Hello and thank you for being a DL contributor. We are changing the login scheme for contributors for simpler login and to better support using multiple devices. Please click here to update your account with a username and password.

Hello. Some features on this site require registration. Please click here to register for free.

Hello and thank you for registering. Please complete the process by verifying your email address. If you can't find the email you can resend it here.

Hello. Some features on this site require a subscription. Please click here to get full access and no ads for $1.99 or less per month.

Eldergays, tell me about the rise and success of Culture Club

What was it like when Boy George appeared on national TV? Did everyone completely lose their shit?

Was he popular? Hated? Both?

What about (m)Annie Lennox?

by Anonymousreply 86September 20, 2019 6:10 PM

I first saw them on one of those late night live performance shows doing "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me"

Boy George was fascinating, extremely talented. I expected a bigger career.

by Anonymousreply 1February 23, 2014 1:51 AM

It was Reagan years, though? How did that happen?

by Anonymousreply 2February 23, 2014 2:55 AM

"It was Reagan years, though? How did that happen?"

As we all know, the political beliefs of any president in office magically pass to all citizens in the US, rendering them unable to have any belief or opinion differing from that in the Oval Office

by Anonymousreply 3February 23, 2014 3:00 AM

Boy George's lack of longer lasting career was in large part his own doing.

by Anonymousreply 4February 23, 2014 3:13 AM

He was a revelation.

Boy George ushered in the Angrogenous look. He was young, new and fresh and he had a different sound. He looked like NOTHING that my older siblings or parents had ever seen or listened to.

He was all ours, our generation

He was of the eighties and yes, we all thought he would have gone farther than he did.

by Anonymousreply 5February 23, 2014 3:24 AM

Got a ticket to see him in NYC on April twenty-second.

by Anonymousreply 6February 23, 2014 3:27 AM

I'm 40, and if I remember correctly, everyone didn't lose their shit. Yes, some people made fun of Boy George, but maybe not as broad of segment as you might think. The whole androgyny, big hair, guys wearing makeup thing extended far beyond Boy George. Look no further than hair metal such as Poison or Ratt. Then there were the pretty boys like Duran Duran. A lot of these artists were made fun of, but at the same time, these artists had broad based popularity.

by Anonymousreply 7February 23, 2014 3:33 AM

Culture Club were popular on black radio. Just listen to the songs and it makes sense.

by Anonymousreply 8February 23, 2014 3:34 AM

George had a pretty big mainstream career in the 80s Just not a very long one.

I was fascinated by him and have stayed a fan all these years. He was lovely and edgy all the same time. He came from the punk and New Romantic world and was a true groundbreaker. He had balls. He was cut from the same cloth as Bowie, Bolan and Iggy.

But he's kept working and recording and doing artistically interesting things. I like what he's doing now more than anything he did with Culture Club.

Anyway, he was shocking to the boring straights back in the day but his charm and talent won them over. Almost too much so. He became a cuddly and inoffensive teddy bear, rather than the dangerous gender fuck rock star that he wanted to be. Grannies and fat fan girls loved him. I'm sure part of him hated that, although he loved the money and success. Drugs and greed ruined it all of course.

by Anonymousreply 9February 23, 2014 3:35 AM

I still remember when I saw a Newsweek cover with Annie Lennox and Boy George on it, around 1983-84. I was in my early teens at that time and was transfixed by it and ended up buying it.

by Anonymousreply 10February 23, 2014 3:36 AM

He was enormously popular - his "acceptance" had everything o do with his being British, as well as his still-catchy tunes.

Jon Moss, his HOTHOTHOT bf drummer was major masturbatory material for me.

by Anonymousreply 11February 23, 2014 3:37 AM

How much did the mainstream know about his homosexuality? I mean beyond guys saying "he wears makeup, he's a fag". Was the fact of him being gay known to a lot of people?

by Anonymousreply 12February 23, 2014 3:41 AM

It was amazing. Popular music had gotten into a rut. Everything was vanilla and meaningless pap.

Then, Culture Club arrived on our shores and everything changed. They weren't just a phenomenon with kids--when they made any of their few television appearances, _everyone_ watched. Even parents. My Dad railed about how girls they were, especially George. My mom thought the bass player was cute.

It was interesting to watch how, as they explored and expanded their music, it seemed the world followed along. If someone fell to earth from another planet and listened to something from their early work and compared it to their later work, they'd have no idea it was the same group. But all of the other pop artists of the time followed along. And, since they broke up, they've remained an influence to all new music, from hip-hop to Rebecca Black and Justin Beiber.

One can only wonder what might have happened if Apollo Ohno had not broken them up.

by Anonymousreply 13February 23, 2014 3:47 AM

[quote]Boy George ushered in the Angrogenous look.

You mean androgynous? I've always thought androgyny is more someone like Tilda Swinton or sexless model boys. Boy George was always more to the drag queen side of the field. I remember reading his memoirs and I got the feeling that they were apparently trying to sell him in the States as something else, maybe a bit like a rock freak à la David Bowie, or just something mysterious and different. But then in his acceptance speech for a Grammy, he said that "What can I say, America, you know a good drag queen when you see one!" Boy wrote that their US manager Frank DiLeo dropped his cigar from his lips in shock when he said that.

by Anonymousreply 14February 23, 2014 3:48 AM

[quote] But he's kept working and recording and doing artistically interesting things. I like what he's doing now more than anything he did with Culture Club.

Absolutely. His early 1990s album under the "Jesus Loves You" moniker is great.

by Anonymousreply 15February 23, 2014 3:50 AM

He was cagey about his sexuality at the time but anyone with a brain cell knew he was gay. I mean look at him.

Everyone in the know knew he was gay. Those he were clueless or downright stupid weren't sure.

by Anonymousreply 16February 23, 2014 3:50 AM

He "got away with it" because he was genuinely talented, charming, smart, and funny.

"He's a fag"

"Yeah but he such a good singer so who cares?"

You heard that a lot back then.

by Anonymousreply 17February 23, 2014 3:53 AM

He was 100% out and unapologetic about it.

Remember the era - at that time it was MUCH easier in the music industry to be gay - think David Bowie a decade earlier.

Michael Jackson was also flaming (literally) at that time. Prince pushed the envelope VERY far, but of course he bizarrely turned out to be straight.

by Anonymousreply 18February 23, 2014 3:53 AM

my mom woke me up when they were on GMA so i could watch.

by Anonymousreply 19February 23, 2014 3:55 AM

Personally Boy was my superhero during my teens. He really was what he wanted to be unlike me who was bullied at school for being a girly boy. I changed myself into a straight boy by learning to walk like a man and getting girlfriends. All that time I knew Boy was something I wanted to be and I'll love him always for that. He was like a beacon of hope in the darkness and hopelessness my life in many ways was.

by Anonymousreply 20February 23, 2014 4:00 AM

R13 - generationally Culture Club and Apollo Anton Oho are years apart. What are you talking about - and yes I googled them together but nothing of consequence emerged.

by Anonymousreply 21February 23, 2014 4:04 AM

This was also pretty early in the age of the music video, and believe it or not, it was a big thing to watch actual music videos on MTV and VH 1 or Night Tracks on TBS and Night Flight on USA. NBC would play Friday Night videos on NBC where kids would watch for the new release.

The music stars of that era really played up their personas for those videos. People watched in part for how Boy George or Annie Lenox would look. The Eurythmic videos were pretty good at taking advantage of Annie's striking looks (and different look).

I don't know if it was easier to be gay. George went out of his way to not confirm he was gay. Same with George Michael. I was in junior high and high school at the time, and they along with Michael Jackson were still presented to the teen girls at the time as poster boy material despite their non-conventional looks. Elton John, who I believe was out as gay in the 70's, married a woman.

by Anonymousreply 22February 23, 2014 4:06 AM

[quote]He was 100% out and unapologetic about it.

No he wasn't. Not at first anyway. He did all that "I prefer a cup of tea to sex" bullshit so as not to alienate his fan base.

Jimmy Somerville and Holly Johnson openly mocked him for not being out at the time.

It wasn't until he came out of his first bout of drug addiction that was unapologetic about his sexuality.

by Anonymousreply 23February 23, 2014 4:08 AM

R23, oh jeah, now I remember the whole cup of tea thing. To me his sexuality was always so obvious that I never even thought that he might be straight. I can only imagine that his record company was behind him not being completely out since to my understanding he was always out in that club scene in London he and Marilyn and others lived in.

by Anonymousreply 24February 23, 2014 4:17 AM

His success as a pop star seemed to trump any anti-gay sentiment.

Bronski Beat was big around the same time.

by Anonymousreply 25February 23, 2014 4:18 AM

George was never a drag queen. He looked feminine but he never tried to present himself as a woman. His drag queen quip on the Grammys was an ironic joke. America, never a country to get irony, freaked out and didn't get it.

. He was from the David Bowie/ New Romantic school of gender fuck. Men who were into makeup and frills but who we're definitely still men.

by Anonymousreply 26February 23, 2014 4:19 AM

He was passionately hated by the same people who also passionately hated Michael Jackson, which is to say, by everyone over the age of 40. Many people aged 20-40 were also skeeved, but some were not skeeved who were skeeved out by say Wham! and George Michael, or Hall & Oates. Because Boy George was so obviously gay and effeminate, it was in some sense less threatening to them.

by Anonymousreply 27February 23, 2014 4:24 AM

I was working in South America when Culture Club hit the charts. They got a lot of play on the radio but nothing on TV nor photos in the press at that time. Getting back to the US six months later, I was schocked to see Boy George. The vision you had from a voice on the radio was very different from reality.

by Anonymousreply 28February 23, 2014 4:26 AM

[quote] I can only imagine that his record company was behind him not being completely out since to my understanding he was always out in that club scene in London he and Marilyn and others lived in.

And Jon Moss too. Jon wanted CC to appeal to the broadest fan base possible. Plus he was a bisexual having an affair with George and was terrified his reputation and pussy supply would be cut off if it got out that George was full on queer.

Jon was a prick and a user.

by Anonymousreply 29February 23, 2014 4:27 AM

I recall him saying he was bi in an interview prior to the heroin bust. He also described the women he was attracts too as being flat chested and short haired.

by Anonymousreply 30February 23, 2014 4:30 AM

R26, yes his looks were many times not traditional drag queen stuff, but sometimes went quite close there.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 31February 23, 2014 4:36 AM

[quote]generationally Culture Club and Apollo Anton Oho are years apart. What are you talking about - and yes I googled them together but nothing of consequence emerged.

Think about it.

by Anonymousreply 32February 23, 2014 8:20 AM

[quote]He was 100% out and unapologetic about it.

No he was not.

"I'd rather have a cup of tea than go to bed with someone".

by Anonymousreply 33February 23, 2014 9:02 AM

This is probably geo-blocked in many countries but is working here in Europe. Worried About The Boy is quite nice biopic mostly about Boy George's life in London before stardom. I had forgotten that Richard Madden played Kirk Brandon. He's so fucking pretty as a blond.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 34February 23, 2014 9:54 AM

He was hardly "like nothing ever seen" Even George claims Bowie as an idol of his. The andro look was very 70's The NYC Dolls, Patti Smith. George was part of a whole club scene in london with others like Pete Burns from Dead or Alive, Marilyn and George of course.

by Anonymousreply 35February 23, 2014 9:59 AM

Was it like O M G when he first appeared on TV?0

by Anonymousreply 36February 23, 2014 10:44 AM

Here's the clip of Culture Club winning best new artist at the Grammys in 1983.

Man, it really was a second British Invasion for music in 1983. Four of the five nominees were British (Men Without Hats were Canadian.)

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 37February 23, 2014 11:26 AM

[R27] is correct--he was mostly viewed as non-threatening and slightly amusing in his weirdness. MTV got behind him and pushed him into the forefront and back then an artist could get instant success through MTV since radio was still pretty crap in most of the country. That he was talented and seemingly a nice guy helped him a great deal.

by Anonymousreply 38February 23, 2014 12:14 PM

All of my straight friends who loved Boy George credited his voice as unique and wonderful....as well as the music itself

by Anonymousreply 39February 23, 2014 12:27 PM

[quote]He was hardly "like nothing ever seen" Even George claims Bowie as an idol of his.

I have to disagree. Bowie was never as "popular" as Culture Club in the US. CC were on Late night talk shows for God's sake. They reached audiences that were not familiar with British guys wearing make up and women's clothing. They were played on freaking Urban radio so George was like nothing ever seen.

As a Reggae fan, I didn't realize how much Reggae music they incorporated in their music at the time.

Time Clock of the Heart was one of the first records I ever bought. I remember just staring at George on the cover with his silver tooth.

They were sooo awesome. It's unfortunate that his voice is shot now.

by Anonymousreply 40February 23, 2014 12:54 PM

I always thought Culture Club made some of the best blue eyed soul of that era. In fact when they, Thompson Twins, Human League and Spandua Ballet's "True" came out it made me want to investigate how much American Soul music influenced them through all the make up and costumes.

by Anonymousreply 41February 23, 2014 1:24 PM

[quote]I don't know if it was easier to be gay.

Are you fucking retarded?

Let me answer that for you: it was not easier to be gay.

It was much harder to be gay in the 80s at the height of the AIDS hysteria.

by Anonymousreply 42February 23, 2014 1:35 PM

R43 -- no I am not, I just was not clear in that sentence. I was responding to R18 s statement it was easier being gay in the music industry. I should have said "I did not think it was easier being gay in the music industry." If you read the rest of the paragraph I give examples of gay stars going out of their way to not come out of the closet.

I know it was tough being gay in the 80's.

by Anonymousreply 43February 23, 2014 1:43 PM

[quote]They were sooo awesome. It's unfortunate that his voice is shot now.

I bought his most recent album and his voice is still good. Deeper, huskier, and raspier. All those years do smoking and drugs. But it's still good. Soulful and mature.

by Anonymousreply 44February 23, 2014 2:45 PM

George's version of androgyny was more extreme than anything we had seen before. Bowie, the Dolls, etc. paled in comparison to what George was doing. He actually toned it down for Culture Club.

Even among his clubbing contemporaries George's look was far beyond anyone else's.

by Anonymousreply 45February 23, 2014 2:55 PM

I still remember when they made an appearance on "The A-Team". To hear George Peppard say, "Boy George is a hundred times the act Cowboy George is." was a truly bizarre moment in TV. Then to see all the A-Team guys--including Mr T--grooving to their set in the cowboy bar, was a truly surreal moment in television.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 46February 23, 2014 2:57 PM

"Karma Chameleon" is the perfect roller rink song

by Anonymousreply 47February 23, 2014 3:22 PM

Annie Lennox was viewed as very edgy and possibly a bit too arch

by Anonymousreply 48February 23, 2014 3:28 PM

[quote] Even among his clubbing contemporaries George's look was far beyond anyone else's.

Leigh Bowery was just as much out there.

by Anonymousreply 49February 23, 2014 6:44 PM

R14: I also remembered when he uttered the drag queen line on the Grammys. To me, a young gay guy, it was a remarkable statement to have on tv. Whether he was clearly out or not, he was speaking our language loud and proud, if not completely out. A real trail blazer. And I still love his music.

Also, his doing for the Crying Game is wonderful.

by Anonymousreply 50February 23, 2014 7:18 PM

[quote]All of my straight friends who loved Boy George credited his voice as unique and wonderful....as well as the music itself

Boy, things really get distorted over time.

His voice was considered ...OK. He was a pop phenomenon. He sang OK and garnered a lot attention due to his extreme appearance.

He was no fucking Stevie Wonder.

His songs were mediocre.

by Anonymousreply 51February 23, 2014 9:33 PM

[quote]He was 100% out and unapologetic about it.

Barbara Walters asked him if he was bi, and he said "Of course!" He was never out as gay during the height of their fame. But we knew.

by Anonymousreply 52February 23, 2014 9:48 PM

To those who were just the right age at the time, like me, Culture Club were a REALLY big deal. There were a lot of groups coming out of England at the time who were getting played on MTV, and they felt like "my" music rather than the stuff my older siblings were into (like Journey, REO Speedwagon, Boston, etc.). Culture Club was at the forefront of those groups. Their popularity really only lasted a couple of years. The first two albums were great (and very popular). The third album was a flop and was lousy. The fourth is even worse.

by Anonymousreply 53February 23, 2014 9:58 PM

[quote]Bowie was never as "popular" as Culture Club in the US.

You're a fucking moron.

by Anonymousreply 54February 23, 2014 10:00 PM

I thought we weren't allowed to use that word.

by Anonymousreply 55February 23, 2014 10:00 PM

R7, who passionately hated MJ in the 80's? Almost everyone loved MJ during the 80's.

by Anonymousreply 56February 23, 2014 10:12 PM

It's too bad George's drug problem and turbulent relationship with Jon Moss eventually broke up Culture Club. They had good voices and made good pop music. I wonder if they still would've had hits if they hadn't broken up.

by Anonymousreply 57February 23, 2014 10:14 PM

It was EASIER for a musical performer to be gay in the 1980s than it is today.

Easier.

My gosh... Boy George, George Michael, Jimmy Sommerville, Frankie of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Freddy Mercury...etc. Not to mention gender-bending performers like Bowie, Grace Jones and performers with gay audiences like Donna Summer. This had all been going on since the 1970s... see the Village People.

It was all very, very gay. And there is NOTHING like it today.

Back then, being gay was still underground and subversive.

The mainstream audience didn't get it and really didn't care one way or the other.

by Anonymousreply 58February 23, 2014 10:21 PM

R59 It's strangely true. Even though in everyday life it's certainly easier to be gay today than back then, it was much easier to be gay or androgynous in mainstream entertainment back in the 80's than it is now. Pete Burns is another to add to the list.

It's sad how dull the entertainment industry is now and how there is no androgyny anymore. All we get now is this faux-bi bullshit that female singers do.

by Anonymousreply 59February 23, 2014 10:25 PM

I was a kid when Culture Club were at the height of their popularity. I remember seeing clips of Boy on tv high on heroin and being shocked.

His memoir, Take It Like A Man, is extremely interesting, funny and well worth reading.

by Anonymousreply 60February 23, 2014 10:26 PM

We saw the band at the Tower theater on a whim right around after their first two hit songs. They previewed some songs from their forthcoming album, Colour by Numbers, including "Church of the Poisoned Mind" and "Karma Chameleon" and the songs were instantly catchy and enjoyable. In fact the whole show was infectious, the band and backup singers played with such enthusiasm and Boy George was so funny and charismatic that I became a fan for life.

by Anonymousreply 61February 23, 2014 10:31 PM

I turned 13 in November, 1982, and since my older brother was into Rush and Aerosmith and my older sister was into John Denver and Anne Murray, I had no reference to David Bowie's androgyny -- I only knew him from "Let's Dance," where he was straight up masculine in the video.

Boy George was like nothing I'd never seen before; I was hypnotized and I knew, instinctively, that I was seeing a gay man, even if he toyed with the topic in television interviews. And, yes, he was ALL over American television between 1983-85. "Colour by Numbers" was the first album I ever bought and I listened to it endlessly.

I know Bronski Beat was 'out' at the same time, but aside from seeing the video for "Smalltown Boy" a few times on MTV, I never heard the song on the radio; conversely, Culture Club had 6 consecutive top 10 hits, include one #1 ("Karma Chameleon") and two #2 hits ("Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?", "Time Clock of the Heart"). They were a cultural phenomenon.

Boy George gave hope to lonely gay boy growing up in a little Bible Belt town in Florida.

by Anonymousreply 62February 23, 2014 10:32 PM

Use google you dumb fuck.

by Anonymousreply 63February 23, 2014 10:33 PM

R57 - I was about 15 at the time, most high school guys thought it was uncool to like Michael Jackson. I am sure a lot of that was peer pressure, but it was a more homophobic time. High school boys often referred to Jackson, Boy George, Wham and others in derogatory terms. Part of that is when you hit your later teens, it is not cool to like the pop top 40 music, but there was a lot of homophobia involved in these cases. The main street people really were not that exposed to gay life and did not always react well to the unknown. Gay life was really a lot more segregated and/or closeted.

R58 -- those groups might have been open in certain venues, but they still had to at least pretend to be closeted in most main stream environments. They constantly lied or at least evaded being open about their personal life or they gave cute little answers to show that they were harmless and/or asexual. They might have been more open in their performance style, but I am not sure it would have been easier for them.

by Anonymousreply 64February 23, 2014 10:36 PM

[quote]They constantly lied or at least evaded being open about their personal life or they gave cute little answers to show that they were harmless and/or asexual."[quote]

It was playing the game. Wink, wink. But out on stage, in music videos and in the lyrics themselves, things were quite explicit. It was subversive and FUN.

Believe me, no one was hiding anything.

Today you would truly have to lie: too much at stake.

by Anonymousreply 65February 23, 2014 10:45 PM

[all posts by tedious, racist idiot removed.]

by Anonymousreply 66February 23, 2014 10:47 PM

[quote] It was EASIER for a musical performer to be gay in the 1980s than it is today.

I started following pop culture in the 80's while in my early teens and the last decade or so have been the most conservative era that I can remember. We can argue why that's the case (homogenization of radio, pandering to tweens and young adults as the key audience, etc) but when something like Miley's twerking causes furore and is endlessly discussed in media, it speaks volumes.

by Anonymousreply 67February 23, 2014 10:57 PM

I do see the point of how it would have been easier to perform as a gay man. But I also remember how messed up Boy George and George Michael were and how relatively quickly they self-destructed. Maybe they would have anyway due to the pop music environment and the party atmosphere, but I do think they were haunted by demons of not being able to really be out.

I know everyone in the NYC clubs probably knew, but I grew up in the Midwest, and just like Taylor Lautner or Clay Aiken they were a lot of teen girls who insisted they were straight. A lot of their record sales came from these women, and they had to feel some pressure of playing the game. I know things are presented more conservatively now, but at least you can imagine a singer coming out, whereas then, they only would have done it in the most cryptic fashion.

That said, after reading some of the posts I definitely understand the argument of why it would have been easier to be a gay performer and it definitely worth giving some thought. I am sure there were some performers who rolled with it and had a blast, and some who had problems with it, probably would have had problems anyways.

I will say there definitely was some fun music with those acts.

by Anonymousreply 68February 23, 2014 11:13 PM

I am sorry R7, I was responding to R27.

by Anonymousreply 69February 23, 2014 11:57 PM

[quote]but I do think they were haunted by demons of not being able to really be out.

Yes, I think it was part of the problem for them. Listen to the lyrics of Freedom '90 by George Michael.

by Anonymousreply 70February 24, 2014 4:53 AM

[quote] but I do think they were haunted by demons of not being able to really be out.

R69, Of course I don't really know but I doubt Boy George used drugs because he felt so bad about being in the closet. I mean sure he probably got lot of hate thrown at him and he couldn't be super open to every one in the street, but the way he lived in the club scene I don't think he really was in the closet. I think that he just got used to drugs because they were probably everywhere first in the club scene and then in the music business. Possibly or probably he used them as self medication.

Did George Michael really self destruct? He's said that he came out to his friends and the Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley in 1982 but because he couldn't be out to his parents it probably was tough. He did lose his lover to AIDS and his mother died few years after that so those probably were pretty tough things to go through. He's been using lot of cannabis and probably coke but I've never thought he's really gone off the deep end completely. Sure he's gotten few DUI's but I'd like to believe all is not lost yet. He's had other health problems and I've many times wondered if he's positive, and I'm probably not the only one.

by Anonymousreply 71February 25, 2014 2:00 AM

I always thought Boy George was a brave guy, everybody knew he was gay and he had no problem perform in a man dress with Stevie Wonder and Luther Vandross at the Apollo. I liked that he never gave a shit. He is still going strong.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 72February 25, 2014 8:05 AM

NopeR55. You're an idiot if you think Bowie was ever as popular as Culture Club in the US.

And I'm a Bowie fan.

by Anonymousreply 73February 25, 2014 1:07 PM

Well, Bowie has had 7 gold and 3 platinum albums in the US. He's had 8 top 20 singles, two of them number ones.

Culture Club has 2 platinum and 1 multi-platinum (4x) albums here. Nine top 20 singles, one of them a number 1.

So Bowie has never had anything nearly as successful as Colour by Numbers, but he's had a much longer career amounting in higher total sales.

I would bet if you took a poll of 100 random Americans, more of them would know who Bowie is.

by Anonymousreply 74February 25, 2014 4:46 PM

I often wondered why Helen Terry, who provided the soulful backing vocals on many of their songs, never had a bigger career. Was it because she was overweight? She was often confused with Alison Moyet from Yaz, but didn't have much of a career outside of backup and a solo LP that was often filed away in the lesbian rock section of record stores.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 75September 18, 2019 4:54 PM

yes..........indeed .............I really did want to hurt him............

by Anonymousreply 76September 18, 2019 5:04 PM

Helen MADE that "Church of the Poisoned Mind" song. "Time" is my favorite CC song, I didn't realize it was so popular.

I was in London in 1983 and worked in a Kensington Market clothing stall a few times minding the shop for a friend of a friend. They designed and sold their own clothes and they were all long, layered tank dress styles in drab fabrics and t-shirts to go underneath...reminded me of stuff Boy George wore when CC first came out with videos. I don't know if this style had a name and BG wasn't the only one who dressed this way, below is Bananarama in the same kind of sacky gowns. (Joe Boxer and Dexy's Midnight runners had their retro depression orphan looks, which was different.) Anyway, when BG came out it was pretty clear he was tubby under those caftan-adjacent vestments. His makeup was florid as a drag queen's and it was the only glam thing about him.

Annie Lennox was gorgeous and captivating from the get go. I will never forget posters of her all over the city in that orange buzz cut and black mask. She was gorgeous and different in every video. She and Grace Jones were the best, most amazingly dramatic, androgynous women in music/video and images of the time.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 77September 18, 2019 6:11 PM

Schlubby

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 78September 18, 2019 6:16 PM

Possibly one of the worst bands to come out of the 80s. Horrible lyrics. Shitty music. Boy had a good voice only a couple years then lost it to drugs like Shithead Houston.

by Anonymousreply 79September 18, 2019 6:18 PM

I liked Culture Club. The funny thing was that for all Boy George’s outfits and makeup, they have a decide,y Easy Listening sound.

I liked Boy George until I saw TV interviews with him. He was bratty and ultimately uninteresting. I don’t know why, but I expected him to be more intelligent and well spoken than he was.

by Anonymousreply 80September 18, 2019 6:59 PM

R75 She had the voice, but not the looks. She's much thinner today, but it's a shame she didn't lose all that weight at a time when she could have a successful career.

by Anonymousreply 81September 19, 2019 10:21 PM

She could've been the Adele of her day.

by Anonymousreply 82September 20, 2019 5:48 PM

Was a big fan and I got flattered when someone would comment I look like Boy George . Of course that’s then. I will be insulted today.

by Anonymousreply 83September 20, 2019 6:05 PM

MTV lent itself to unconventional and innovational visuals. I don't think many of the acts of that era would have made it on radio alone, even though both Eurythmics and Culture Club both made very high quality music.

by Anonymousreply 84September 20, 2019 6:08 PM

r79 is a tasteless moron.

by Anonymousreply 85September 20, 2019 6:10 PM
Loading
Need more help? Click Here.

Yes indeed, we too use "cookies." Take a look at our privacy/terms or if you just want to see the damn site without all this bureaucratic nonsense, click ACCEPT. Otherwise, you'll just have to find some other site for your pointless bitchery needs.

×

Become a contributor - post when you want with no ads!