Culture Club is an English group formed in 1981 by Boy George, born George Alan O'Dowd, and Mikey Craig, who will be quickly joined by Jon Moss and Roy Hay. A group that will sell no less than fifty million albums worldwide and more than one hundred million Singles.
Boy George was originally from the Bow Wow Wow group and Craig was hired to hire him to form Culture Club.
The name "Culture Club" is chosen to mark the diverse and varied ethnic origins of the different members of the group.
The beginnings are rather laborious and the different recorded demos are not pleasant.
They signed with the Virign Records label in 1982 and released the Singles "White boy" and "I’m afraid of me". These are flops !
Not demoralizing themselves, they released a third Single in stride. A Single called "Do you really want to hurt me". It’s a huge planetary success ! There will be more than six million copies sold worldwide !
Boy George's androgynous look creates buzz and contributes significantly to the group's success. The album "Kissing to be lever" is released in the wake of which will be extracted the Singles "I’ll tumble 4 ya" and the excellent "Time".
The notoriety of the group is rising crescendo to such an extent that it is becoming a social phenomenon, especially in the USA.
They did it again in 1983 with the album "Color by numbers" which in turn was a hit.
Many hits are extracted from it, including "Karma chameleon", "It’s a miracle", "Church of the poison mind" and "Miss me blind". As well as the astonishingly darker "Victims".
Rewards are raining everywhere, it's a real triumph.
The third album "Waking up with the house in fire" was released in 1984 and it was a ... failure !
The mayonnaise no longer takes, inspiration is greatly lacking and the reviews are not tender.
Only one title will get away with it, namely "The war song".
Lassitude wins the whole group. Boy George gradually falls into drugs.
It took two years and 1986 to see new titles like "God thank you woman" and "Move away" released from the upcoming album "From luxury to heartache". Success is back but sales remain weak.
Also in 1986, Boy George's drug addiction problems worsened considerably. And Michael Rudetsky, keyboardist on "From Luxury to heartache" is found dead in the singer's apartment.
Boy George then undergoes a real media lynching.
The group did not recover and exploded definitively in early 1987.
Thus putting an end to the saga of an extraordinary group and which will remain as one of the most representative groups of the 80s, for good as for bad.
They will come back in any case in the decades that follow but without succeeding in returning to the forefront...
To discover or rediscover...
Discography (among others ...) :
80s Decade :
• White boy 1982
• Do you really want to hurt me 1982
• Time 1982
• I'll tumble 4 ya 1982
• Mystery boy 1982
• Church of the poison mind 1983
• Karma chameleon 1983
• Victims 1983
• Miss me blind 1984
• It’s a miracle 1984
• The war song 1984
• The medal song 1984
• Mistake N° 3 1984
• Love is love 1984
• Move away 1986
• God thank you woman 1986
• Heaven's children 1986
90s Decade :
• I just wanna be loved 1998
• Your kisses are charity 1999
• See thru 1999
2010s Decade :
• Life 2018
• God & love 2018
• Bad blood 2018
• Let somebody love you 2018
• Runaway train 2019
Tracks :
1982 ... an alien and its band land on Earth. A first classified title that leaves nothing to glimpse a suite that will turn out to be very rare
1982 ... then this title arrives ! A HUGE track which will quickly become one of the most mind-blowing hits of the end of the 20th century and which will undoubtedly remain as their Masterpiece. The world is in sound and visual shock. MAS-TER-FUL !
1982 ... a sumptuous suite which shows the limitless potential of the group. The previous global mega hit is anything but an accident !
1982 ... after the 2 previous mega hits, the classification of this title in the Charts leaves something to be desired. But hey, they can not be exceptional on each title !
1982 ... a title passed a little more unnoticed to end this truly exceptional year for the group. A year that will have raised them to a level of awareness that is truly astounding !
1983 ... the following year got off to a flying start. The dynamics are such that each title is an event in itself
1983 ... for the year 1983, the global mega hit, here it is. The group once again records incredible sales scores. BoyGeorgemania is in full swing !
1983 ... surely one of their most beautiful titles and one of the most beautiful of the decade. They are as good in the festive as in the Intimist. The brand of the Great. MAS-TER-FUL !
1984 ... new vintage and...new success. The opposite would have been very surprising. After 2 totally euphoric years, the group still begins to mark somewhat the pace ...
1984 ... He, She... we no longer know by force. The group begins to fall more and more into caricature and the public begins to get lost. This does not prevent the group from continuing to record impressive sales scores
1984 ... Boy George who plays the pacifists ... Hmm, one of the only costumes difficult for him to don. Nevertheless, the title offers them one of their biggest successes
1984 ... another BIG year with an unbroken series of very large caliber titles. Even if the dynamics weaken year after year, the group can claim to be still part of the planetary Elite
1984 ... a bloated year 1984 in terms of titles and especially quality on all floors. Even the 'little' hits largely hold up. The proof !
1984 ... a year 1984 which ends in apotheosis with an absolutely sumptuous Ultimate Slow. Like what, the group still has it under the pedal, it's clear !
1986 ... the last notorious success. And yes, already. Dazzling successes for a career that is no less...dazzling. The group went up high, very, very high. May be too much. The fall is all the harder ...
1986 ... an incredible saga which will unfortunately end in the drama that year and end one of the major groups of the 80s
1986 ... a title which will not be released as a Single at the last moment. And who, however, could quite have made his way in the Charts ...
1998 ... the Phoenix is trying to rise from the ashes at the end of the 1990s. Here he delivers a title of certain quality but which will not be enough to assure them a resounding return to the big leagues. When it doesn't want anymore, it doesn't want anymore ...
1999 ... this title there will not do better unfortunately. Their good will is obvious, but often good will is unfortunately not enough to overthrow the mountains ...
1999...will this title be the last ? Not sure because with them everything is possible. And we might find them again later...
2018...and yes, here they are again ! 19 years after their last opus, they decide to put the cover back at the end of the 2010 decade. Who would have thought that possible ? Not many people, that's for sure...
2018...even if none of the titles of the album will feature prominently in the Charts, the album will know a very favorable fate. Like what, it was worth coming back !
2018 ... certainly Boy George's voice is not as fluid as before but the essential is there as they say. We will therefore largely be satisfied with what the group offers us at the end of the 2010 decade !
2018...the important thing for them is to simply have fun continuing to make music. After for the rhinestones and sequins, they turned the page on all that a long time ago...
2019...Boy George and Gladys Knight pushing the song together, who would have believed it ? A nice duo that works perfectly on this title which, we imagine, will surely not be the last of the group...
Wiki :
Official Website :
Greatest Hits :
Discography :