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Culture Club
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Culture Club is an English pop group from London, formed in 1981. Singer Boy George, a regular at the Blitz Club, started his own band with bassist Mikey Craig after a short spell in Bow Wow Wow. Drummer Jon Moss and guitarist and keyboard player Roy Hay completed the group. The name refers to the members' different backgrounds: a gay singer of Irish descent, a black Briton, a blond Englishman and a Jewish drummer.
Music and breakthrough
After two failed singles, the group broke through in 1982 with Do You Really Want to Hurt Me, a song with reggae influences that reached number 1 in many countries. The debut album Kissing to Be Clever also produced Time (Clock of the Heart) and I'll Tumble 4 Ya. The second album, Colour by Numbers from 1983, included Church of the Poison Mind, Miss Me Blind and Karma Chameleon, the band's biggest hit. The music combined new wave with American soul and pop, with touches of reggae, calypso and salsa, and in Karma Chameleon even country.
Influence
Culture Club belonged to the New Romantics, and Boy George's striking appearance attracted enormous attention. Thanks to their videos on MTV, the group also became big in America, as part of a new British Invasion. Around 1986 the band broke up, partly because of Boy George's addiction and his relationship with Moss. Reunions followed later.
Listening
Discography
Studio albums
- 1982Kissing to Be Clever
- 1983Colour by Numbers
- 1984Waking Up With the House on Fire
- 1986From Luxury to Heartache
- 1999Don’t Mind If I Do
- 2018Life
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Mixtape 7: The 1980sNL Reader