Biography
James William Somerville (born 22 June 1961) is a Scottish singer. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as a member the synth-pop groups Bronski Beat and the Communards; with the former, Somerville achieved commercial success worldwide with the 1984 single "Smalltown Boy", which peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart. Bronski Beat's debut album The Age of Consent (1984) was the only release Somerville contributed to as lead vocalist before leaving the band in 1985 to join the Communards. With Somerville on lead vocals, the Communards released their self-titled debut album in 1986, spawning the internationally successful single "Don't Leave Me This Way" which became the best-selling single of 1986 in the United Kingdom. Further success came with single "So Cold the Night" and their second studio album Red (1987) before disbanding in 1988; Somerville then began a solo career.
Bio from Wikipedia
Discography
Records they worked on — most-collected first.
The Age Of Consent
1984
Fine Young Cannibals
1985
Red Hot + Blue
1990
Communards
1986
The Desired Effect
2015
Smalltown Boy
1984
Don't Leave Me This Way
1986
Memorabilia - The Singles
1991
Hundreds & Thousands
1985
The Singles Collection 1984/1990
1990
Red
1987
Hideous Bastard
2022
Symbol Of Life
2002
Now That's What I Call Music 12
1988
Now That's What I Call Music 4
1984
Credited work
1,809 releases · 288 albums · active 1984–2026
- Performance · 3,718
- Other credits · 423
- Production · 154
- Engineering · 67
Studios: The Garden · Maison Rouge · Right Track Recording · The Town House
Frequent collaborators
- Various
- Bronski Beat
- The Communards
- Communards
- Fine Young Cannibals
- Sparks
- Oliver Sim
- Scratch Massive