Library Rock's Backpages

The Godfather of Pop: Steve Bronski

David Burke, Classic Pop, June 2019

SEMINAL SYNTHPOP outfit Bronski Beat – Steve Bronski, Jimmy Somerville and Larry Steinbachek – unwittingly became a mouthpiece for gay issues with their 1984 debut album, The Age of Consent, and the hit singles, 'Smalltown Boy', 'Why' and 'It Ain't Necessarily So'. Somerville quit the group the following year, going on to have success as frontman of the Communards and as a solo artist. He was replaced by a number of different vocalists until Bronski Beat's demise in 1996. Bronski is now the only remaining original member, alongside Ian Donaldson and Stephen Granville. A new and expanded version of The Age of Consent was released by London Records earlier this year.

Total word count of piece: 941

Subscribe

Becoming a member is easy. Membership gives you access to all the thousands of articles in the library.

Click here to go to Subscribe page.

Click here for academic and other group subscriptions.