Dead at just 61, Bronski Beat’s founder
THE founder of 1980s pop group Bronski Beat has died at the age of 61.
Scots keyboardist Steve Bronski formed the band with singer Jimmy Somerville and Larry Steinbachek in 1983 and they went on to release hits including Smalltown Boy and Why?.
The trio were known for campaigning on gay rights issues and their debut album, The Age Of Consent, featured the consent age for males in various countries around the world on its inner sleeve as a protest.
Greenock-born Somerville shared a tribute on Twitter, writing: ‘Sad to hear Steve Bronski has died. He was a talented and a very melodic man.
‘Working with him on songs and the one song that changed our lives and touched so many other lives was a fun and exciting time. Thanks for the melody, Steve.’
Born Steven Forrest in Glasgow, Bronski worked as a labourer and stage-hand while playing bass in a country and western group before moving to London. He shared a flat with his bandmates in Brixton, south London. They were inspired to form a band in response to the era’s anodyne and conservative pop music scene.
In 1984, they signed a recording contract with London Records. Their debut single, Smalltown Boy, about a gay teenager fleeing his hometown and family for the city, went to number three in the UK singles chart. At the end of 1984, Bronski Beat released The Age of Consent, which peaked at number four in the UK album chart. They also collaborated with Soft Cell star Marc Almond in 1985 to release a hit cover of Donna Summer’s I Feel Love.
Somerville later left to form pop group The Communards with Richard Coles, now a reverend and BBC broadcaster. Bronski revived the band in 2016 to record a reworked version of their debut album.
Steinbachek died of cancer at 56 in 2016.