The Communards - Classic or Dud?

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

There's not been such a thread before, and only a few divergent opinions on various threads. So where do people stand on them?

Can't choose which side yet, but I bought "Red" on CD today for £3.99...

― Tom May (Tom May), Saturday, 8 May 2004 17:24 (nineteen years ago) link

I can hear jimmy somerville, next door, at the moment.

― RJG (RJG), Saturday, 8 May 2004 17:25 (nineteen years ago) link

You'll dance to anything...

― King Kobra (King Kobra), Saturday, 8 May 2004 18:32 (nineteen years ago) link

Absolute classic.

― frankE (frankE), Saturday, 8 May 2004 19:22 (nineteen years ago) link

The Communards have recorded some passable singles, but I would never describe them as "classic." Bronski Beat has better claim for the title, and I'd hesitate to bestow that status upon even them.

― Atnevon (Atnevon), Saturday, 8 May 2004 20:20 (nineteen years ago) link

On cursory listening, "Red" sounds up to the mark, if not necessarily a mark bearing the term 'classique'. But then, I'm not sure I've absorbed and got used to the overall style yet. Strange that they got Steven Hague in but only had him produce half the album... There is some material on this that I can tell to be classic, and very good pop of the time; the passionate side of them clashes well, interestingly, with Hague's dispassionate, shrewd professionalism.

― Tom May (Tom May), Sunday, 9 May 2004 03:20 (nineteen years ago) link

Dud - and responsible for one of the worst videos of all time...where the Communards are portrayed as a subversive underground band and their fans are targeted by the secret police.

― Bob Six (bobbysix), Sunday, 9 May 2004 07:17 (nineteen years ago) link

AVRIL KICKED A GUY IN THE NARDS

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Sunday, 9 May 2004 11:43 (nineteen years ago) link

the video for Don't Leave Me This Way-CLASSIC, one of the gayer things I've ever seen on TV, could it have been on MTV? Jimmy Sommerville sitting by a pool as another skinny little guy in a speedo dives off the diving board...

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Sunday, 9 May 2004 15:36 (nineteen years ago) link

That was 'Small Town Boy' by Bronski Beat, I think.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Sunday, 9 May 2004 15:42 (nineteen years ago) link

how do you feel about 'Comment Te Dire Adieu'?

― stevem (blueski), Sunday, 9 May 2004 15:45 (nineteen years ago) link

Oops, I didn't see Dan's link to the Avril thread when I matched up the same threads as a Thread Connection just now. (Yes, they were adjacent in New Answers!)

― Paul in Santa Cruz (Paul in Santa Cruz), Sunday, 9 May 2004 16:46 (nineteen years ago) link

"Comment te dire adieu" is good fun -- the instrumental arrangements are very stylish, and the vocal performances have a campy edge, for better or worse.

"For a Friend" has to count among the Classic moments, I'd say: one of the most heartbreakingly sad songs ever.

― Paul in Santa Cruz (Paul in Santa Cruz), Sunday, 9 May 2004 16:57 (nineteen years ago) link

sixteen years pass...

This street Musician was singin along in Berlin when suddenly Jimmy Somerville (the original singer) comes up and joins him singing!
🔊🔊🔊👊🏼😃👍🏼🔊🔊🔊 pic.twitter.com/kWoirI7VsZ
— 🦗🍂🍃The Smokin Grasshopper🍃🍂🦗 (@Grasshopper2049) February 15, 2020

this is pretty good

― calzino, Friday, 3 July 2020 21:31 (three years ago) link

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.