Culture Club - an 80s Band
Culture Club had hits such as Church of the Poison Mind, Do You Really Want to Hurt Me and Karma Chameleon. Culture Club became the first group since the Beatles to achieve three top ten hits from their debut album in the USA's Billboard chart.
Culture Club broke up in 1987.
Culture Club
A Short Bio
The name of the band was originally to be Sex Gang Children, however at Jon Moss' suggestion they changed it to Culture Club. The name would give them some flak as people thought it was extremely pretentious, but it was actually an inside joke on the different cultures inside the club.
Boy George - transvestite Irish
Mickey Craig - Jamaican-Briton
Jon Moss - Jewish
Roy Hay - Anglo-Saxon
The band signed with Virgin records in the UK and released their first album in 1982 - Kissing to be Clever. Their second album was Colour By Numbers and was released in 1983. The Band released a third album in 1984 titled Waking Up With the House on Fire which was not as successful. Their final album was 1986's From Luxury to Heartache.
During 1985 George started a battle with drug dependance, he was arrested in 1986 for possession of heroin and Culture Club's break up was officially confirmed in 1987.
Culture Club's Music
Culture Club's music seems to be a fusion of pop, reggae and even a little disco. Their songs contain a hook that gets the audience singing along and wanting more.
Kissing to be Clever
Culture Club
Amazon.com
Against the cynical, post-punk backdrop of the early Thatcher and Reagan era, Culture Club's debut release Kissing to Be Clever was as refreshing as a scoop of gelato in a heatwave. These were the innocent days when Boy George could still declare he'd rather "have a cup of tea than sex," well before he hurtled to the brink of near self-destruction. Several of the cuts are still amazingly fresh and easily convey the winning charisma that transformed Boy George and his band into a pop icon. Songs like "I'll tumble 4 ya" and "Boy-Boy-I'm the Boy" seem tailor-made for the frontman's smooth-sliding tenor, while Mikey Craig's bass grooves pump with dance-til-you-drop Hi NRG. Although relatively brief (the original LP had one more cut than the CD release), the album stylistically hops like a Mexican jumping bean from disco funk to rhumba to reggae and contains obvious filler material. But the gender-bender flair perfected by Boy George announced a unique style that helped define the decade. --Thomas May
Kissing to Be Clever
Amazon Price: $11.98 (as of 01/04/2010)
Track Listings
1. White Boy [Dance Mix]
2. You Know I'm Not Crazy
3. I'll Tumble 4 Ya
4. Take Control
5. Love Twist - Captain Crucial, Culture Club
6. Boy Boy (I'm the Boy)
7. I'm Afraid of Me [Remix]
8. White Boys Can't Control It
9. Do You Really Want to Hurt Me
10. Love Is Cold [*]
11. Murder Rap Trap [*] - Captain Crucial, Culture Club
12. Time (Clock of the Heart) [*]
13. Romance Beyond the Alphabet [*]
[*] Bonus tracks not included on the original album
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Do You Really Want to Hurt Me? (top ten hit around the world, reaching number 1 in 7 countries including the UK, Australia and Canada.
Time (Clock of the Heart) their second top ten single.
I'll Tumble 4 Ya - this single was only released in the US and Canada and reached number 9 in both countries.
Colour by Numbers
Culture Club
It was the second single off of Colour by Numbers which was to become the band's biggest hit - Karma Chameleon became a number 1 single on both sides of the Atlantic and around the world.
Victims was released in the UK and made it to number 3.
Miss me Blind was released in the US and made it to number 5.
The single It's a Miracle didn't quite break into the US top 10 settling for number 13, it was however, able to reach number 4 in the UK.
Colour by Numbers
Amazon Price: $8.94 (as of 01/04/2010)
Track Listing
1. "Karma Chameleon" - 4:12
2. "It's a Miracle" - 3:25
3. "Black Money" - 5:19
4. "Changing Every Day" - 3:17
5. "That's the Way (I'm Only Trying to Help You)" - 2:45
6. "Church of the Poison Mind" - 3:30
7. "Miss Me Blind" - 4:30
8. "Mister Man" - 3:36
9. "Stormkeeper" - 2:46
10. "Victims" - 4:55
11. "Man-Shake" - 2:34 (2003 remastered CD bonus track)
12. "Mystery Boy" (Suntori Hot Whiskey Song) - 3:33 (2003 remastered CD bonus track)
13. "Melting Pot" - 4:31 (2003 remastered CD bonus track)
14. "Colour by Numbers" - 3:57 (2003 remastered CD bonus track)
15. "Romance Revisited" - 5:00 (2003 remastered CD bonus track)
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Waking Up With the House on Fire
Culture Club
The first single War Song made it to number 2 in the UK, but Culture Club were not able to break into the US top 10 again. War Song was only able to reach number 17 on Billboard.
The Medal Song was released in the UK and managed to scrape into the top 40.
Mistake No 3 was released in the US and only just managed to scrape into the Billboard's Top 40.
Waking Up with the House on Fire
Amazon Price: (as of 01/04/2010)
Track Listings
1. Dangerous Man
2. War Song
3. Unfortunate Thing
4. Crime Time
5. Mistake No. 3
6. Dive
7. Medal Song
8. Don't Talk About It
9. Mannequin
10. Hello, Goodbye
Avg. Customer Rating:
From Luxury to Heartache
Culture Club
Move Away managed to get into the UK top ten and even peaked at number 12 in the Billboard Chart. God Thank You Woman only made it to number 31 in the UK.
From Luxury to Heartache heralded the end of Culture Club and this was officially confirmed the following year.
From Luxury to Heartache
Amazon Price: (as of 01/04/2010)
Track Listing
1. "Move Away" - 4:21
2. "I Pray" - 4:00
3. "Work On Me Baby" - 4:06
4. "Gusto Blusto" - 4:40
5. "Heaven's Children" - 4:44
6. "God Thank You Woman" - 4:14
7. "Reasons" - 4:35
8. "Too Bad" - 4:36
9. "Come Clean" - 3:20
10. "Sexuality" - 5:28
Avg. Customer Rating:
Did you like Culture Club?
I had a friend who actually did her hair just like Boy George, she even wore a duster coat that her mum made........I always wonder what she's up to when I hear one of their songs.
Do you have any memories related to Culture Club?
-
Reply
- tandemonimom tandemonimom Mar 11, 2009 @ 6:15 pm
- I have a very BAD memory related to Culture Club! My *freshman* year of college was the big year for the song "Karma Chameleon." My first name is Carma. Need I say more?
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Reply
- ottoblotto ottoblotto Mar 11, 2009 @ 7:21 am
- Well done lens! I still have their first album - in vinyl - somewhere...
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