Bronski Beat’s ‘Smalltown Boy’ gets 40th anniversary reissue with ABSOLUTE. rework: Listen
The iconic track will be reissued on limited-edition fluorescent pink vinyl and other formats
Bronski Beat’s ‘Smalltown Boy’ is being reissued for its 40th anniversary and has been reworked by ABSOLUTE. Check out the video for the revamped version of the iconic synth-pop track below.
Landing on 26th July, the iconic track will be reissued on limited-edition (1000 copies) fluorescent pink vinyl and a range of other physical formats, including a numbered, coloured 7-inch, transparent CD single, a music box edition and a new range of ‘Smalltown Boy’ T-Shirts.
Pre-order from the Official Bronski Beat store here.
ABSOLUTE. the London-based DJ and producer born Ant McGinley, known for his reworks of Kylie Minogue (‘Padam Padam’) and Fever Ray (‘Shiver’), has turned in a skittering, trance-touched remix to commemorate the anniversary.
“When I got asked to rework ‘Smalltown Boy’ I was literally just screaming,” said McGinley in a press release. “And when I started work on it, it was such an emotional experience. I was welling up while I was making it, which is so rare to happen for me, this made me know just how much of a special track this was.”
“ABSOLUTE. has kept a strong essence of the period and the song. The Bass!” added Bronski Beat singer Jimmy Somerville. "I was transported back to our first times writing (banging on a Pro One and a Moog) and me realising I never had to walk around vocally imitating a sequence ever again!”
Released on 25th May 1984, ‘Smalltown Boy’ launched the gay synth-pop band Bronski Beat into the charts and onto dancefloors with its glorious synths, hi-NRG production and Jimmy Somerville’s soaring falsetto, which sang a story of rejection, pain and escape. In a recent DJ Mag feature, Bailey Slater explores how, four decades on, it remains an unflinching anthem of queer liberation with the help of various musicians, its iconic video's director and others. Read it here.
