"Smalltown Boy" is the debut single by the British

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

band

Bronski Beat Bronski Beat were a British synth-pop band formed in 1983 in London, England. The initial lineup, which recorded the majority of their hits, consisted of Scottish musicians Jimmy Somerville (vocals) and Steve Bronski (keyboards, percussion) and ...

, released in May 1984 by

London Recordings London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

. It was included on their debut album, '' The Age of Consent'' (1984). "Smalltown Boy" features electronic instrumentation,

falsetto Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...

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" is a

gay anthem Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) music is music that focuses on the experiences of gender and sexual minorities as a product of the broad gay liberation movement. LGBTQ music spans the entire spectrum of popular music. ...

and remains associated with the rise of British gay culture in the 1980s. It received positive reviews, and in 2022 ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' 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.

Composition

"Smalltown Boy" features "ominous" discordant notes, an "electro-pop pulse", and

vocals. According to the Bronski Beat member Larry Steinbachek, it emerged from an attempt to cover the 1977

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

song "

Pretty Vacant "Pretty Vacant" is a song by the English punk rock band the Sex Pistols. It was released on 1 July 1977 as the band's third single and was later featured on their only album, '' Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols'', released during ...

" using an

octave In music, an octave (: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is an interval between two notes, one having twice the frequency of vibration of the other. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referr ...

pattern

sequenced In genetics and biochemistry, sequencing means to determine the primary structure (sometimes incorrectly called the primary sequence) of an unbranched biopolymer. Sequencing results in a symbolic linear depiction known as a sequence which succi ...

on a Roland MC-202 synthesiser. The lyrics describe a young man who is bullied and decides to leave home. In the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', David Gould wrote that it combines the

hi-NRG Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a music genre, typified by its fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the four-on-the-flo ...

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 Family values, sometimes referred to as familial values, are traditional or cultural values that pertain to the family's structure, function, roles, beliefs, attitudes, and ideals. Additionally, the concept of family values may be understood ...

" culture that demonised homosexuality at the time. The singer,

Jimmy Somerville James William Somerville (born 22 June 1961) is a singer from Glasgow, Scotland who rose to prominence in the 1980s with the synth-pop groups Bronski Beat and the Communards. With Bronski Beat, Somerville achieved commercial success with the 1 ...

, said he was embarrassed by the song for many years, as he felt his lyrics were inferior.

Music video

The music video for "Smalltown Boy" was directed by Bernard Rose, who had directed the video for "

Relax Relax or RELAX may refer to: Albums * ''Relax'' (album), by Das Racist, 2011 * ''Relax'', by Blank & Jones, 2003 * ''Relax'', by Los Piratas, 2003 Songs * "Relax" (Deetah song), 1998 * "Relax" (Frankie Goes to Hollywood song), 1983 * "Relax ...

", by another openly gay band,

Frankie Goes to Hollywood Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English pop band that formed in Liverpool in 1980. They comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Mark O'Toole (bass), Brian Nash (guitar) and Peter Gill (drums). Johnson and Ruther ...

, the previous year. Rose said Bronski Beat felt "Relax" was too mainstream and upbeat, and wanted to convey a more serious message. The ''

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

'' described the "Smalltown Boy" video as "stark" and "grounded". The original concept was to base the video on a

cottaging Cottaging is a LGBT slang, gay slang term, originating from the United Kingdom, referring to anonymous sex between men in a public lavatory (a "cottage" or "tea-room"Andre "tearoom; t-room ''noun'' a Washroom, public toilet. From an era when a grea ...

scene, but this was vetoed by the

executive Colin Bell. The video was filmed at a leisure centre in

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

. In the video, a boy (played by Somerville) makes a pass at a man and is gay-bashed. As a policeman explains the incident to the boy's parents (

outing Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBTQ person's sexual orientation or gender identity without their consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia, biphobia, and/or transphobia Transphobia consists ...

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 father gives him money but refuses to shake hands. 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 Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English screenwriter, producer, director and former actor with a film, theatre, and television career spanning more than 60 years. His accolades include prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlin In ...

and

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retiredhttps://variety.com/2024/film/global/ken-loach-retirement-the-old-oak-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-1235956589/ English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist views ar ...

. Bell said it created opportunities for later videos with gay themes by artists such as

Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...

and

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...

Reception

Bell was unafraid to market "Smalltown Boy" as a gay record, and said "that was the point". According to Bell, the first time it was played in a gay club,

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

, in London, the "response was extraordinary" and the audience slowed down to listen. Reviewing the single on release, ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' said it "fashioned a young man's bitter memories of being driven away from home, alienated from his family, and persecuted by his friends, into a sweetly moving pop song". "Smalltown Boy" reached number three on the UK singles chart and number one in the Netherlands and Belgium. It reached the top 10 in Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland and West Germany. It reached number 48 in the US pop chart and was a number-one US dance hit. After the success, Bronski Beat released their debut album, '' The Age of Consent''.

Legacy

"Smalltown Boy" is associated with the rise of British gay culture in the 1980s, alongside hits by the closeted

and the openly gay

. Writing in the ''

Observer An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment. Observer may also refer to: Fiction * ''Observer'' (novel), a 2023 science fiction novel by Robert Lanza and Nancy Kress * ''Observer'' (video game), a cyberpunk horr ...

'' for its 40th anniversary, Paul Flynn wrote: Smalltown Boy' documents in empathetic, kitchen-sink detail the feelings of rejecting one archaic value system and moving to the big gay city to find your own...

t has T, or t, is the twentieth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is d ...

resisted fossilisation." He concluded that it "can still make reasonable claims to being the British national anthem of gay", and counted it among the work of other major figures in British gay history, such as

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

Joe Orton John Kingsley Orton (1 January 1933 – 9 August 1967), known by the pen name of Joe Orton, was an English playwright, author, and diarist. His public career, from 1964 until his murder in 1967 committed by his partner, was short but highly i ...

Derek Jarman Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, poet, gardener, and gay rights activist. Biography Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing ...

and

Peter Tatchell Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is an Australian-born British human rights campaigner, best known for his work with LGBT social movements. Tatchell was selected as the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party's Parliament of the United Kingdo ...

. Reviewing the ''Age of Consent'' reissue for ''Pitchfork'' in 2017, Laura Snapes wrote that Smalltown Boy' remains a perfect song. It is nimble and crushing, forlorn and relieved, frail yet determined." In 2022, ''

'' named it the 163rd-greatest dance song, and '' Time Out'' ranked it number 12 in its list of the "50 Best Gay Songs to Celebrate Pride All Year Long in 2022", writing that it "takes the pain of rejection and makes it danceable". In 2023, ''Rolling Stone'' named "Smalltown Boy" the 38th most inspirational LGBTQ song. In 2024, Wade said it was still popular with young people: "There are still some kids who are terrified in their own homes. For the teenager wondering whether they'll get fucked or stabbed by the person they chose to look at across the classroom, 'Smalltown Boy' still means something." Bell said "Smalltown Boy" was the record he was proudest of signing. A remix by

Stephen Hague Stephen Hague (born 1960) is an American record producer most active with various British acts since the 1980s. Early life Hague was born in Portland, Maine, in 1960. Early career Hague started his musical career in the mid-1970s as a session ...

was released on 24 December 1990. For the song's 30th anniversary in 2014, Somerville released a new version, "Smalltown Boy Reprise". A series of remixes were issued for the 40th anniversary in 2024, and the song became popular on the social media service

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

. It remains part of British gay culture, and posters with its lyrics were posted across London for the 2024

Pride Pride is a human Emotion, secondary emotion characterized by a sense of satisfaction with one's Identity (philosophy), identity, performance, or accomplishments. It is often considered the opposite of shame or of humility and, depending on conte ...

event. "Smalltown Boy" was sampled by the German band Real McCoy in their 1994 song " Automatic Lover (Call for Love)". The Swedish DJs

Steve Angello Steven Patrik Josefsson Fragogiannis (; born 22 November 1982), known professionally as Steve Angello, is a Greek–Swedish DJ, record producer, remixer and record label owner. He is a member of Swedish House Mafia, together with Axwell and Seba ...

and

Axwell Axel Christofer Hedfors (; born 18 December 1977), better known by his stage name Axwell, is a Swedish DJ, record producer, remixer and owner of Axtone Records. He is a member of Swedish House Mafia along with Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello ...

, as Supermode, sampled "Smalltown Boy" in their 2006 track " Tell Me Why". The German industrial metal band

Oomph! Oomph! is a German Rock music, rock band from Wolfsburg, formed in 1989. The band pioneered the movement. Their work contains lyrics in both English and German, with a shift towards German exclusively on recent albums (''GlaubeLiebeTod'', '' ...

paid homage to "Smalltown Boy" in their 2012 song . In 2015, the American singer

Brandon Flowers Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981) is an American musician. He serves as the co-founder, lead vocalist, primary songwriter, keyboardist, and occasional bassist of the Las Vegas-based rock band the Killers, which he formed with Dave Ke ...

sampled "Smalltown Boy" in his song " I Can Change", and the Belgian singer

Kate Ryan Kate Ryan (born Katrien Verbeeck, 22 July 1980) is a Belgian singer and songwriter, and the winner of a World Music Award. She began her singing career in 2001 and later found fame with a string of dance hits. These included covers, mostly of ...

released a cover. In 2020, the gay country singer Orville Peck released a cover of "Smalltown Boy". In 2024,

the Knocks The Knocks is an American electronic music duo consisting of Ben "B-Roc" Ruttner and James "JPatt" Patterson. They have released 3 full length albums (''HISTORY, New York Narcotic, 55'') and 5 EPs (''Melody & Silence, Summer Series: 2019, TESTI ...

and Perfume Genius collaborated on a cover of "Smalltown Boy" for its 40th anniversary.

Track listing

* 7" single BITE 1 #"Smalltown Boy" – 3:58 #"Memories" – 2:55 * 7" single 820 091-7 #"Smalltown Boy" – 3:58 #"Memories" – 3:00 * 12" single BITEX 1 / 820 996-1 / 9-29 017 / LDSPX 215 #"Smalltown Boy" – 9:00 #"Infatuation/Memories" – 7:38 * 12" single MCA-23521 #"Smalltown Boy" – 9:00 #"Infatuation/Memories" – 7:42

Personnel

Credits sourced from ''Electronic Soundmaker'' and ''Sound on Sound''. *

– vocals * Steve Bronski –

Yamaha DX7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 1980s, th ...

and Memorymoog synthesisers, Roland MC-202 Microcomposer,

LinnDrum The LinnDrum, often erroneously referred to as the LM-2, is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics between 1982 and 1985. About 5,000 units were sold. Development The LinnDrum was designed by the American engineer Roger Linn. It was ...

programming * Larry Steinbachek – Pro-One and Memorymoog synthesisers, Roland MC-202 Microcomposer,

Linn 9000 The Linn 9000 is an electronic musical instrument manufactured by Linn Electronics as the successor to the LinnDrum. It was introduced in 1984 at a list price of $5,000, ($7,000 fully expanded) and about 1,100 units were produced. It combined M ...

programming

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1984 songs 1984 debut singles 1991 singles Bronski Beat songs Songs written by Jimmy Somerville Song recordings produced by Mike Thorne Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Number-one singles in the Netherlands Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles LGBTQ-related songs Songs about trains London Records singles