Editing Jimmy Somerville (section)

===Bronski Beat (1983–1985)===
[[File:Bronski Beat (1985 MCA publicity photo).jpg|thumb|right|Somerville (centre) with Bronski Beat (1985)]]

In 1983, Somerville co-founded the [[synth-pop]] group [[Bronski Beat]],<ref name="pop" /><ref name=cofounder>{{cite web |title=Jimmy Somerville official biography |url=http://www.jimmysomerville.co.uk/biography.php |access-date=23 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100801061838/http://www.jimmysomerville.co.uk/biography.php |archive-date= 1 August 2010 }}</ref> which had several hits in the British charts. Their biggest hit was "[[Smalltown Boy]]", which peaked at number three on the [[UK Singles Chart]].<ref name="pop" /> In the music video Somerville plays the song's titular character, who leaves his hostile hometown for the friendlier city, reflecting Somerville's own experiences when he moved to London.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lgbthistoryuk.org/wiki/London_Gay_Teenage_Group |title=London Gay Teenage Group in LGBTarchive |access-date=27 August 2018}} {{cite news|last=Williams|first=Clifford|title=Courage to Be: Organised Gay Youth in England 1967-90|year=2021|publisher=The Book Guild Ltd|isbn=9781913913632}}</ref>

Bronski Beat signed a recording contract with [[London Records]] in 1984 after doing only nine live [[concert|gigs]]. The band's debut single, "[[Smalltown Boy]]", about a gay teenager leaving his family and fleeing his home town, was a hit, peaking at No 3 in the [[UK Singles Chart]], and topping charts in Belgium and the Netherlands.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= British Hit Singles & Albums
| edition= 19th

| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
| location= London
| isbn= 1-904994-10-5
| page= 79}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://top30-2.radio2.be/#/song-info/1150 |title= Smalltown Boy - BRONSKI BEAT |work= VRT |publisher= Top30-2.radio2.be |language= nl |access-date= 22 July 2013 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120409063716/http://top30-2.radio2.be/#/song-info/1150 |archive-date= 9 April 2012 |df= dmy-all }} {{lang|nl|Hoogste notering in de top 30}} : 1</ref><ref>"[http://www.top40.nl/zoeken?search=Bronski+Beat+-+Smalltown+Boy Nederlandse Top 40 – Bronski Beat – Smalltown Boy search results]" (in Dutch) [[Dutch Top 40]]. Retrieved 20 December 2013.</ref><ref>"[http://www.dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Bronski+Beat&titel=Smalltown+Boy&cat=s Dutchcharts.nl – Bronski Beat – Smalltown Boy]" (in Dutch). [[Single Top 100|Mega Single Top 100]]. Retrieved 20 December 2013.</ref> The single was accompanied by a promotional [[music video|video]] directed by [[Bernard Rose (director)|Bernard Rose]], showing Somerville trying to befriend an attractive diver at a swimming pool, then being attacked by the diver's homophobic associates, being returned to his family by the police and having to leave home. (The police officer was played by Colin Bell, then the marketing manager of [[London Records]].) "Smalltown Boy" reached 48 in the U.S. [[record chart|chart]] and peaked at 8 in Australia.<ref name="auchart">{{Cite book|title=[[Kent Music Report|Australian Chart Book 1970–1992]] |last=Kent |first=David |author-link=David Kent (historian) |publisher=Australian Chart Book |location=[[St Ives, New South Wales|St Ives, NSW]] |year=1993 |isbn=0-646-11917-6}}</ref>

The follow-up single, "[[Why? (Bronski Beat song)|Why?]]", adopted a [[hi-NRG]] sound and was more lyrically focused on anti-gay [[prejudice]]. It also achieved [[Top 40|Top 10]] status in the UK, reaching 6,<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> and was another Top 10 hit for the band in Australia, Switzerland, Germany, France and the Netherlands. At the end of 1984, the trio released an album titled ''[[The Age of Consent (album)|The Age of Consent]]''. The inner sleeve listed the varying [[age of consent|ages of consent]] for consensual gay sex in different nations around the world. At the time, the age of consent for sexual acts between men in the UK was 21 compared with 16 for heterosexual acts, with several other countries having more liberal laws on gay sex. The album peaked at 4 in the [[UK Albums Chart]],<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> 36 in the U.S., and 12 in Australia.