Red, both which this writer listens to regularly. Jimmy has been a solo artist since in 1988. 

All material quoted directly from: jimmysomerville.co.uk