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Smalltown Boy
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Smalltown Boy
"Smalltown Boy" is the debut single by the British synth-pop band Bronski Beat, released in May 1984 by London Recordings. It was included on Bronski Beat's debut album, The Age of Consent (1984).
"Smalltown Boy" features electronic instrumentation, falsetto vocals and lyrics describing a young man who decides to leave home. The music video, directed by Bernard Rose and filmed in East London, depicts a boy who leaves home after being gay-bashed.
"Smalltown Boy" reached number three on the UK singles chart and number one in the Netherlands and Belgium. A gay anthem, it remains associated with the rise of British gay culture in the 1980s. It received positive reviews, and in 2022 Rolling Stone named it the 163rd-greatest dance song. It has been covered by numerous acts, and a series of remixes were issued for the 40th anniversary in 2024.
"Smalltown Boy" features "ominous" discordant notes, an "electro-pop pulse", and falsetto vocals. According to the Bronski Beat member Larry Steinbachek, it emerged from an attempt to cover the 1977 Sex Pistols song "Pretty Vacant" using an octave pattern sequenced on a Roland MC-202 synthesiser.
The lyrics describe a young man who is bullied and decides to leave home. In the Financial Times, David Gould wrote that it combines the hi-NRG tempo of 1980s gay clubs with "plaintive" lyrics. Ian Wade, the author of 1984: The Year Pop Went Queer, interpreted the line "the love that you need will never be found at home" as a rebuke to the "family values" culture that demonised homosexuality at the time. The singer, Jimmy Somerville, said he was embarrassed by the song for many years, as he felt his lyrics were inferior.
The music video for "Smalltown Boy" was directed by Bernard Rose, who had directed the video for "Relax", by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, another band whose co-founders are gay, the previous year. Rose said Bronski Beat felt "Relax" was too mainstream and upbeat, and wanted to convey a more serious message. The Independent described the "Smalltown Boy" video as "stark" and "grounded". The original concept was to base the video on a cottaging scene, but this was vetoed by the London Recordings executive Colin Bell. The video was filmed at a leisure centre in East London.
In the video, a boy (played by Somerville) and his friends are at a leisure centre, watching a young man in Speedos dive into a pool. When the man smiles, the boy is encouraged and later makes a pass at him in the changing room. However, the man reacts badly, and he and his friends later follow the boy and gay-bash him. As a policeman explains the incident to the boy's parents (outing him in the process), his mother breaks down and his father becomes angry to the point of almost striking the boy, who then resolves to leave his "small town" for London. As he leaves, his mother hugs him, but while his father gives him money, he refuses to shake his hand. On the train the boy is joined by other members of Bronski Beat. They smile and laugh as they disembark in London to start their new life.
Rose said the video depicted a common experience for gay people and that Bronski Beat wanted to draw attention to homophobia. Wade likened it to the films of Mike Leigh and Ken Loach. Bell said it created opportunities for later videos with gay themes by artists such as Pet Shop Boys and George Michael.
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Smalltown Boy
"Smalltown Boy" is the debut single by the British synth-pop band Bronski Beat, released in May 1984 by London Recordings. It was included on Bronski Beat's debut album, The Age of Consent (1984).
"Smalltown Boy" features electronic instrumentation, falsetto vocals and lyrics describing a young man who decides to leave home. The music video, directed by Bernard Rose and filmed in East London, depicts a boy who leaves home after being gay-bashed.
"Smalltown Boy" reached number three on the UK singles chart and number one in the Netherlands and Belgium. A gay anthem, it remains associated with the rise of British gay culture in the 1980s. It received positive reviews, and in 2022 Rolling Stone named it the 163rd-greatest dance song. It has been covered by numerous acts, and a series of remixes were issued for the 40th anniversary in 2024.
"Smalltown Boy" features "ominous" discordant notes, an "electro-pop pulse", and falsetto vocals. According to the Bronski Beat member Larry Steinbachek, it emerged from an attempt to cover the 1977 Sex Pistols song "Pretty Vacant" using an octave pattern sequenced on a Roland MC-202 synthesiser.
The lyrics describe a young man who is bullied and decides to leave home. In the Financial Times, David Gould wrote that it combines the hi-NRG tempo of 1980s gay clubs with "plaintive" lyrics. Ian Wade, the author of 1984: The Year Pop Went Queer, interpreted the line "the love that you need will never be found at home" as a rebuke to the "family values" culture that demonised homosexuality at the time. The singer, Jimmy Somerville, said he was embarrassed by the song for many years, as he felt his lyrics were inferior.
The music video for "Smalltown Boy" was directed by Bernard Rose, who had directed the video for "Relax", by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, another band whose co-founders are gay, the previous year. Rose said Bronski Beat felt "Relax" was too mainstream and upbeat, and wanted to convey a more serious message. The Independent described the "Smalltown Boy" video as "stark" and "grounded". The original concept was to base the video on a cottaging scene, but this was vetoed by the London Recordings executive Colin Bell. The video was filmed at a leisure centre in East London.
In the video, a boy (played by Somerville) and his friends are at a leisure centre, watching a young man in Speedos dive into a pool. When the man smiles, the boy is encouraged and later makes a pass at him in the changing room. However, the man reacts badly, and he and his friends later follow the boy and gay-bash him. As a policeman explains the incident to the boy's parents (outing him in the process), his mother breaks down and his father becomes angry to the point of almost striking the boy, who then resolves to leave his "small town" for London. As he leaves, his mother hugs him, but while his father gives him money, he refuses to shake his hand. On the train the boy is joined by other members of Bronski Beat. They smile and laugh as they disembark in London to start their new life.
Rose said the video depicted a common experience for gay people and that Bronski Beat wanted to draw attention to homophobia. Wade likened it to the films of Mike Leigh and Ken Loach. Bell said it created opportunities for later videos with gay themes by artists such as Pet Shop Boys and George Michael.