Jimmy Somerville

Jimmy Somerville – concert in Warsaw, 10 June 2006

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Jimmy Somerville (born 22 June 1961, Glasgow) is a Scottish pop singer and songwriter. He had considerable success in the 1980s with the pop groups Bronski Beat and The Communards, and has also had a successful solo career.^[1]

Somerville's latest album, Suddenly Last Summer was released in May 2009 as a digital download only.

Career

In 1983, Somerville co-founded the synth pop group Bronski Beat, which proceeded to have a number of hits in the British charts. Their biggest hit was "Smalltown Boy" which reached #3 in the charts. Somerville played the song's titular character in the music video who leaves his hostile 'straight' hometown for the friendlier city.

Somerville left Bronski Beat in 1985, and formed The Communards with classically trained pianist Richard Coles. They had a number of hits, including a cover version of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes's "Don't Leave Me This Way", which spent four weeks at #1 in the UK charts, and became the biggest-selling single of 1986 in that country. He also sang backing vocals on Fine Young Cannibals' version of "Suspicious Minds", which was a UK Top 10 hit.

The Communards split in 1988, and Somerville launched his solo career. He had several solo hits between 1989 and 1991, also singing on the second Band Aid project at the end of 1989. After releasing his 1989 album Read My Lips, which included a hit cover of Sylvester's disco classic "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" as well as a cover of The Bee Gees' hit song "To Love Somebody" a year later, Somerville left the limelight and was absent from recording for a number of years.

Somerville returned in 1995 with the album Dare to Love, which included "Heartbeat", a #1 hit on the U.S. dance chart. Another album, entitled Manage The Damage, was released in 1999, and its companion remix album Root Beer came out a year later. His dance-oriented fourth solo album, Home Again, was released in 2005.

May 2009 saw the release of Somerville's Suddenly Last Summer album, which contained acoustic interpretations of songs Somerville chose to record that he found on his iPod. The album is only available via digital download.

Somerville has also led an acting career, appearing in Sally Potter's 1992 film of Virginia Woolf's Orlando, in Isaac Julien's 1998 Looking for Langston, and in an episode of the cult science fiction television series Lexx ("Girltown").

Discography

Bronski Beat

• "Smalltown Boy", London Records 1984, single
• "Why?", London Records 1984, single
• "It Ain't Necessarily So", London Records 1984, single

• The Age of Consent, Forbidden Fruit/London 1984, LP/CD

• I Feel Love/Love To Love You Baby/Johnny Remember Me, London Records/Metronome 1985, single

• Hundreds And Thousands, Forbidden Fruit/London 1985, LP/CD
• EP Sampler, Old Gold Records Ltd. 1993, LP
• The Essentials, Rhino Records 2002, CD

The Communards

• "You Are My World", London Records 1985, single
• "Disenchanted", London Records 1986, single
• "Don't Leave Me This Way", London Records 1986, single
• "So Cold The Night", London Records 1986, single

• Communards, London Records 1986, LP/CD
• Live In Italy, London Records 1986, LP

• You Are My World '87, London Records 1987, single
• Tomorrow, London Records 1987, single
• "Never Can Say Goodbye", London Records 1987, single
• For A Friend, London Records 1987, single

• Red, London Records 1987, LP/CD

• There's More To Love, London Records 1988, single

• Storm Paris, London Records 1988, 3x12" set
• Heaven, London Records 1993, CD

Solo

• Read My Lips, London Records 1989, LP/CD

• Comment Te Dire Adieu (with June Miles-Kingston), FFRR London Records 1989, single
• "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)", FFRR London Records 1989, single
• Read My Lips (Enough Is Enough), FFRR London Records 1989, single

• The Singles Collection, London Records 1990, LP/CD

• Run From Love, FFRR London Records 1991, single
• "To Love Somebody", FFRR London Records 1991, single
• Smalltown Boy '91, FFRR London Records 1991, single

• Dare To Love, London Records 1995, LP/CD

• By Your Side, FFRR London Records 1995, single
• Hurt So Good, FFRR London Records 1995, double single
• "Heartbeat", FFRR London Records 1995, podwójny single
• Safe In These Arms, FFRR London Records 1997, single

• Master Series, FFRR London Records 1996, Compilation CD

• Manage The Damage, Gut Records 1999, CD

• Dark Sky, GUT Records 1999, single
• Something To Live For, GUT Records 1999, single
• Lay Down, GUT Records 1999, double single

• Root Beer, Instinct Records 2000, CD

• Why? 2000, Almighty 2000, single
• Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You, Almighty/Atoll Musi 2001, single

• The Very Best Of Jimmy Somerville, Bronski Beat and The Communards, Waner Brothers/London Records 2001, CD

• Home Again (2004), BMG International 2004, CD

• It's So Good, BMG International 2004, double single
• Come On, Hablando/BMG International 2004, single
• Ain't No Mountain High Enough, Hablando/BMG International 2005, single

• Suddenly Last Summer (2009), Digital Download - iTunes 2009

List of Jimmy Somerville songs

This is a list of all Jimmy Somerville songs, including the song title, writer(s), and the album/single on which they first appeared. Solo, group, and duet vocals are included, but songs featuring Jimmy on backing vocals only are not.

with Bronski Beat

with Communards

Jimmy Somerville

See also

• Banderas – Communards offshoot featuring backing musician Sally Herbert
• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

References

External links

• Jimmy Somerville's Official Fanpage
• Jimmy Somerville's Official Website
• Jimmy Somerville Interview
• Jimmy Somerville at the Internet Movie Database