Culture Club - At Worst...The Best of Boy George and Culture Club

At best, Boy George and his band Culture Club were a dizzy mix of camp, drag, dub, disco, reggae, and new wave. The androgynous George rhumba-ed his way through hits like "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" and crooned with white boy soul through their reggae classic "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" as well as the Delta-inspired "Karma Chameleon." At worst, the band had trouble finding direction and the proper vehicles for his smooth voice, producing clunkers like "Church of the Poison Mind." "Move Away" and "Miss Me Blind"--which actually took its chorus from a Japanese whiskey commercial--were Culture Club at their most brilliant. The band knew it wasn't making fine art and rose to the task of crafting flawless pop gems. George's later work didn't have the sense of fun and abandon as his stint with Culture Club, but his remake of "The Crying Game" again demonstrated those soulful pipes. Also worthy of note from his later career is the Krishna-inspired club hit "Bow Dow Mister." --Steve Gdula Amazon.com

the other side of the closet

I just listened to this CD for the first time the other day and I really liked it because it's very funny and entertaining. Is this really what kids listened to 20 years ago? My favorite song is "I'll Tumble 4 Ya." It's such a great song. I also like "The Crying Game," that's the only song I can remember because this has been on MTV (when MTV still stood for music-TV.) That Boy George is a cute kid, but he really shouldn't wear so much mascara. Or people will start to talk. You know how tongues like to wag. May 10, 2008

By George, this is a terrific album!!

For those who like pop music and can put their old-fashion expectations of what a man should be aside, this is a must-have cd. I wish I had purchased it sooner! February 3, 2007

A must for C.C. fans

This was a gift for my wife, who was a Culture Club fan in the 80s. If you want a good cross-section of the C.C. hits, this is the one. January 5, 2007

at worst...the best of boy george and culture club

There wasn't much of the original culture club stuff. the old culture club cd's would have been better. I never listened to it again after the 1st time! January 4, 2007

In Praise of Boy George and Culture Club

Of the stalwart popsters heralding the second British invasion, Culture Club definitely opened eyes due to openly gay lead singer Boy George, formerly Bow Wow Wow's Lieutenant Lush, whose gender-bending makeup made him better looking feminine. CC's brand of music was infectiously fun dance pop and some great ballads mixed with some soul, enhanced by George's feminine vocals, small wonder that they won 1983's Best New Artist Grammy. But Boy George's heroin problems put a fast end to the group after their fourth album, From Luxury To Heartache. After getting cleaned up, Boy George went solo, still a hit in Britain, but in the US, alas no! Pity, because he came out with pretty great solo material.

Most of the singles are present, from CC's 3 weeks at #2 hit "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" from their debut Kissing To Be Clever. This ballad highlights George's soul-tinged vocals, as well as the backing section of soul singers and airy, lounging synths. My favourite CC ballad is the tearjerking non-charter "Victims," with its melancholy piano and backing crooners, as well as a midsection that briefly goes into a classic disco crescendo before settling back down.

The upbeat Caribbean-like "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" peaked at #9, demonstrating CC's dance pop skills. However, the non-LP "Time (Clock of the Heart)" which also peaked at #2, incorporated some classic disco synths with a funky bassbeat, telling that illusory theme how time won't give us time, making lovers feel like they got something real.

Guest artists that helped Culture Club include Jermaine Stewart, who was on their #5 dance hit "Miss Me Blind" before he sang about not having to take one's clothes off. Ironically, it was this song that has the lyric "kissing to be clever," and not their debut album. Helen Terry's wailing soulful vocals found their way not only here but on the #10 "Church of the Poison Mind," an infectious dance tune Wham! would've given their blow-dried hair for. Terry later helped George on his solo single "Generations of Love" also included here.

And it's no contest that Colour By Numbers was their best albums, as that yielded four Top Ten singles, including the three-week chart-topper "Karma Chameleon," of how love games make that love touch and go, like the chameleon that camouflages itself to become invisible. George performed this and I believe "Move Away" when he guest-starred on the A-Team episode "Cowboy George."

However, nothing from Waking Up With The House On Fire is present, meaning no "The War Song," one of my favourite CC singles. The sole representative from From Luxury To Heartache was the #12 "Move Away," CC's last Top 40 hit and one of my favourites, a slick number highlighted by a snappy drum machines and bass, but with some downbeat lyrics, made more so as Boy George's drug problems probably contributed to low sales of what was an underrated album.

Two quibbles. One are the spoken bits preceding "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" and "Sweet Toxic Love." The others are the exclusion of "The War Song," "Black Money," "Mistake No. 3," and the pro-gay rights anthem "No Clause 28," in response to an anti-gay legislation pushed by then British PM Maggie Torture.

Boy George hit #1 in the UK with his reggaefied cover of Bread's "Everything I Own." He branched out, going a bit mystical with the acoustic singalong of "Bow Down Mister," where he called for doing whatever your religion called for you do, with the same soulful CC choruses, with some hare Krishna refrains. Some sitar is present in the bittersweet two-sides-of-the-coin "Sweet Toxic Love," proving he never lost his touch-just his American audience. In it, he embraces yet feels agony over love, "give me some of that sweet toxic love...to lift me up, to drive me insane." Elsewhere, he assertively tells his lover-"I'm not your punch bag, I'm not your floor, you cant walk on me until you get bored." Pretty intelligent stuff.

His last big hit in the US was the #15 title song to The Crying Game, which ranks as one of the best emotionally-racking songs I've ever heard-"first there are kisses, then there are sighs, and then before you know where you are, you're saying goodbye." Per the song, I've asked myself-not the moon-why are there heartaches and tears.

Culture Club was way too progressive for many parts of the U.S., where a clear homophobic element was rife. The name though was just right. Consider their original incarnations-In Praise of Lemmings (bizarre) or Sex Gang Children, (small trouble marketing that). November 11, 2005

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