Scottish-born singer
Jimmy Somerville became a surprise success in the mid-'80s. Instead of being
Duran Duran-cute,
Jimmy Somerville looked like the average boy next door. Instead of belting out his musical repertoire with a self-conscious urgency to prove himself as a singer (like
Rick Astley or
George Michael),
Somerville possessed a dramatic, piercing falsetto that made
the Associates'
Billy Mackenzie sound like
Tom Waits. But what really made
Jimmy Somerville distinctive was his openness about his sexuality. The 1980s was the decade of androgyny, with artists like
Annie Lennox,
Boy George, and
Poison emulating the gender-bending approach of 1970s-era
David Bowie. Other performers such as
Morrissey and the aforementioned
George Michael kept their fans guessing about their sexual orientation.
Jimmy Somerville, however, already answered the "is he or isn't he" question before anyone had a chance to ask, and he did so without a trace of mascara.
Jimmy Somerville's career began as a member and co-founder of the dance-pop group
Bronski Beat, and the here-goes-nothing frankness of the group's debut single, "Smalltown Boy," became an instant sensation, reaching the British Top Ten and becoming an MTV staple in America. The homosexual overtones of
Bronski Beat's debut album,
The Age of Consent, didn't stop it from becoming a major seller, and the follow-up single, "Why?," also secured a place in the upper reaches of the British pop chart and became an American danceclub favorite. After this initial success, however,
Jimmy Somerville departed the group, forming
the Communards in 1985 with keyboardist
Richard Coles. The Communards' sound was basically a variation of
Bronski Beat's disco-influenced dance-pop, and the duo recorded two albums (1986's
Communards and 1987's
Red) before disbanding, after which
Somerville embarked on a sporadic solo career. His lyrical approach detailing the feelings of homosexual alienation are evident in several tracks, particularly the classic "Smalltown Boy" and
the Communards' self-explanatory "There's More to Love Than Boy Meets Girl."
Somerville can be a remarkably intelligent songwriter, but often his talent is wasted with misguided cover tunes. His faux reggae version of
the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody" is a bore, as is his watered-down
Sylvester remake, "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)." His rendition of "Comment Te Dire Adieu" is the worst by far, as his campy take on the
Serge Gainsbourg classic (previously recorded by
Françoise Hardy) can provoke uncontrollable snickering. "Don't Leave Me This Way" and the similarly arranged "Never Can Say Goodbye" (both recorded by
the Communards) are the best of the covers, updating the exuberance of the
Thelma Houston and
Gloria Gaynor disco classics while showcasing
Somerville's amazing vocal range.
Bronski Beat's pulsating version of
Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" (featuring
Soft Cell vocalist
Marc Almond) is also effective. Despite
Jimmy Somerville's popularity as a member of two different groups, his lackluster 1989 solo release,
Read My Lips, failed to match the success of
the Communards or
Bronski Beat.[In 1990 London Records released the Singles Collection,, which featured the same seventeen tracks as the
Very Best of Jimmy Somerville: Bronski Beat and the Communards, only in a different order.] ~ William Cooper