Bronski Beat awarded PRS for Music Heritage Award at site of the band’s first-ever live performance
– 2 min read
Bronski Beat have been awarded the PRS for Music Heritage Award, presented by British artist and writer Tom Rasmussen today at Big Chill (formerly The Bell), commemorating the band’s contribution to British alternative music at the site of the band’s first-ever live performance.
The King’s Cross pub was a landmark of countercultural London in the early 1980s and played a key role in the rise of Bronski Beat, who gave their debut performance there in 1983.
This marked a turning point for the outspoken and openly gay band of Steve Bronski, Jimmy Somerville and Larry Steinbachek, who signed a recording contract with London Records the subsequent year after just nine live gigs. That year saw them release hit single Smalltown Boy and Age of Consent, their highly influential debut album which sought to push back against the legal, social and cultural stigmatisation of LGBTQ+ identities at the time.
This award ceremony, the 20th in the long-running series, included the unveiling of a commemorative plaque by artist, writer and performer Tom Rasmussen, in honour of Bronski Beat frontman Jimmy Somerville. Rasmussen performed a short set for invited media and industry guests, including covers of the band’s early tracks.
PRS for Music, which represents the rights of more than 180,000 songwriters and composers, started the Heritage Awards in 2009 to celebrate bands which had a lasting impact on the fabric of the UK’s music scene, and the venues which gave them their start.
Jimmy Somerville, singer-songwriter and frontman of Bronski Beat, said: “What a wonderful honour. Humbling too. I remember the performance well… twice in fact! I need to give a mention to Bernie and Martin, the DJ-in' duo who started a night called Movements at The Carved Red Lion on Essex Road, then to The Pied Bull at Chapel Market and finally The Bell. It wasn’t just a night out. It was social, political and creative history being made. It was a movement.
"Young LGBTQ+ people wanting something different and it met that need. It was different and exciting and we, Bronski Beat were part of that. So this honour is for all who were on that journey with us. Thank you.”
Tom Rasmussen said: “Bronski Beat literally created the space for gay and queer musicians to both be out, and to sing and make music about the way we live. It’s easy to take that for granted today. Personally, as someone with a falsetto which betrays my gender and sexuality (in the best way) Jimmy also made it okay for people who look like boys to sing, swoon, scream and cry. It’s a proper privilege to be in that lineage with Jimmy.”
