The Communards were a British synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985.
The duo consisted of Jimmy Somerville and Richard Coles. They are most famous for their cover versions of “Don’t Leave Me This Way“ and “Never Can Say Goodbye“.
“Never Can Say Goodbye“ is a song written by Clifton Davis and originally recorded by The Jackson 5. The song was originally written and intended for the Supremes; however, Motown decided it would be better for the Jackson 5. It was the first single released from the group’s 1971 album Maybe Tomorrow, and was one of the group’s most successful records. It has been covered numerous times, most notably in 1974 by Gloria Gaynor and in 1987 by British pop group The Communards.
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 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 performed both backing and co-lead vocals on many of the Communards’ other recordings, and appeared in group photos as an unofficial third member.
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Broadcast date: 21-11-1987
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TopPop was the first regular dedicated pop music TV show in the Dutch language area. Dutch broadcaster AVRO aired the programme weekly, from 1970 to 1988. Presenter Ad Visser hosted the show for its first fifteen years.
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