Bronski Beat
Larry Steinbachek, Jimmy Somerville and Steve Bronski, 1985
Larry Steinbachek, Jimmy Somerville and Steve Bronski, 1985
Background information
OriginBrixton, England
Genres
Years active1983–1995, 2016–2018
LabelsLondon Records
Past members

Bronski Beat were a British synth-pop band formed in 1983 in London, England. The initial lineup, which recorded the majority of their hits, consisted of Jimmy Somerville (vocals), Steve Bronski (keyboards, percussion) and Larry Steinbachek (keyboards, percussion). Simon Davolls contributed backing vocals to many songs.

Bronski Beat achieved success in the mid-1980s, particularly with the 1984 single "Smalltown Boy", from their debut album, The Age of Consent. "Smalltown Boy" was their only US Billboard Hot 100 single. All members of the band were openly gay and their songs reflected this, often containing political commentary on gay issues.

Somerville left Bronski Beat in 1985 and went on to have success as lead singer of the Communards and as a solo artist. He was replaced by vocalist John Foster, with whom the band continued to have hits in the UK and Europe through 1986. Foster left Bronski Beat after their second album, and the band were joined by Jonathan Hellyer before dissolving in 1995.

Steve Bronski revived the band in 2016, recording new material with 1990s member Ian Donaldson. Steinbachek died later that year;[6] Bronski died in 2021.[7]

History

Bronski Beat formed in 1983 when Jimmy Somerville, Steve Bronski (both from Glasgow)[7] and Larry Steinbachek (from Southend, Essex)[6] shared a three-bedroom flat at Lancaster House in Brixton, London. Steinbachek had heard Somerville singing during the making of Framed Youth: The Revenge of the Teenage Perverts and suggested they make some music. They first performed publicly at an arts festival, September in the Pink. The trio were unhappy with the inoffensive nature of contemporary gay performers and sought to be more outspoken and political.[8]

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.[9][10][11][12] 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.[13]

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,[9] and was another Top 10 hit for the band in Australia, Switzerland, Germany, France and the Netherlands.

At the end of 1984, the trio released an album titled The Age of Consent. The inner sleeve listed the varying ages of consent for consensual gay sex in different nations around the world. At the time, the age of consent for sexual acts between men in the UK was 21 compared with 16 for heterosexual acts, with several other countries having more liberal laws on gay sex. The album peaked at 4 in the UK Albums Chart,[9] 36 in the U.S., and 12 in Australia.

Around the same time, the band headlined "Pits and Perverts", a concert at the Electric Ballroom in London to raise funds for the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners campaign.[14] This event is featured in the film Pride.

The third single, released before Christmas 1984, was a revival of "It Ain't Necessarily So", the George and Ira Gershwin classic (from Porgy and Bess). The song questions the accuracy of biblical tales. It also reached the UK Top 20.[9]

In 1985, the trio joined up with Marc Almond to record a version of Donna Summer's "I Feel Love". The full version was actually a medley that also incorporated 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".[15] Although the original had been one of Marc Almond's all-time favourite songs, he had never read the lyrics and thus incorrectly sang "What’ll it be, what’ll it be, you and me" instead of "Falling free, falling free, falling free" on the finished record.

The band and their producer Mike Thorne had gone back into the studio in early 1985 to record a new single, "Run from Love", and PolyGram (London Records' parent company at that time) had pressed a number of promo singles and 12" versions of the song and sent them to radio and record stores in the UK. However, 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.

"Run from Love" was subsequently released in remix form on the Bronski Beat album Hundreds & Thousands, a collection of mostly remixes (LP) and B-sides (as bonus tracks on the CD version) as well as the hit "I Feel Love". Somerville went on to form the Communards with Richard Coles while the remaining members of Bronski Beat searched for a new vocalist.

1985–1995: Somerville's departure, John Foster and Jonathan Hellyer eras

Bronski Beat recruited John Foster as Somerville's replacement (Foster is credited as "Jon Jon"). A single, "Hit That Perfect Beat", was released in November 1985, reaching 3 in the UK.[15] It repeated this success on the Australian chart[13] and was also featured in the film Letter to Brezhnev. A second single, "C'mon C'mon", also charted in the UK Top 20 and an album, Truthdare Doubledare, released in May 1986, peaked at 18. The film Parting Glances (1986) included Bronski Beat songs "Love and Money", "Smalltown Boy" and "Why?". 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. Following Foster's departure, Bronski Beat began work on their next album, Out and About. The tracks were recorded at Berry Street studios in London with engineer Brian Pugsley. Some of the song titles were "The Final Spin" and "Peace and Love". The latter track featured Strawberry Switchblade vocalist Rose McDowall and appeared on several internet sites in 2006. One of the other songs from the project called "European Boy" was recorded in 1987 by disco group Splash. The lead singer of Splash was former Tight Fit singer Steve Grant. Steinbachek and Bronski toured extensively with the new material with positive reviews, however the project was abandoned as the group was dropped by London Records. Also in 1987, Bronski Beat and Somerville performed at a reunion concert for "International AIDS Day", supported by New Order, at the Brixton Academy, London.

In 1989, Jonathan Hellyer became lead singer, and the band extensively toured the U.S. and Europe with back-up vocalist Annie Conway. They achieved one minor hit with the song "Cha Cha Heels", a one-off collaboration sung by American actress and singer Eartha Kitt, which peaked at 32 in the UK.[15] The song was originally written for movie and recording star Divine, who was unable to record the song before his death in 1988. 1990–91 saw Bronski Beat release three further singles on the Zomba record label, "I'm Gonna Run Away", "One More Chance" and "What More Can I Say". The singles were produced by Mike Thorne.

Foster and Bronski Beat teamed up again in 1994, and released a techno "Tell Me Why '94" and an acoustic "Smalltown Boy '94" on the German record label, ZYX Music. The album Rainbow Nation was released the following year with Hellyer returning as lead vocalist, as Foster had dropped out of the project and Ian Donaldson was brought on board to do keyboards and programming. After a few years of touring, Bronski Beat then dissolved, with Steve Bronski going on to become a producer for other artists and Ian Donaldson becoming a successful DJ (Sordid Soundz). Larry Steinbachek became the musical director for Michael Laub's theatre company, 'Remote Control Productions'.

2007–2016: Bronski solo activities and resurrection of Bronski Beat

Somerville performing in 2011, on the Here and Now Tour.

In 2007, Steve Bronski remixed the song "Stranger to None" by the UK alternative rock band, All Living Fear. Four different mixes were made, with one appearing on their retrospective album, Fifteen Years After. Bronski also remixed the track "Flowers in the Morning" by Northern Irish electronic band Electrobronze in 2007, changing the style of the song from classical to Hi-NRG disco.

In 2015, Steve Bronski teamed up as a one-off with Jessica James (aka Barbara Bush) and said that she reminded him of Divine, because of her look and Eartha Kitt-like sound. The one-off project was to cover the track he made in 1989.

In 2016, Steve Bronski again teamed up with Ian Donaldson, with the aim of bringing Bronski Beat back, enlisting a new singer, Stephen Granville. In 2017, the new Bronski Beat released a reworked version of "Age of Consent" entitled "Age of Reason". Out & About, the unreleased Bronski Beat album from 1987, was released digitally via Steve Bronski's website. The album features the original tracks plus remixes by Bronski.

2017-present: deaths of Steinbachek and Bronski

On 12 January 2017, it was revealed that Steinbachek had died the previous month after a short battle with cancer, with his family and friends at his bedside. He was 56.[6] Bronski died on 7 December 2021, at the age of 61, in a Central London flat fire.[16][17]

Members

  • Jimmy Somerville – vocals, tambourine (1983–1985, 1987)
  • John Foster – vocals (1985–1987, 1994–1995)
  • Jonathan Hellyer – vocals (1989–1994, 1995)
  • Stephen Granville – vocals (2016–2018)
  • Steve Bronski – keyboards, synthesizers, programming, percussion, acoustic guitar, vocals (1983–1995, 2016–2018; died 2021)
  • Larry Steinbachek – keyboards, synthesizers, percussion (1983–1995; died 2016)
  • Richard Coles - saxophone, clarinet (1983–1984, 1985)
  • Ian Donaldson – keyboards, synthesizers, programming (1994–1995, 2016–2018)

Awards and nominations

YearAwardsWorkCategoryResultRef.
1984 NME Awards Themselves Best New Act Won
Smash Hits Poll Winners Party Nominated
Best Group Nominated
The Age of Consent Best LP Nominated
"Why?" Best Single Nominated
"Smalltown Boy" Nominated
1985 Brit Awards Best British Single Nominated
Themselves Best British Group Nominated
Billboard Music Awards "Smalltown Boy" Top Dance Play Single Nominated [18]
1986 Themselves Top Dance Club Play Artist Nominated [19]
Ivor Novello Awards "Hit That Perfect Beat" The Best Film Theme or Song Nominated
2017 Gay Music Chart Awards "Smalltown Boy" (Arnaud Rebotini Remix) Best Original Soundtrack Nominated [20]

Discography

Studio albums

See also

References

  1. ↑ Andrews, Marc; Isaac, Claire; Nichols, David (2011). Pop Life: Inside Smash Hits Australia 1984 – 2007. Affirm Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-98713-267-3.
  2. ↑ Graham, Bill (14 December 1984). "Critics Roundup 1984". Hot Press. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  3. ↑ Soto, Alfred (18 June 2018). "50 Songs That Define the Last 50 Years of LGBTQ+ Pride". Pitchfork. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  4. ↑ Here Publishing (November 1999). Out. Here Publishing. p. 117.
  5. ↑ Breihan, Tom (9 December 2021). "Bronski Beat's Steve Bronski Dead At 61". Stereogum.
  6. 1 2 3 "Bronski Beat keyboardist Larry Steinbachek dies at 56". BBC News. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  7. 1 2 Steve Bronski: co-founder of Bronski Beat dies aged 61, Laura Snapes, The Guardian, 9 December 2021
  8. ↑ Hoskyns, Barney (May 1985). "What is Bronski Beat?". Spin: 41.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 79. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  10. ↑ "Smalltown Boy - BRONSKI BEAT". VRT (in Dutch). Top30-2.radio2.be. Archived from the original on 9 April 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2013. Hoogste notering in de top 30 : 1
  11. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Bronski Beat – Smalltown Boy search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  12. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Bronski Beat – Smalltown Boy" (in Dutch). Mega Single Top 100. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  13. 1 2 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  14. ↑ Robinson, Lucy (2007). Gay men and the left in post-war Britain: how the personal got political. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-7434-9.
  15. 1 2 3 "OfficialCharts.com". OfficialCharts.com. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  16. ↑ "Bronski Beat founder Steve Bronski dies at 61". BBC News. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  17. ↑ Weaver, Matthew (13 December 2021). "Steve Bronski carer says musician died in Soho flat fire". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  18. ↑ "Top Dance Club Play Singles/Albums". Billboard. 28 December 1985. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  19. ↑ "Billboard". 27 December 1986.
  20. ↑ "Gay Music Chart: Gay Music Chart Awards 2017 : the nominations". Gaymusicchart.blogspot.com. 23 April 2018.
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