James William Somerville (born 22 June 1961) is a Scottish singer. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as a member the synth-pop groups Bronski Beat and the Communards; with the former, Somerville achieved commercial success worldwide with the 1984 single "Smalltown Boy", which peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart.

Bronski Beat's debut album The Age of Consent (1984) was the only release Somerville contributed to as lead vocalist before leaving the band in 1985 to join the Communards. With Somerville on lead vocals, the Communards released their self-titled debut album in 1986, spawning the internationally successful single "Don't Leave Me This Way" which became the best-selling single of 1986 in the United Kingdom. Further success came with single "So Cold the Night" and their second studio album Red (1987) before disbanding in 1988; Somerville then began a solo career.

Early life

Born on 22 June 1961, James William Somerville grew up in Ruchill, a neighbourhood of northern Glasgow. In 1980, he moved to London, where he lived in squats. He immersed himself in gay culture, and attended the London Gay Teenage Group.

Career

Bronski Beat (1983–1985)

thumb|right|Somerville (centre) with Bronski Beat (1985)

In 1983, Somerville co-founded the synth-pop group Bronski Beat, which had several hits in the British charts. Their biggest hit was "Smalltown Boy", which peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart.

Bronski Beat signed a recording contract with London Records in 1984 after doing only nine live gigs. The band's debut single, "Smalltown Boy", about a gay teenager leaving his family and fleeing his home town, was a hit, peaking at No 3 in the UK Singles Chart, and topping charts in Belgium and the Netherlands. The single was accompanied by a promotional video directed by Bernard Rose, showing Somerville trying to befriend an attractive diver at a swimming pool, then being attacked by the diver's homophobic associates, being returned to his family by the police and having to leave home. (The police officer was played by Colin Bell, then the marketing manager of London Records.) "Smalltown Boy" reached 48 in the U.S. chart and peaked at 8 in Australia.

The follow-up single, "Why?", adopted a hi-NRG sound and was more lyrically focused on anti-gay prejudice. It also achieved Top 10 status in the UK, reaching 6, They had several hits, including a cover version of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes' "Don't Leave Me This Way",

In 1991, Somerville provided backing vocals to a track called "Why Aren't You in Love With Me?" from the album Ripe by Communards offshoot band Banderas. The Banderas duo, Caroline Buckley and Sally Herbert, had previously been part of Somerville's backing band. After this, he disappeared from the limelight for several years. He returned in 1995 with the album Dare to Love, which included "Heartbeat" (a UK Top 30 hit and a No. 1 hit on the US dance chart), "Hurt So Good" and "By Your Side", though commercial success was now beginning to elude him and his contract with London Records to which he had been signed for over a decade came to an end.

Manage the Damage and recent activity (1997–present)

left|thumb|180px|Somerville at the Skarpa club in [[Warsaw, Poland, June 2006]]

A new single, "Dark Sky", was released in 1997 and peaked at No. 66 in the UK. In the same year he provided vocals on "The Number One Song in Heaven" for the Sparks album Plagiarism with production by Tony Visconti. His third album, entitled Manage The Damage, was released in 1999 via Gut Records, but failed to chart. A companion remix album, Root Beer, came out in 2000. His dance-orientated fourth solo album, Home Again, was released in 2004, again not charting.

In May 2009, Somerville release the Suddenly Last Summer album, which contained acoustic interpretations of other people's songs. The album was initially only available as a digital download but in May 2010 was made available in a limited edition (3,000 copies) CD/DVD in the UK. In late 2010, Somerville released a dance EP called Bright Thing. 2010's EP Bright Thing was the first of a series of three, with Somerville releasing Momentum in 2011 and Solent in 2012, with long-term collaborator John Winfield.

Somerville released a disco-inspired album called Homage in 2015. Singles were "Back to Me" followed by "Travesty". The emphasis in recording the album was on achieving the musical authenticity of original disco which Somerville grew up listening to. He stated: "I've finally made the disco album I always wanted to and never thought I could."

He has also had an acting career, appearing in Sally Potter's 1992 film of Virginia Woolf's Orlando, in Isaac Julien's 1989 Looking for Langston, and in an episode of the cult science fiction television series Lexx ("Girltown").

In February 2021, Somerville teamed up with producer Sally Herbert (formerly of 1990s duo Banderas and also part of The Communards' backing band) to record a cover of "Everything Must Change" by Benard Ighner as a charity record for End Youth Homelessness, a network of projects which includes Centrepoint in London and a number of other homeless charity organisations around the UK.

Discography

; Studio albums

  • Read My Lips (1989)
  • Dare to Love (1995)
  • Manage the Damage (1999)
  • Home Again (2004)
  • Suddenly Last Summer (2009)
  • Homage (2015)

; with Bronski Beat

  • The Age of Consent (1984)

; with The Communards

  • Communards (1986)
  • Red (1987)

Awards and nominations

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|+

! scope="col" style="width:22%;" | Award

! scope="col" style="width:4%;" | Year

! scope="col" style="width:38%;" | Nominated work

! scope="col" style="width:24%;" | Category

! colspan="2" scope="col" style="width:12%;" | Result

|-

! scope="row"| BFI – Grierson Awards

| style="text-align:center;" | 1984

| Framed Youth: The Revenge of the Teenage Perverts

| Best Documentary

|

| style="text-align:center;" |

|-

! scope="row" rowspan="4"| Brit Awards

| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | 1985

| Bronski Beat

| Best British Group

|

| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |

|-

| "Smalltown Boy"

| rowspan="2" | Best British Single

|

|-

| style="text-align:center;" | 1987

| "Don't Leave Me This Way"

|

| style="text-align:center;" |

|-

| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | 1991

| Himself

| Best British Male Artist

|

| style="text-align:center;" |

|-

! scope="row"| R.SH Gold Awards

| "To Love Somebody"

| Power Groove of the Year

|

| style="text-align:center;" |

|-

! scope="row" | Scottish Music Awards

| style="text-align:center;" | 2014

| Himself

| Special Recognition Award

|

| style="text-align:center;" |

|-

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center; width:100%; background:#FFF; border-bottom:1px solid #FFF; border-left:1px solid #FFF; border-right:1px solid #FFF;font-size:85%" | The listed years are of the annual ceremonies, usually recognizing achievements for the previous calendar year.

|-

! colspan=6 style="background:#FFF; border-left:1px solid #FFF; border-right:1px solid #FFF"| Online polls

|-

! scope="row" | Queerty Awards

| style="text-align:center;" | 2014

| "Travesty"

| Earworm of the Year

|

| style="text-align:center;" |

|}

Notes

See also

  • List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
  • List of gay, lesbian or bisexual people
  • List of Glaswegians
  • List of performers on Top of the Pops
  • List of Scottish musicians
  • List of synthpop artists

References

  • Jimmy Somerville's official website
  • Jimmy Somerville interview
  • Jimmy Somerville at the British Film Institute
  • How '80s LGBTQ band Bronski Beat's haunting 'Smalltown Boy' made a difference: 'It was very bold'