206) Bronski Beat - The Age of Consent

When I went to college at sixteen, I met the first openly gay person I had ever met, like me he was only sixteen.

I got on with him from day one, he was a decent guy and a good laugh. One day at the break an older guy in my class asked me why I talked to him, I asked why I would not, and he looked at me as if I was an idiot, “cause he’s gay.”

We have learnt through the reviews I was an arse at sixteen regarding music, but this was a whole new level of being a dick. Back in 1986 ignorance and stupidity were in abundance, in Scotland homosexuality was illegal until 1981 but I thought then, and now, if you are not causing anyone harm then what’s the problem and surely you judge a person on their personality not their sexuality.

Anyway, I asked my friend one day if people gave him grief for being gay (yep, he looked at me like an idiot again, yes, I knew that look by then) and told me, funnily enough yes.

Is there point to this, well my pal had to deal with nonsense and be brave on a local level to face these bigoted ignorant people so imagine being Jimmy, Steve and Larry in Bronski Beat who were standing up for what they were on a national scale.

Bronski Beat appeared in 1984 with a classic debut single. Smalltown Boy introduced us to Jimmy Sommerville’s unbelievable voice and was perfectly backed by Steve and Larry’s synthpop. A hard-hitting song and a top three hit, still stunning all these years later. Why? the follow up I remember people hitting the dancefloors in Glasgow as Jimmy screamed, glass smashed, and a hypnotic beat kicked in.

It Ain’t Necessarily So employs a choir and clarinet to significant effect and Screaming is minimal music that Sommerville excels on, but I find No More War a tad ponderous, and Heatwave is not for me.

The sax and Sommerville work well together on Love and Money and Need a Man Blues has a lovely shimmery synth. The album ends with I Feel Love, no Marc Almond but still an excellent cover.

Bronski Beat were brave men making brave music.

7/10

GIVE IT A STREAM: Smalltown Boy