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In 1984 out and proud pop trio Bronski Beat took a personal, heartfelt story and with it created ‘Smalltown Boy’. From its striking keyboard opening, and singer Jimmy Somerville’s imploring counter tenor refrain of ‘Cry, boy, cry’ ‘Smalltown Boy’ has gone on to become not only THE enduring anthem for LGBTQI+ communities, but also a clarion call of hope for all marginalised groups and individuals around the world. 

40 years on and ‘Smalltown Boy’ has taken on a new lease of life again via TikTok. In the past month an #80sDanceMoves trend has appeared, where young people have filmed their Gen X parents conjuring up their best retro dance moves. The response has been nothing short of explosive, with over 200K videos and over 2 billion views, all using ‘Smalltown Boy’ as their soundtrack. 

Watch the video trend compilation here

Watch celebrity dances  from Courtney Cox, Jennifer Garner and skater Tony Hawk

‘t’s just been uplifting…’ says Bronski Beat vocalist Jimmy Somerville. ‘Everything is going so crazy in the world… But here, on TikTok, there’s all these people finding the moment to have a bit of fun, and all these older people reliving some memory and being part of something uplifting. It’s just been brilliant; it made my smile and warmed my heart.’

Watch Jimmy’s personal statement on TikTok here

The feel good trend is fast finding celebrity fans as well, with Cyndi Lauper and Kevin Bacon reminiscing on their best 80s dances, as well as dances from the likes of actors Courtney Cox, Jennifer Garner and skater Tony Hawk among many others. There’s been massive media pick up from all over the world including this recent piece in the New York Times, and the song in turn leaping back into the UK Charts (last week sitting at #51 in the OCC UK Singles Chart).

Described by Pitchfork as ‘a perfect song,’ and an ‘an upbeat theme of liberation’ by The Financial Times, ‘Smalltown Boy’ has been listed amongst Rolling Stone’s Greatest Dance Songs, Time Out’s Best Pride Songs, and continues to reach new audiences. 

Speaking this week with Tom Robinson on 6Music, Jimmy shared his thoughts about the evergreen endurance of ‘Smalltown Boy’: ‘The lyric is very simple, it’s very universal, it’s easy to understand and… it kind of hits a note about yearning to be somewhere else and do something different, not to be tied. I think you can relate it to various experiences, obviously for me it was coming from a young gay man, but you can relate that to your own personal experience.’

Heading into Pride Month London Records celebrates 40 years of ‘Smalltown Boy’ with a newly commissioned rework by London-based DJ and producer ABSOLUTE. (Ant McGinley), alongside several physical formats, including a numbered, coloured 7-inch, transparent CD single (both of which sold out in a day), and a new range of ‘Smalltown Boy’ T-Shirts available to pre-order now.

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AMNPLIFY – DB