The Communards were a British
synth-pop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...
duo formed in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in 1985.
The duo 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
Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter. He was born in Kingstree, South Carolina. Pendergrass spent most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initially rose to musi ...
and the
Jackson 5's "
Never Can Say Goodbye" - though the best known version was by
Gloria Gaynor
Gloria Gaynor (née Fowles; born September 7, 1943) is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits " I Will Survive" (1978), " Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), " I Am What I Am" (1983), and her version of " Never Can Say Goodbye" ( ...
.
The name ''
Communards'' refers to the
revolutionaries of the 1871
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871.
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defende ...
.
History
The Communards formed in 1985 after singer
Jimmy Somerville left his earlier band
Bronski Beat
Bronski Beat were a British synthpop trio which achieved success in the mid-1980s, particularly with the 1984 chart hit "Smalltown Boy", from their debut album '' The Age of Consent''. "Smalltown Boy" was their only US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 s ...
to team up with classically trained musician
Richard Coles.
Somerville often used a
falsetto
''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave.
It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentou ...
singing style. Coles, though mainly a pianist, played a number of
instruments and had been seen previously performing the
clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitch ...
solos on the Bronski Beat hit "
It Ain't Necessarily So
"It Ain't Necessarily So" is a popular song with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by his brother Ira Gershwin. The song comes from the Gershwins' opera ''Porgy and Bess'' (1935) where it is sung by the character Sportin' Life, a drug dealer, wh ...
". They were joined by bass player Dave Renwick who had also played with Bronski Beat.
The band had their first UK top 30 hit in 1985 with the piano-based number 30 single "You Are My World".
The following year, they had their biggest hit with an energetic
hi-NRG cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...
of
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were an American soul and R&B vocal group. One of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s, the group's repertoire included soul, R&B, doo-wop, and disco. Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in ...
'
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...
classic "
Don't Leave Me This Way" (in a version inspired by
Thelma Houston's cover) which spent four weeks at number one and became the
UK's biggest selling single of 1986.
It also made the US top 40. It featured
Sarah Jane Morris as co-vocalist, taking advantage of the contrast between Morris' deep and rounded contralto and Somerville's soaring falsetto.
On one Top Of The Pops show, Morris and Somerville changed roles (the song was being mimed) so that Somerville appeared to sing the deep notes and Morris the high ones.
Morris performed both backing and co-lead vocals on many of the Communards' other recordings, and appeared in group photos as an unofficial third member.
Later that year, the Communards had another UK top 10 hit with the single "
So Cold the Night", which reached number 8.
In 1987, they released an album titled ''
Red'', which was partly produced by
Stephen Hague.
''Red'' featured a cover version of the
Jackson 5 hit "
Never Can Say Goodbye" (in a version inspired by
Gloria Gaynor
Gloria Gaynor (née Fowles; born September 7, 1943) is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits " I Will Survive" (1978), " Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), " I Am What I Am" (1983), and her version of " Never Can Say Goodbye" ( ...
's cover), which the Communards took to number 4 on the UK chart. Their last released single was "There's More to Love (Than Boy Meets Girl)" in 1988, which reached number 20 and was their final top 20 hit.
''Red'' is also noteworthy for "Victims" and "
For a Friend" (also released as a single), which address people living with, and having died from, HIV/AIDS.
Discography
* ''
Communards'' (1986)
* ''
Red'' (1987)
See also
*
Banderas – Communards offshoot featuring backing musician Sally Herbert
*
Bronski Beat
Bronski Beat were a British synthpop trio which achieved success in the mid-1980s, particularly with the 1984 chart hit "Smalltown Boy", from their debut album '' The Age of Consent''. "Smalltown Boy" was their only US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 s ...
*
Jimmy Somerville discography
*
June Miles-Kingston
*
List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
*
List of number-one dance hits (United States)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Communards, The
British Hi-NRG groups
British pop music duos
English synth-pop groups
Dance-pop groups
LGBT-themed musical groups
Male musical duos
Musical groups established in 1985
Musical groups disestablished in 1988
Musical groups from London
1985 establishments in England
London Records artists