Communards (band)
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- This article is about the pop group. For the 19th century French political activists after which they were named, see Communards.
Communards were a British pop duo of the 1980s.
They formed in 1985 after singer Jimmy Somerville left his earlier band Bronski Beat to team up with classically-trained musician Richard Coles. Though mainly a pianist, Coles played a number of instruments and had been seen previously performing the clarinet solos on the Bronski Beat hit "It Ain't Necessarily So." Also with Dave Renwick, bass player, who also played with Bronski Beat. Jimmy was well-known for his falsetto singing style, and the fact that he was openly gay.
The band had their first UK Top 30 hit in 1985 with the piano-based single "You Are My World." The following year they had their biggest hit with an energetic cover version of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' soul 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 featured Sarah Jane Morris as a co-vocalist.
Later that year The Communards had another UK Top 10 hit with the single "So Cold the Night." In 1987 they released an album called Red, which featured a cover version of the Jackson 5's hit "Never Can Say Goodbye" (in a version inspired by Gloria Gaynor's cover), which the Communards took to Number 4.
They split in 1988 and Somerville began a solo career. Coles became a journalist for the Times Literary Supplement and Catholic Herald and is now a priest of the Church of England.
Contents |
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Album | UK | US |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Communards | 7 | 90 |
| 1987 | Red | 4 | 93 |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | UK singles | US Hot 100 | US Dance | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | "You Are My World" | 30 | - | - | Communards |
| 1986 | "Disenchanted" | 29 | - | - | Communards |
| 1986 | "Don't Leave Me This Way" | 1 | 40 | 1 | Communards |
| 1986 | "So Cold the Night" | 8 | - | 25 | Communards |
| 1987 | "You Are My World '87" (remix) | 21 | - | - | - |
| 1987 | "Tomorrow" | 23 | - | - | Red |
| 1987 | "Never Can Say Goodbye" | 4 | 51 | 2 | Red |
| 1988 | "For a Friend" | 28 | - | - | Red |
| 1988 | "There's More to Love Than Boy Meets Girl" | 20 | - | - | Red |
[edit] See also
- Banderas - Communards offshoot featuring backing musican Sally Herbert
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
