Jimmy, Jimmy...

Few who were around when little Jimmy Sommerville s Bronski Beat broke will fail to remember the fallsettoed skinhead Scotsman who danced as if he had ferrets in his trousers. And he was queer, and he was (way) out, and if you had a problem with that, you had the problem.

Jimmy Sommerville is steaming sausages as I call. He assures me that this is quite normal, but I feel it may be a Scottish thing. One thing we do share in common with our Scots cousins is a love of the old sing-song as Jimmy puts it, explaining why he s eager to return.
I love Celtic people and the way they react to music. I ve gigged in Ireland lots of times and I really get the craic thing that you talk about. I ve played Dublin s Gay Pride festival in recent years and though you always get a solidarity and sense of unity at those gigs I think that even regular gigs in Ireland, and of course Scotland, are possessed of a similar spirit. They get in to it, sing along and dance about. It makes it more fun and you perform better.
Speaking of performing, is Jimmy singing solo this time or is he accompanied by a band?
It s actually neither; we ll be singing in front of DAT tapes of the music, though I m joined by two friends of mine, Matthew and Gillian, to fill out the vocals and add a bit of showmanship.
Will the Olympia show feature new material?
Some of it, yeah, but we also appreciate that people want to hear Bronski numbers or Communards numbers so we ll be doing quite a few of them. I ve got no problem playing older stuff and it s flattering that people remember them and enjoy hearing them still; I love singin em...
As someone who had a reputation as a political radical in the Eighties, is Jimmy still involved in political issues?
I ve quietened down some but don t get me started! I still do Gay awareness things, but I find myself frustrated by the lack of political organisations that are really relevant, particularly for the young... I m thirty-eight now and I ve got the awful suspicion that I may be mellowing out... I certainly hope not!

Jimmy Sommerville plays Dublin s Olympia Theatre, Nov. 10th.