The album produced four hit singles.
"Smalltown Boy" The band's debut single was released on 25 May 1984, peaking at number 3 in the
UK Singles Chart in June, and reaching number one in Belgium, Italy, and the Netherlands. It is a poetically poignant, soul searching composition addressing homophobia, loneliness and family misunderstanding. It has been described as perfectly encapsulating "the experience of being young and gay in the '80s". It was accompanied by a video of Jimmy Somerville with fellow band member friends Larry Steinbachek and Steve Bronski, who, while
cruising at a public swimming pool and changing room, are attacked and
beaten up by a gang of homophobes. Somerville is returned to his family by the police; he leaves home alone and has a reunion with friends Steinbachek and Bronski, travelling to a new life on a train. The band had the telephone number of the London Gay Switchboard (telephone support and information for gays and lesbians in central London) etched into the inner groove of the 12" vinyl version. Additional congas were played by John Folarin. Sleeve cover art was by Gill Whisson.
"Why?" The follow-up single "
Why?" (recorded at RPM Studios, NYC and mixed at Townhouse Studio, London) pursued a more energetic musical formula, while the lyrics focused more centrally and darkly on anti-gay prejudice. The song opened with a questioning vocal by Somerville and the shattering of breaking glass. Released in September 1984, the single made the top 10 in the UK. The promotional video opens with Steinbachek and Bronski buying artificial bombs and a small statue of
Michelangelo's
David in a mad supermarket. At the checkout, because they are
openly gay, the assistant telephones the management to enquire whether they can pay for the items. They are refused. Meanwhile, Somerville is singing behind a counter of sausages and salamis and, seeing the dilemma in progress, starts complaining to the checkout girl. All three are arrested by "the thought police" and made to appear for trial before a puppet court and senile judge (Somerville's father in "Smalltown Boy"). The band members are then sent to a workhouse. From the workhouse, Somerville rises up into the air and confronts "God". The workers revolt, and strip the thought police of authority and clothing. The band members are placed on pedestals, before "God" transforms all three of them into statues of salt for their alleged sins. The thought-police actors who arrest the trio are the swimmer / homophobic gang-leader from the "Smalltown Boy" video and "Martin", a friend of the band whose situation in a gay relationship with a younger man actually inspired the lyrical content of the song. The video extras were mostly friends of the band; they went on strike during the video shoot, due to the excess labour endured by them in the production. The "Smalltown Boy" and "Why?" videos were directed by Bernard Rose, who also directed the original video for
Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "
Relax". The song is dedicated to the memory of playwright Drew Griffiths, a victim of a homophobic murder in 1984. The sleeve cover art was by Robert McAulay.
"It Ain't Necessarily So" The third single "It Ain't Necessarily So", the
George and
Ira Gershwin/
DuBose Heyward song (from the opera
Porgy and Bess) that expresses opposition to
biblical literalism, was released in November 1984 and reached the UK top 20. The track features Arno Hecht from The Uptown Horns on solo clarinet and the openly gay male choir from London, The Pink Singers. It was recorded at The Garden studio, London and Skyline Studios, NYC. The promotional video features Somerville and Steinbachek as inmates in a
borstal with Somerville and "Martin" (the "thought police" actor from "Why?") having a Christmas
pie-eating competition which takes place during the Christmas religious service, which Somerville wins. Bronski plays a closeted prison warden who has a keen eye for one of the other prisoners. The cover sleeve art was a parody of
The Wizard Of Oz, with
Dorothy having the head of
the devil.
"I Feel Love (Medley)" A fourth (and final) single was released before Somerville left the band in 1985: a medley of "I Feel Love / Johnny Remember Me / Love to Love You Baby". A version of the medley had already appeared on
The Age of Consent, combining
Donna Summer's seminal disco classic "
I Feel Love" with
John Leyton's "
Johnny Remember Me", which had topped the UK charts in 1961. For its single release, former
Soft Cell singer
Marc Almond was enlisted to duet with Somerville, and another Summer disco song, "
Love to Love You Baby", was added as the intro and coda. The single also featured a new backing track that was more
synthpop-oriented than the original album version. As with the band's previous single, the choir providing backing vocals was The Pink Singers. Cellos were played by Beverly Lauridsen, Jesse Levy and Mark Shuman. "I Feel Love (Medley)" was released in April 1985, with sleeve cover art by Gill Whisson. It became a big hit in the UK, entering the top 10 in its second week on the chart and peaking at number 3 for two weeks. == Critical reception ==