Jimmy Somerville • Small Town Boy 2014

Sometimes, I hear certain things and take a second to absorb it. This is most certainly the case when I saw this was the 30th anniversary "Small Town Boy", the brilliant song by the Bronski Beat off their seminal album, 'Age of Consent'. Only, in the original release, it was known as "Smalltown Boy". It reminded me I have been a fan of lead singer Jimmy Somerville, whose career I have followed from Bronski Beat to The Communards to his solo work, always making me thrilled to buy the album, and eager to buy the next. His latest is no exception to that rule.

To mark the 30th anniversary of "Small Town Boy", Jimmy has recorded a new version, proving the song to be just as amazing in 2014 as it was in 1984. In the anniversary version, it is just Jimmy and a piano, and it adds a stunning new texture to the song. The song was written by the band, meaning Jimmy, Steve Bronski and Larry Steinbachek, taking a look at the life of young gays in 1980s Britain. Whether they realized it or not, the song touch gays across the globe, all who felt the sting of bullying, rejection, and persecution at some point in their lives. This is Jimmy Somerville with "Small Town Boy 2014".

Not only is Jimmy looking great, he still sounds remarkable. I still look and listen with awe as he effortlessly hits notes many couldn't dream of singing. He sounds every bit as bold as strong 30 years later, and I would love to hear him perform this live. You can purchase "Small Town Boy 2014" from iTunes and Amazon. To learn more about Jimmy, visit his official website. You can also 'like' him on Facebook.

REPOST The Amazing Jimmy Somerville

Before there was American Idol and Adam Lambert, there was an extremely gifted and out singer named Jimmy Somerville.



He was the lead vocalist for the Bronski Beat and The Communards before he embarked on a solo career. Like Lambert, he was known for his amazing range and fearless use in soaring vocals. The difference is that Jimmy was forming the Bronski Beat the year Lambert was born. Somerville moved easily between Hi N-R-G mixes, to blues-inspired ballads. There was the amazing Why? and Smalltown Boy, and the soulful Need A Man Blues and It Ain't Necessarily So while with the Bronski Beat. The Communards had sucess with dance hits Don't Leave Me This Way and Never Can Say Goodbye as well as the AIDS-inspired ballad, For A Friend.



Jimmy never stood behind a coy answer about his sexuality. And unlike Elton John, he wwas never 'married' nor transitioned with the cover of being bisexual. Of course, that might be tough when he was singing songs like There's More To Love Than Boy Meets Girl and Read My Lips (Enough Is Enough). Most of the songs he sang he had either co-written or wrote himself. In the mid 90s, he took some tie off and left England for San Fransisco to work in the AIDS community projects so he could bring what he learned back to England.



This year, Jimmy released his 6th solo project, Suddenly Last Summer, available only as a digital download from iTunes. It is a collection of acoustic covers of songs he found on his iPod, ranging from the flirty My Heart Belongs to Daddy to the Blondie song Hangin' On The Telephone, to a heart wrenching a cappella version of (Sometimes I Fell Like A) Motherless Child, recorded live for a crowd demanding yet another encore. His Walking After Midnight owns more to anonymous sex and tea rooms than it does to Patsy Cline's original. For me, it is great to hear him sing once again, and and have a great time doing it.