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 After
leaving Bronski Beat in the spring of 1985, vocalist Jimmy Somerville (b. 22
June 1961, Glasgow, Scotland) teamed up with the classically-trained pianist
Richard Coles (b. 23 June 1962, Northampton, England) to form the Committee.
When a rival group laid claim to that name, they became the Communards, a
title borrowed from a 19th century group of French Republicans.
Their debut single, the disco-styled "You Are My World" reached the UK Top
30. The follow-up, "Disenchanted", was another minor hit, after which the
duo decided to augment the line-up with various backing musicians. Meanwhile,
their self-titled debut album climbed to number 2 in the UK. In September
1986, the group unexpectedly reached number 1 with a revival of Harold
Melvin's "Don't Leave Me This Way". The song was most memorable for the
vocal interplay between the falsetto of Somerville and the husky tones of
guest singer Sarah Jane Morris. Her statuesque presence added much to the
group's live appeal, especially when dancing alongside the diminutive
Somerville. A further UK Top 10 hit followed with "So Cold The Night". After
touring extensively, the group issued a second album, Red. produced by
Stephen Hague. A series of singles were culled from the album, including "Tomorrow",
their comment on wife-beating, which reached number 23. The group returned
to the Top 5 with a stirring revival of Gloria Gaynor's "Never Can Say
Goodbye". During 1988, they registered two more minor UK hits with "For A
Friend" and "There's More To Love". With their fusion of disco-revival and
falsetto pop, the Communards proved one of the more accomplished new acts of
the mid-late 80s and seemed likely to enjoy further success in the new
decade.
As
with Bronski Beat, however, Somerville showed a restlessness with the
British music scene and wound down the group's activities, after which he
went solo and scored hits with a cover of Sylvester's "You Make Me Feel (Mighty
Real)" and "Read My Lips" before relocating to San Francisco.
Communards Tour
The Town & Country club completely sold out with over 3000 fans. This
concert-venue which was once a warehouse, is located in East London, well
known for it´s unemployment and racial conflict. It was very much a
conscience decision on JS and Richard Coles´s part to hold the final concert
of their European-tour there.
“A
lot of people experience anguish and despair in their everyday lives here.”
Says Jimmy “…and this concert is a present for all of those, who suffer from
the politics of our government,” Strong words from al small men with a big
voice. In their lyrics, the Communards don`t mince their words at all. They
sing about poverty, AIDS and unemployment, their album RED concentrating
more on the subject of AIDS and how this fatal disease can destroy love and
trust among people. The song “For A Friend” was dedicated to Mark Ashton a
very good friend of Jimmy & Richard. Half of it´s profits were donated to an
AIDS-Research Institute in London.
 There
is a significance behind the fact that 7 of the 8 musicians on stage are all
women. “It´s very hard for the female musicians, to get along in a
predominately male business…” says Richard Coles “ …besides these 7 women
belong to the best studio musicians in the whole of England. Their choice of
June Miles Kingston (drums), Caroline Buckley (vocals), the string quartet
Jocelyn Pook, Sonja Slany, Sally Herbert, Audrey Riley and their saxophonist
Jo Pretzel
 was a good one, the evidence being the two hour show itself. With
dance-hits like “Disenchanted” and “You Are My World”, the fans were up on
their chairs dancing. A special applause was given to June for her
perfect
tuned drum solo.
Smiling to the audience and winking mischievous to Richard , Jimmy was
swinging his hips up on stage, his falsetto voice being heard in every
corner of the venue. Beside the fiery red columns , the stage –background
was kept very simple, thus at no great expense the place was filled with
soul-pure. The audience were also captured by the melancholic sounds of the
strings in “Breadline Britain” and went crazy to the funky beats of “There
More To Love” especially during which Jo Pretzel had played a soft saxophone
interlude.
In his typical Scottish accent Jimmy introduced the song “Tomorrow”. He says:”
This song is dedicated to all those women who are abused by their husbands
and who feel despair when it comes to help as the law is too often an the
men´s side.” Jimmy stands at the edge of the stage with his eyes closed and
full of ...
... emotion sings the song while the glow of thousands sparklers and
cigarette lighters cuts through the darkness of the venue. The most touching
part of the show however was, when Jimmy, standing alone in the spotlight an
only accompany ied by the string quartet and the deep voice of Caroline
Buckley, performed the song “For A Friend”. As mentioned this song was
dedicated to a friend of Jimmy, Mark Ashton.
A silence came upon the audience as Jimmy threw his head in his hands in the
middle ofthe song, crying and then leaving the stage. He did came back of
course to finish off with“Never Can Say Goodbye” and a mixture of old ABBA
and Temptation tunes.
The
complete Communards-Crew
Tour ´86:
June Miles-Kingston/ Chris Lambourne/ Steve Thorneycroft/
Sarah Jane
Morris/ Dave Renwick/ Jo Pretzel/ Sally Herbert/ Alan Cranston/ Phil
 Tame/ Jimmy Somerville/ Ann
Stephanson & Pete/ Joss Pook/ Audrey Riley/ John Dines/
Steve Cheney/
Richard Coles/ Paul Stookes
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