Bronski Beat/Communards home at the Stereo Society

The two Jimmy Somerville-fronted groups of Bronski Beat and the Communards helped change the social and pop music landscape of the UK in the eighties.

Bronski Beat’s Smalltown Boy was a first-single hit for them, followed by the Age Of Consent album. Jimmy left to form the Communards with Richard Coles while the Hundreds & Thousands ‘remix plus’ album was being compiled. The Communards' third single, Don’t Leave Me This Way, with Sarah Jane Morris was #1 in the UK singles charts for five weeks, the biggest seller of 1986.

After Jimmy’s departure, Bronski Beat featured a succession of lead vocalists. An album on London Records incorporated John Jon, singing full voice, then work on Jive Records returned to the falsetto vocal with Jonathan Hellyer. Led by Steve Bronski, the group still does occasional recording and tours.

The Communards released a second CD, Red, before Jimmy finally went out on his own in 1989 with Read My Lips. He continues to record. Richard Coles went on to be a well-known writer and media presenter in the UK, continuing and expanding his media activity even after entering the religious ministry full-time.