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". The name Communards refers to the revolutionaries of the 1871 Paris Commune.
The Communards formed in 1985 after singer Jimmy Somerville left his earlier band Bronski Beat to team up with classically trained musician Richard Coles. Somerville often used a falsetto singing style. Coles, though mainly a pianist, played a number of instruments and had been seen previously performing the clarinet solos on the Bronski Beat hit "It Ain't Necessarily So". 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 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 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.
Links to Peel[]
Peel played their track, 'Breadline Britain' on his 23 September 1985 (BBC World Service) show, but it is not known whether he played the tune on his BBC Radio One shows, as the lyrics controversially was political.
A year later, Peel reviewed the group's performance at the University of East Anglia for the Observer newspaper (published on 30th November 1986) where he described them as 'infinitely preferable to the usual parcel of ego-maddened balloon heads'.
Shows Played[]
- 23 September 1985 (BBC World Service): Breadline Britain (v/a 7" - Untitled) Jamming!