The
beat
has stopped beating.
The co-founder of the British group Bronski Beat, Steve Bronski, who marked the 1980s with hits like
Smalltown Boy
or
Why?
, died at the age of 61, announced Thursday the former singer of the group Jimmy Somerville.
"Sad to hear of the death of Steve Bronski,"
tweeted the British singer, who paid tribute to a
"talented man with a sense of melody"
.
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Keyboardist Steve Bronski founded the group in 1983 with Jimmy Somerville and Larry Steinbachek, who died of cancer in December 2016. Their first album,
The Age of Consent
, was released in late 1984. The original trio also enjoyed another success at the time of their debut album, with
I Feel Love
, an electronic and pop cover of Donna Summer's disco anthem.
“Working with him on songs - and the song that changed our lives and touched so many others - was a fun and exciting time.
Thanks for the tunes Steve, ”
added Jimmy Somerville.
At that time we were just three gay guys who were starting a band, we didn't feel like we were part of a particular movement.
Of course, it emerged many years later that there were far more gay performers than the public could imagine.
Steve Bronski, at the Guardian in 2018
The group's first title, the very autobiographical
Smalltown Boy,
traces the story of a rejected young gay teenager fleeing his hometown.
The title rose to third place on the UK charts and remains considered a flagship title of the 1980s and of the gay community.
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"At that time, we were just three gay guys who were starting a group, we didn't feel like we were part of a particular movement
,"
Steve Bronski
told British daily
The Guardian
in 2018
.
Of course, it became clear years later that there were many more gay performers than the public could imagine ”.
In 1985, Bronski Beat and his festive synthpop ran out of steam.
Jimmy Somerville prefers to turn the page by leaving to create a new group which he will call The Communards.
He will be replaced on vocals by John Foster then by Jonathan Hellyer.
In 2017, a few months after Larry Steinbachek's death, Steve Bronski revisited the
then cult
album
The Age of Consent
, releasing an album branded with the Bronski Beat logo titled
The Age of Reason
.
Without the voice of Jimmy Somerville.
A homecoming as the last album.