Queering Popular Song: Jimmy Somerville and the Reclamation of Disco During the HIV/AIDS Pandemic

This article analyses three pop music cover versions that feature Jimmy Somerville on vocals. Each of the well-known disco numbers from the 1970s was a hit when performed by the original or previous artists but, I argue, took on a different and distinct meaning when released during the 1980s, given the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The first song I consider is Bronski Beat’s 1985 cover version of Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’, which is coupled with the Johnny Leyton hit ‘Johnny Remember Me’, on which Somerville duetted with Marc Almond. I then discuss The Communards’ 1986 hit ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’, originally sung by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes in 1975 before being covered by Thelma Houston in 1976. Finally, I analyse Somerville’s 1989 cover of Sylvester’s hit ‘You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)’. Given that the three songs are all dance tracks, I consider the significance of disco for the queer community. I also examine male falsetto, which Somerville can be heard to use in all the songs, as a means to challenge the prevailing stereotypes of gender and sexuality.