Bronski Beat was a popular British synth pop trio of the 1980s. Synth pop is a style of popular music in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. ... Look up trio in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The 1980s refers to the years of and between 1980 and 1989. ...

Band membership

At the height of its popularity, the band consisted of distinctive singer Jimmy Somerville (born in Glasgow, Scotland on 22 June 1961), backed by Steve Bronski (born Steven Forrest, 7 February 1960, in Scunthorpe, England) and Larry Steinbachek (born Lawrence Cole 6 May 1960 in London), both of whom played keyboards and percussion. Jimmy Somerville – concert in Warsaw, 2006. ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation) George Square and Glasgows City Chambers Glasgow is Scotlands largest city, located on the River Clyde in West Central Scotland. ... June 22 is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 192 days remaining. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... February 7 is the 38th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... Scunthorpe (popularly known as Scunny or (as an irony) Sunny Scunny) is a town in North Lincolnshire, England, and the historic county of Lincolnshire. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area... May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (127th in leap years). ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Piano, a well-known instance of keyboard instruments A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. ... A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound by being struck with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration. ...

Their music is characterized by Somerville's soulful counter-tenor voice and quirky synthesizer accompaniment. A Countertenor is an adult male singer who uses the falsetto part of his voice more than usual to sing a higher range than the typical adult male voice. ... The human voice consists of sound made by a human using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, screaming. ... A synthesizer (or synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument designed to produce electronically generated sound, using techniques such as additive, subtractive, FM, physical modelling synthesis, phase distortion, or Scanned synthesis. ...

History

Bronski Beat formed in 1983 when Somerville, Steinbachek and Bronski shared a three bedroomed flat, Lancaster House, in Brixton, south west London. Apparently the band's name was "God Forbid" before Bronski Beat was suggested by Bronski, as a pun on the group name of Roxy Music and the main character from the Günter Grass novel, The Tin Drum. 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Brixton is an area of South London, England, part of the London Borough of Lambeth. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Roxy Music are an English art rock group founded in the early 1970s by art school graduate Bryan Ferry (vocals and keyboards). ... Günter Wilhelm Grass (born October 16, 1927) is a Nobel Prize-winning German author, He was born in the Free City of Danzig (now GdaÅ„sk, Poland). ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ... The Tin Drum (German: Die Blechtrommel) is a 1959 novel by Günter Grass. ...

Bronski Beat signed a recording contract with London Records in 1984 after only doing nine live gigs. The band's arresting debut single, "Smalltown Boy", the tale of a boy who was cast away by his family for being gay^{[citation needed]}, was a huge hit, peaking at #3 in the UK Singles Chart. The single was accompanied by a memorable promotional video of Somerville eagerly trying to make friends at a swimming pool then being attacked by a homophobic gang and being returned to his family by the police and having to leave home. (The police officer was played by Colin Bell, the then marketing manager of London Records). "Smalltown Boy" reached #48 in the US charts and peaked at #7 in Australia. It is now widely considered a 1980's classic, in addition to being a gay anthem. A recording contract (also commonly called a record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. ... London Records is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 through the 1980s. ... A classical music concert in the Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne 2005 A concert is a live performance, usually of music, before an audience. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... GAY can mean: Gay, a term referring to homosexual men or women The IATA code for Gaya Airport Category: ... The UK Singles Chart is currently compiled by The Official UK Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the British record industry. ... A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song. ... Homophobia is a term used to describe: A culturally determined phobia manifesting as fear, revulsion, or contempt for homosexuality. ...

"Smalltown Boy" established the trio as an outlet for gay issues – all three members are gay – and the follow-up single, "Why?", while focusing on a faster energetic musical formula, was more lyrically focused on anti-gay prejudice^{[citation needed]}. It also achieved Top 10 status in the UK, reaching #6, and was a Top 10 hit for the band in Australia. For with(out) prejudice in law, see Prejudice (law). ... A Top 10 list is a generic term used to indicate a list of items, usually ten in number, which are considered to be best, worst, or notable in some other way, typically a record chart. ...

At the end of 1984, the trio released an album which was provocatively titled The Age of Consent. The inner sleeve listed the varying ages of consent for consensual male homosexual activity in different nations around the world. At the time, the age of consent for gay men in the UK was 21. The LP hit #4 in the UK album chart, #36 in the US and #12 in Australia. 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An album is a collection of related audio tracks distributed to the public. ... This article is about the Bronski Beat album. ... While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes,[1] when used with reference to criminal law the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be capable of legally giving informed consent to any contract or behaviour regulated by... Homosexuality refers to sexual interaction and / or romantic attraction between individuals of the same sex. ...

A third single was released amid controversy before Christmas 1984: a revival of "It Ain't Necessarily So", the George and Ira Gershwin classic (from Porgy and Bess) which questions the authenticity of Biblical tales. It also reached the UK Top 20. It Aint Necessarily So is a popular song. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Ira Gershwin (6 December 1896 – 17 August 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century. ... The cast of Porgy and Bess during the Boston try-out prior to the Broadway opening. ...

In 1985, the trio joined up with Marc Almond to record a version of the Donna Summer classic "I Feel Love". The full version was actually a medley, also incorporating snippets of Summer's "Love to Love You Baby" and John Leyton's "Johnny Remember Me". It was a huge success, reaching #3 in the UK, equalling the chart achievement of "Smalltown Boy", and was memorably described by one critic as "the gayest record ever made".[1] 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". 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Marc Almond (born Peter Mark Sinclair Almond on 9 July 1957 in Southport, Lancashire) is a popular English singer and recording artist, who originally found fame as half of the seminal Synthpop/New Wave duo Soft Cell. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Shortly before the remix album Hundreds and Thousands was released, Somerville quit the band, stating he wanted a career which was "more political". Somerville went on to form The Communards with Richard Coles. A remix is an alternative version of a song, different from the original version. ... Communards were a British pop duo of the 1980s. ...

Bronski Beat recruited John Foster as lead singer. A single, "Hit That Perfect Beat", was released in January 1986, reaching #3 in the UK. It repeated this success in the Australian charts 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 was released in May 1986, peaked at #18. Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... A request has been made on Wikipedia for this article to be deleted. ... Truthdare Doubledare was a 1986 release on MCA Records by the British dance band, Bronski Beat. ...

The film "Parting Glances" (1986) included Bronski Beat songs "Love and Money," "Smalltown Boy" and "Why." Parting Glances is an American film released in 1986. ...

Foster left the band in 1987.

In 1989 Jonathan Hellyer became lead singer and extensively toured the U.S.A. and Europe with Steve and back-up vocalist, Annie Conway, and had one minor hit with the song "Cha Cha Heels", a one off collaboration sung by American actress and singer, Eartha Kitt, which was originally written for movie and recording star Divine, anticipating to record the song before his untimely death in 1988. Actors in period costume sharing a joke while waiting between takes during location filming An actor or actress is a person who acts, or plays a role, in a dramatic production. ... Ercole de Roberti: Concert, c. ... Eartha Kitt (who was born Eartha Mae Keith, January 17, 1927)[1] is an American actress, singer, and cabaret star. ...

1990/1 saw Bronski Beat release three further singles, for the Zomba label "Zed Beat","I'm Gonna Run Away From You","One More Chance" and "What More Can I Say", produced by Mike Thorne. Line up was Steve Bronski, Larry Steinbachek, Jonathan Hellyer with Annie Conway on backing vocals.

John Foster and Bronski teamed up again in 1994 and released a techno version of "Tell Me Why '94" and an acoustic version of "Smalltown Boy '94" released on the German label, "ZYX Music".

In 1995 the album entitled Rainbow Nation was released featuring Jonathan Hellyer as lead guest vocalist on ZYX. 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Trivia

In June 2006, song "Tell Me Why" by Supermode, (DJ:s Steve Angelo and Axwell), was released. It was a cover of the 1984 hit "Smalltown Boy" with lyrics from the single "Why ?". The beat in the song "Cry for You", performed by swedish dance singer September, is very similar to "Smalltown Boy". June is the sixth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with a length of 30 days. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Tell Me Why is a popular Dance/House song produced by part of the so-called Swedish House Mafia - DJs Steve Angello and Axwell, under the alias Supermode (originally called Supermongo). ... Lyrics are the words in songs. ... ...

Bronski Beat's song "Cha Cha Heel's" featured in a medley for the film "Kinky Boot's Factory" starring Chewitel Ejiofor.

Steve Bronski produced the single "Talking With Aliens" for electro-pop duo The Garland Cult (Aidan Casserly and Lar Kiernan) A digital EU release with the online label, Electric Fantastic Sound. Steve Bronski also produced "Hand On The Gun" for Aidan Casserly's solo project, FIGARO.

Discography

Albums

• The Age of Consent, 1984
• Hundreds and Thousands, 1985
• Truthdare Doubledare, 1986
• Rainbow Nation, 1995

This article is about the Bronski Beat album. ... Truthdare Doubledare was a 1986 release on MCA Records by the British dance band, Bronski Beat. ...

Compilations

• The Singles Collection 1984 / 1990 (incl. Jimmy Somerville, Bronski Beat & The Communards), 1990
• The Very Best Of Jimmy Somerville, Bronski Beat & The Communards, 2002

Communards were a British pop duo of the 1980s. ...

Singles

• "Smalltown Boy", June, 1984, UK #3
• "Why?", September, 1984, UK #5
• "It Ain't Necessarily So", December, 1984, UK #16
• "I Feel Love" (medley with Marc Almond), April, 1985, UK #3
• "Hit That Perfect Beat", December, 1985, UK #3
• "C'mon C'mon", March, 1986, UK #20
• "Cha Cha Heels" (with Eartha Kitt), 1989, UK #32
• "I'm Gonna Run Away From You", 1990
• "One More Chance" 1990
• "What More Can I Say", 1990
• "Why 94" 1994
• "Smalltown Boy 94", 1994
• "Kicking Up The Rain" 1995
• "Hit That Perfect Beat" / "I Love The Nightlife" 1995

References

• The Knitting Circle: Popular Culture
• graduation singles from the Bristling Badger blog, Tuesday, July 25, 2006. Accessed March 30, 2007

External links

• Discography
• Steve Bronski's personal website
• Cha Cha Heels demo and remix Site moderated by Steve Bronski
• Hit That Perfect Beat remix site moderated by Steve Bronski
• Smalltown Boy remix/covers/mash-up Site moderated by Steve Bronski