culture club Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Culture Club “Colour By Numbers”

sfilzen — Mon, 14 Jun 2021 17:55:33 +0000

Culture Club “Colour By Numbers” 1983. Today, June 14th, is Boy George’s 60th birthday (b. George Alan O’Dowd, 1961) so I’m spinning Culture Club’s biggest and best LP. A massive smash, it hit #1 in the UK, #2 in the US and a ton of other countries; it’s considered one of the best albums of the 80′s. I absolutely adored Colour By Numbers in ‘83, so much that I was inspired to get a chameleon and name it “Karma” – of course. That single, “Karma Chameleon,” topped the charts literally everywhere except Poland (#8) and West Germany (#2). Culture Club also released “Church of the Poison Mind” (#2 UK, #10 US), “Victims” (Europe-only single, #3 UK), “Miss Me Blind” (North America only, #5 US) and “It’s a Miracle” (#4 UK, #13 US). The album is smooth new wave pop infused with British blue-eyed soul, a sound that was huge in the mid-80′s. Boy George is at his beautiful best: his voice rich and his look fabulously flamboyant – and so fun to recreate (I do believe I dressed up as Boy George for Halloween in October ‘83).

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Culture Club “Kissing to Be Clever”

sfilzen — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 20:05:42 +0000

Culture Club “Kissing to Be Clever” released on this date, October 4th, 1980. Kissing to Be Clever was Culture Club’s first album release and it was a massive hit, making it to #5 on the UK album chart and #14 in the US. It was one of the many records released in the early 80′s that solidified my obsession with British new wave, though I feel Culture Club skews toward bubbly Caribbean-lite reggae/world music pop than what I usually consider “new wave.” Regardless, it’s a smooth and delightful pop album with all the classic pinnings of the 80′s sound (saxophone, big and shiny production, etc) with several great singles. The first two, “White Boy” and “I’m Afraid of Me” barely made a ripple but when “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” was released in the fall of ‘82, Culture Club – and most especially the beautifully androgynous and flamboyant Boy George – became just huge. “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” went to #1 in the UK and #2 in the US. The following single, “Time (Clock of the Heart)” was almost as big, making it to #3 in the UK and again to #2 in the US. The fifth and final single “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya” was released only in the US in June of ‘83 when it again cracked the Top 10, peaking at #9. As bizarre as it seems now, Culture Club were, in 1982, pretty much as big as the Beatles were after the release of their debut album in 1963.

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Culture Club “Colour By Numbers”

sfilzen — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 17:16:07 +0000

Culture Club “Colour By Numbers” 1983. Culture Club’s second release, it was #1 on the UK charts during November of 1983, eventually going triple platinum. The single “Karma Chameleon” hit #1 in 16 countries and remains one of the best selling singles of all-time. I loved this song so much at the time I named my pet chameleon ‘Karma’ (and I doubt I would have ever wanted a pet chameleon had it not been for Boy George; searching for crickets to feed it was a huge pain in the ass). Also hits: “It’s a Miracle,” “Church of the Poison Mind” and “Miss Me Blind.” The album is pure 80′s pop and infused with soul (“That’s The Way I’m Only Trying To Help You”), though sometimes veers precariously towards easy-listening (“Changing Every Day,” for example, being a bit too smooth for my tastes).

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