Above: Culture Club, 1999. L-R: Mikey Craig, Boy George, Roy Hay and Jon Moss.
Culture Club
Origin London, England
Genres
Pop new romantic new wave blue-eyed soul pop soul dance-pop
Culture Club are an English band that was formed in 1981. The band comprised Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), Mikey Craig (bass guitar) and Jon Moss (drums and percussion). They are considered one of the most representative and influential groups of the 1980s. Culture Club sold more than 50 million records worldwide, including 7 million records awards RIAA certificate in the United States.
The band had several international hits with songs such as “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me”, “Time (Clock of the Heart)”, “Church of the Poison Mind”, “Karma Chameleon”, “Victims”, “It’s a Miracle”, “The War Song”, “Move Away”, and “I Just Wanna Be Loved”.
Boy George’s androgynous style of dressing caught the attention of the public and the media. The group, supporters of the synth pop genre, made numerous forays into reggae and showed a strong propensity for the subgenre of ballads.
Their second album, Colour by Numbers, sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. It appeared on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Best Albums of the 1980s and is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
In 1984, Culture Club won Brit Awards for Best British Group, Best British Single (“Karma Chameleon”), and the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
They were nominated the same year for the Grammy Award for Pop Vocal by Group or Duo but the English rock band The Police won the award.
In mid-November 2014, two days before the start of their 21-date US and UK tour, Culture Club announced they had to cancel the tour due to George suffering from a serious throat condition. The cancelled tour would have represented the full original line-up’s first tour in 12 years. The tour was eventually rescheduled and started 17 July 2015, near Vancouver, Canada. A television documentary, Boy George and Culture Club: Karma to Calamity, aired on BBC Four on 6 March 2015. The programme documented the band’s reunion in 2014 and the making of their new album in Spain, up to the announcement to cancel the tour. Based on the popularity of 2015’s mini-tour, Culture Club’s original members launched a 40-city summer tour in 2016. Beginning in Australia, going to Japan, and criss crossing the USA, the band played to enthusiastic audiences of both new and longtime fans who remembered their start 35 years earlier.
Above photo: From far left is Greg Clark and second to the end is Molly Meldrom.
Studio albums
Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
UK
1982 Kissing to Be Clever
Release date: 4 October 1982
Label: Virgin/Epic
UK: Platinum
CAN: 3× Platinum
US: Platinum
1983 Colour by Numbers
Release date: 10 October 1983
Label: Virgin/Epic
UK: 3× Platinum
CAN: Diamond
FRA: Gold
US: 4× Platinum
1984 Waking Up with the House on Fire
Release date: 22 October 1984
Label: Virgin/Epic
UK: Platinum
CAN: 2× Platinum
FRA: Gold
US: Platinum
1986 From Luxury to Heartache
Release date: 31 March 1986
Label: Virgin/Epic
UK: Silver
1999 Don’t Mind If I Do
Release date: 22 November 1999
Label: Virgin
2018 Tribes
Release date: 6 July 2018
Label: Virgin
To be released
Compilation albums
Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
1987 This Time – The First Four Years
Release date: 6 April 1987
Label: Virgin
UK: Gold
1989 The Best of Culture Club
Release date: 1989
Label: Virgin/EMI
1991 Collect – 12″ Mixes Plus
Release date: 7 January 1991
Label: Virgin
1992 Spin Dazzle – The Best of Boy George and Culture Club
Release date: 29 June 1992
Label: Virgin
1993 At Worst… The Best of Boy George and Culture Club
Release date: 20 September 1993
Label: Virgin
UK: Silver
FRA: Gold
1998 Greatest Moments
Release date: 9 November 1998
Label: Virgin
UK: Platinum
2005 Greatest Hits
Release date: 21 June 2005
Label: Virgin
Culture Club 2005 – Singles and Remixes
Release date: 30 August 2005
Label: EMI
2012
Sight & Sound – Greatest Hits on CD & DVD
Release date: 6 August 2012
Label: Virgin
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