Bronski Beat formed in 1983 when Glasgow emigrees Jimmy Somerville and Steve Bronski moved to London and shared a three-bedroom flat with Larry Steinbachek from Southend, Essex. Steinbachek had heard Somerville singing during the making of the 1983 documentary film 'Framed Youth: The Revenge Of The Teenage Perverts', and he suggested they make some music, which was to be outspoken and political, as the trio were unhappy with the inoffensive nature of contemporary gay performers. After performing live only nine times, the band signed a recording contract with London Records in 1984, and released their debut single 'Smalltown Boy', about a gay teenager leaving his family and fleeing his home town. The song was a hit, peaking at No 3 in the UK Singles Chart, and topping charts in Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as peaking at number 48 in the U.S. charts. The follow-up single 'Why?' adopted a hi-NRG sound, and was more lyrically focused on anti-gay prejudice, reaching number 6 in the UK chart, and it was another Top 10 hit for the band in Australia, Switzerland, Germany, France and the Netherlands. At the end of 1984, the trio released their debut album 'The Age Of Consent', with the inner sleeve listing the varying ages of consent for consensual gay sex in different nations around the world. The album peaked at 4 in the UK Albums Chart, number 36 in the U.S., and number 12 in Australia.
Their third single was a revival of 'It Ain't Necessarily So', the George and Ira Gershwin classic, which questions the accuracy of biblical tales, and it was released in time for Christmas 1984, when it broke into the UK Top 20. In 1985, the trio joined up with Marc Almond to record a version of Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love', with the full-length version also incorporating snippets of Summer's 'Love To Love You Baby' and John Leyton's 'Johnny Remember Me'. It was a big success, reaching 3 in the UK and equalling the chart achievement of 'Smalltown Boy'. In early 1985 the band and their producer Mike Thorne went back into the studio to record a new single 'Run From Love', but after PolyGram had pressed a number of promo singles and sent them to radio and record stores in the UK, the single was shelved as tensions in the band, both personal and political, resulted in Somerville leaving Bronski Beat in the summer of that year. Somerville went on to form the Communards with Richard Coles, while the remaining members of Bronski Beat searched for a new vocalist, with John Foster winning out, and featuring on their next single 'Hit That Perfect Beat', which was released in November 1985, once again reaching 3 in the UK.
A second single, 'C'mon C'mon', also charted in the UK Top 20, and these were followed by the album 'Truthdare Doubledare', which appearwed in May 1986, and peaked at 18. The 1986 film 'Parting Glances' included Bronski Beat songs 'Love And Money', 'Smalltown Boy' and 'Why?', and during this period the band teamed up with producer Mark Cunningham on the first-ever BBC Children In Need single, a cover of David Bowie's "Heroes", released in 1986 under the name of The County Line. Foster left the band in 1987, and following his departure, Bronski and Steinbachek began work on their next album, 'Out And About', and toured the new material extensively to positive reviews, but the project was abandoned when the group was dropped by London Records. In 1989, Jonathan Hellyer was recruited as lead singer, and the band released a number iof singles, including a collaboration with Eartha Kitt on 'Cha Cha Heels', and three further singles on the Zomba record label. Larry Steinbachek died in December 2016, aged 56, after a short battle with cancer, while Steve Bronski died on 7 December 2021, at the age of 61, in a Central London flat fire. Bronski Beat were that rare thing, a highly political band who still managed to have hit singles, and in doing so they were able to get their message out to a much wider audience. The Somerville years were undoubtedly their most successful, but this collection of rare b-sides also covers the John Foster period, up to when they lost their record deal in 1987.
Track listing
01 Memories (b-side of 'Smalltown Boy' 1984)
02 Cadillac Car (b-side of 'Why' 1984)
03 Close To The Edge (b-side of 'It Ain't Necessarily So' 1984)
04 Red Dance (b-side of 'It Ain't Necessarily So' 1984)
05 Love To Love You Baby/I Feel Love/Johnnie Remember Me (single with Marc Almond 1985)
06 Puit D'Amour (b-side of 'I Feel Love' 1985)
07 The Potato Fields (b-side of 'I Feel Love' 1985)
08 Signs (And Wonders) (b-side of 'I Feel Love' 1985)
09 I Gave You Everything (b-side of 'Hit That Perfect Beat' 1985)
10 Something Special (b-side of 'C'mon! C'mon!' 1986)
11 Drum Major (b-side of 'C'mon! C'mon!' 1986)
12 What Are You Going To Do About It (b-side of 'This Heart' promo 1986)
The cover is a painting entitled 'Bronski Beat' by Polish artist Romauld Mulk Musiolik, and although I'm not exactly sure why that's the title, I just liked it.
Many thanks, mate! ~ Queertone
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