| The Singles Collection 1984/1990 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Greatest hits album by | ||||
| Released | 12 November 1990 [1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Label | London | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Jimmy Somerville, Bronski Beat and The Communards chronology | ||||
| ||||
The Singles Collection 1984/1990 is a compilation album covering Scottish pop singer Jimmy Somerville's career in the bands Bronski Beat, The Communards and as a solo artist. It was released in 1990. In Italy, the album was marketed under the alternate title, 1984/1990 Greatest Hits.
The Singles Collection 1984/1990 includes the first four singles by Bronski Beat, released in 1984 and 1985, which feature Somerville as lead singer; [2] following his departure from Bronski Beat the band had three further hits ("Hit That Perfect Beat", "C'mon C'mon" and "Cha Cha Heels") [3] but they are not included on the album as it is intended as a retrospective of Somerville's career. It also includes all eight singles released by The Communards, from 1985 to 1988, [4] plus Somerville's first three singles under his own name (including one duet) from 1989 up to the time of the album's release. [5] The album also contains two new songs—a cover of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody", which was released as a single to promote the album, reaching number eight in the UK Singles Chart [5] —and a re-recording of "Run from Love", a track originally included on the 1985 Bronski Beat remix album, Hundreds & Thousands ; the new version of the song was later remixed for release as a single in 1991, reaching number 52 in the UK. [5]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [6] |
| Calgary Herald | B [7] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [8] |
| NME | 6/10 [9] |
Dave Obee from Calgary Herald wrote, "Those glittering disco ceiling balls have all been recycled away, but we've still got Jimmy Somerville. The British singer's soaring vocals give an elegant and emotional feel to the 17 cuts on this compilation of his best work. Yes, it's techno-pop dance music, but Somerville's singing keeps it from sounding stale. The disc includes some of his work with Bronski Beat, including "Smalltown Boy", but the real strength is in the diverse selection of songs Somerville has covered." [7]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | From album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Smalltown Boy" (Bronski Beat) |
| The Age of Consent | 5:01 |
| 2. | "Don't Leave Me This Way" (The Communards with Sarah Jane Morris) | Communards | 4:33 | |
| 3. | "It Ain't Necessarily So" (Bronski Beat) | The Age of Consent | 4:08 | |
| 4. | "To Love Somebody" (Jimmy Somerville) | new song | 4:19 | |
| 5. | "Comment te dire adieu" (Jimmy Somerville featuring June Miles-Kingston) |
| Read My Lips | 3:37 |
| 6. | "Run from Love" (Bronski Beat featuring Claudia Brücken) |
| Hundreds & Thousands | 4:39 |
| 7. | "Never Can Say Goodbye" (The Communards) | Clifton Davis | Red | 4:28 |
| 8. | "Why?" (Bronski Beat) |
| The Age of Consent | 3:57 |
| 9. | "You Are My World" (The Communards) |
| Communards | 4:31 |
| 10. | "For a Friend" (The Communards) |
| Red | 4:38 |
| 11. | "I Feel Love/Johnny Remember Me" (Bronski Beat with Marc Almond) | Hundreds & Thousands | 5:48 | |
| 12. | "There's More to Love (Than Boy Meets Girl)" (The Communards) |
| Red | 3:53 |
| 13. | "So Cold the Night" (The Communards) |
| Communards | 4:41 |
| 14. | "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" (Jimmy Somerville) |
| Read My Lips | 3:58 |
| 15. | "Tomorrow" (The Communards) |
| Red | 4:50 |
| 16. | "Disenchanted" (The Communards) |
| Communards | 4:11 |
| 17. | "Read My Lips (Enough Is Enough)" (Jimmy Somerville) | Somerville | Read My Lips | 4:51 |
Adapted from the album's liner notes. [10]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| France (SNEP) [23] | Platinum | 300,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
Bronski Beat were a British synth-pop band formed in 1983 in London, England. The initial lineup, which recorded the majority of their hits, consisted of Jimmy Somerville (vocals), Steve Bronski and Larry Steinbachek. Simon Davolls contributed backing vocals to many songs.
James William Somerville is a Scottish pop singer and songwriter. He sang in the 1980s with the pop groups Bronski Beat and the Communards, and has also had a solo career. He is known in particular for his powerful and soulful countertenor/falsetto singing voice. Many of his songs, such as "Smalltown Boy", contain political commentary on gay-related issues.
The Communards were a British synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985. They consisted of Jimmy Somerville and Richard Coles. They are most famous for their cover versions of "Don't Leave Me This Way", originally by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes featuring Teddy Pendergrass, and of the Jackson 5's "Never Can Say Goodbye".
Truthdare Doubledare is the second album by the British dance band Bronski Beat. It is their first album to feature John Foster as lead vocalist, following the departure of Jimmy Somerville.
"Smalltown Boy" is a song by British synth-pop band Bronski Beat, released in May 1984 as the first single from their debut album, The Age of Consent (1984). The song was a big commercial success, reaching number three in the band's native UK. It was also a number one hit in the Netherlands and Belgium, and hit the top 10 in Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland and West Germany. The track reached number 48 in the US pop chart and was a number one US dance hit. A remix by Stephen Hague was released as a single on 24 December 1990. The song was released again in December 2013 after featuring in a Christmas advertising campaign for Boots UK. "Smalltown Boy" was also re-recorded by Jimmy Somerville and released as "Smalltown Boy Reprise" (2014) for the 30th anniversary of its initial release.
The Age of Consent is the debut album by synth-pop band Bronski Beat, released on London Records in October 1984. This was the only album released by the band to feature Somerville, who departed the band in 1985.
Banderas were a British music duo of the early 1990s who were signed to London Records. The band was an offshoot of Jimmy Somerville's band The Communards, and featured two of his female backing musicians, Scottish vocalist Caroline Buckley and English violinist/keyboardist Sally Herbert.
"Why?" is a single by British synth-pop band Bronski Beat and appeared on their 1984 album The Age of Consent.
"Read My Lips" is a song written and performed by Scottish singer-songwriter Jimmy Somerville from his 1989 début solo album Read My Lips. The song discusses the need for increased funding to fight HIV/AIDS.
Communards is the debut studio album by British synth-pop duo the Communards, released on 12 July 1986 by London Records. The album was produced by Mike Thorne, who had previously produced lead singer Jimmy Somerville's earlier band, Bronski Beat. Although the singles released ahead of the album were only moderately successful, the first single to be lifted from it after release, "Don't Leave Me This Way", topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks and became the best-selling single in the UK that year. During the single's four-week run at number one, the album itself peaked at number seven, going on to spend a total of 45 weeks in the UK Albums Chart.
"You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" is a 1978 song by American disco/R&B singer Sylvester. It was written by James Wirrick and Sylvester, and released by Fantasy Records as the second single from the singer's fourth album, Step II (1978). The song was already a largely popular dance club hit in late 1978, as the B-side of his previous single "Dance (Disco Heat)", before it was officially being released in December. It rose to the number one position on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. Music critic Robert Christgau has said the song is "one of those surges of sustained, stylized energy that is disco's great gift to pop music".
"Heartbeat" is a song by Scottish pop singer-songwriter Jimmy Somerville, formerly the lead vocalist of the bands Bronski Beat and Communards. Released in January 1995 as the first single from his second solo album, Dare to Love (1995), it peaked at number 24 on the UK Singles Chart in February of that year and reached number in his native Scotland. The song also topped the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play for one week in April 1995, becoming Somerville's first and only solo number one on that chart. Backing vocals on the song are performed by American dance music singers Shawn Christopher and Yvonne Gage.
The Very Best Of is a compilation album covering Scottish pop singer Jimmy Somerville's career in Bronski Beat, The Communards and as a solo artist. It was released in 2001 and reached number 29 in the UK Albums Chart.
For a Friend: The Best Of is a 34-track, double disc greatest hits compilation and career retrospective by Jimmy Somerville, featuring his work as a solo artist, as well as with Bronski Beat and The Communards.
Scottish recording artist Jimmy Somerville has entered the music industry as the frontman of the synth-pop act, known as Bronski Beat. Alongside, he would score an early international success with a series of top-ten hits, such as "Smalltown Boy", "Why?" and "I Feel Love Medley"; all taken from the trio's debut album The Age of Consent (1984), as well the remix equivalent Hundreds & Thousands (1985). A similar status enjoyed the follow-up hit singles: "Don't Leave Me This Way", "So Cold the Night" and "Never Can Say Goodbye"; these though, were recorded for the eponymous set of his later duo Communards (1986), or its Red successor (1987) yet. The singer's own full-length debut would see its eventual results at the very end of the 1980s, marking the ending of his former bands' years, or rather the beginning of his solo era since.
The discography of the British pop music group Bronski Beat contains albums, singles, and videos. They were a synthpop trio which achieved success in the mid-1980s.
Read My Lips is the 1989 debut solo album by Jimmy Somerville, former lead singer of the successful synthpop groups Bronski Beat and The Communards. The album was released through London Records and peaked at number 29 on the UK Albums Chart. It has been certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 100,000 copies.
"It Hurts So Good" is a song written by Phillip Mitchell, and first recorded in 1971 by Katie Love and the Four Shades of Black on the Muscle Shoals Sound label. That version was not a hit, and the song was later recorded more successfully by Millie Jackson, whose 1973 recording was featured in the blaxploitation action film Cleopatra Jones. Hit versions were also recorded by Susan Cadogan and Jimmy Somerville, both titled as "Hurt So Good".
"By Your Side" is a song from Scottish singer-songwriter Jimmy Somerville, released as the third and final single from his 1995 album, Dare to Love. The song was written and produced by Matt Rowe, Somerville and Richard Stannard.
Discography for the 1980s pop duo The Communards.
The Singles Collection 1984/1990; a compilation featuring hits by Jimmy Somerville, was released by London Records on November 12(p. 16)
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)Jimmy Somerville – The Singles Collection 1984/1990 #4