Line #49 Music/CultureClub


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5c6f2274c25ed.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[ScaryMusicianHarmlessMusic Weird clothes]], catchy-as-fuck melodies, and [[WordSaladLyrics totally nonsensical lyrics.]][[note]]CW from upper left: Boy George, Roy Hay, Mikey Craig, Jon Moss[[/note]]]]
3
4	->''Karma Karma Karma Karma Karma Chameleon,\
5	You come and go, you come and go\
6	Loving would be easy if your colours were like my dream\
7	Red, gold and green, red, gold and green''
8	-->"Karma Chameleon"
9
10	Culture Club are a British [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]] band with an eclectic sound influenced by {{Soul}}, {{Reggae}} and GlamRock.
11
12	As part of the same New Romantic fashion movement that propelled bands like Music/DuranDuran and Music/SpandauBallet to fame in TheEighties, the group had a series of hugely successful hit singles on both sides of the Atlantic before splitting up in the middle of the decade. The band consisted of Mikey Craig on bass, Jon Moss on drums and Roy Hay on guitar and keyboards. The most famous member of the group was the androgynous, flamboyant lead singer George Alan "Boy George" O'Dowd, a charismatic front man with a distinctive soulful voice. The name comes from the multicultural backgrounds of the members, as well as the diverse influences on their musical style.
13
14	Their first album ''Kissing To Be Clever'' brought them hits in both Britain and America, including "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?", "Time (Clock Of The Heart)" and "I'll Tumble 4 Ya", and established them as one of the most popular and talked about pop groups of the early 1980s. Their peak came with their sophomore long-player ''Colour By Numbers'', which sold four million copies in America, launched the international number-one hit "Karma Chameleon" and secured the band the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
15
16	While further successes followed, Culture Club weren't able to top what they achieved with ''Colour By Numbers''. At the same time, tensions were running high within the band; in particular, George and Jon (who had been involved in a clandestine romantic relationship) started to grow distant from one another and could become physically violent towards each other. By the time George was arrested for possession of heroin in the mid-1980s, the band was essentially finished. Boy George would go on to become a solo artist, with his best-known work being a cover of the song "The Crying Game" for [[Film/TheCryingGame the motion picture of the same name]].
17
18	After being portrayed in a 2010 Boy George biopic on Creator/TheBBC (''Worried About the Boy''), the band members' various health problems stymied new projects until 2016, when the four reunited for a world tour.
19
20	Jon would leave the band in May 2021 following some disputes over compensation.
21
22	!!Discography:
23	* ''Music/KissingToBeClever'' - 1982
24	* ''Music/ColourByNumbers'' - 1983
25	* ''Music/WakingUpWithTheHouseOnFire'' - 1984
26	* ''Music/FromLuxuryToHeartache'' - 1986
27	* ''Don't Mind If I Do'' - 1999
28	* ''Life'' - 2018
29
30	!!''Do you really want to trope me?''
31	* AlbumTitleDrop: "Miss Me Blind", off ''Colour By Numbers'', references the ''previous'' album.
32	-->But you know I'm never really sure if you're just '''kissing to be clever'''
33	* {{Blackface}}: Used in the "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" music video as Boy George is convicted by a jury of jazz-handing minstrels (next to ''real'' Black people, no less). Director Julian Temple explained that it was meant to symbolize the hypocrisy of gay judges in Britain supporting anti-LGBT legislation, but it fell on deaf ears in the US, where the racist legacy of blackface was far more deeply felt.
34	* BSide: "Mystery Boy", "Colour By Numbers", and "Don't Go Down That Street" for the band, "Use Me" for Boy George's solo work.
35	* CallBack: A slightly rephrased one in "Move Away", referencing "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me."
36	-->I hurt you, darling; I made you cry. I hurt you, darling; don't ask me why.
37	* CampGay: Take a wild guess.
38	* CostumePorn: In the Karma Chameleon video, not necessarily period, but definitely beautiful.
39	* CoverVersion: "Everything I Own" by Music/{{Bread\|Band}} on Boy George's solo album ''Music/{{Sold}}'', and "The Crying Game" by Dave Berry.
40	** From the band proper: "Crystal Blue Persuasion", and "Melting Pot", by Music/BlueMink. Also, [[Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars "Starman" and "Sufferagette City"]] by Music/DavidBowie.
41	** Averted with the band's version of "Hello Goodbye", as it is ''not'' a cover of Music/TheBeatles song by that name.
42	* DeadpanSnarker: Boy George had the tendency to make witty comments during interviews, like saying he “preferred a cup of tea to sex” and describing himself as “a poof with muscles".
43	* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: "[[CaptainObvious Because time won't give me time...]]"
44	* DidNotGetTheGuy: Jon & George's relationship [[DownerEnding ended this way]].
45	* DudeLooksLikeALady: In the early days, some mistook Boy George for a girl. He took this misconception in good humour (a lot of the time he seemed to be playing it up to bother the rock critics, who shied away from addressing his androgynous image) and accepted a Grammy with the words:
46	--> ''Thanks America. You've got style, you've got taste, and you know a good drag queen when you see one.''
47	** It even inspired a CountryMusic novelty hit, "Where's the Dress?" by Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley (which opened with a note-for-note re-creation of the intro to "Karma Chameleon").
48	** When word of a potential biopic came up in 2019, he named Creator/SophieTurner as his top choice to play him. Turner herself quickly said she'd be up for it.
49	* FieryRedhead: For the ''Waking Up With The House On Fire'' album (and the "War Song" video), Boy George sported a mane of frizzy bright red hair.
50	* FriendlyRivalry: Music/DeadOrAlive singer Pete Burns accused George of ripping off his androgynous image, to which George replied "It's not who did it first, it's who didn't it best." Nevertheless, the two had an otherwise civil, if begrudging, relationship. George was even kind enough to pay for Burns's funeral.
51	* GenderInclusiveWriting: Most of the love songs use the word "lover" instead of "she" or "her".
52	* GenreBusting: While they're usually put under the pretty broad category of New Wave, their albums had songs influenced by reggae, soul, glam rock, soft rock, power ballads and Creator/{{Motown}}.
53	* GenreShift: ''From Luxury To Heartache'' shifted to Synth Pop; ''Don't Mind If I Do'' shifted to modern Pop. Neither was successful. ''Life'' seems to be an updated version of their old sound, making it...[[{{Pun}} New New Wave]]?
54	* HollywoodToneDeaf: After contracting throat disease, George's voice became this.
55	* KarmaHoudini: The topic of the song "Karma Chameleon" (although the chameleon gets his comeuppance in the video).
56	* KimonoFanservice: Found in the video for "Miss Me Blind".
57	* Letters2Numbers: "I'll Tumble 4 Ya".
58	* LoveHurts: "Karma Chameleon", "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me", "Victims"...pretty much every song they ''recorded'' about love was this, with outright SillyLoveSongs being rare. This came from George's (lead songwriter) [[RealLifeWritesThePlot personal experiences]], as he had many turbulent, and ultimately [[DidNotGetTheGuy failed]], relationships with several men[[note]]particularly Jon[[/note]].
59	* LyricalColdOpen: "Miss Me Blind", "Mannequin", "Boy, Boy (I'm The Boy)", "Reasons", and "Move Away".
60	* LyricalDissonance:
61	** "I'm Afraid of Me" is probably the happiest song in history using its title as the chorus hook.
62	** It's amazing how little people seem to realise that "Karma Chameleon" is about a troubled relationship.
63	** "Miss Me Blind", a love-gone-sour tune set to an irresistibly catchy backdrop.
64	* MrFanservice: Averted by George, who was attractive enough to be one, but [[IndifferentBeauty didn't sell himself on his looks at all]].
65	* NewRomantic: One of the most prominent bands in the genre.
66	* [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]]: One of the most triumphant examples; they were too poppy to be rock, but too rocky to be pop, leading to the label [[TropeMaker being coined to define them]] as well as similar bands, like Spandau Ballet.
67	* NewSoundAlbum: ''From Luxury To Heartache'', which abandoned the soul-influenced pop rock sound of their previous works in favor of SynthPop[[note]]The band had been including synthesizers in their sound from the beginning, but here they became the dominant element of their music[[/note]]. It didn't go over well with critics or fans & only had one hit single[[note]]''Move Away'', for the curious[[/note]], thus leading to the band breaking up shortly after its release.
68	* ObligatoryBondageSong: "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" has been interpreted as this. Lyrics like "Precious kisses words that burn me" and "Come inside and catch my tears" ''can'' get dirty minds racing...however, George [[WordOfGod has stated]] that the song was about "all the men" he dated up to that point, including Jon.
69	* ShirtlessScene: Mikey Craig, almost often enough to make him MrFanservice.
70	* SillyLoveSongs: "Love Is Love" & "The Dream" from the movie ''Film/ElectricDreams'', as well as "God, Thank You Woman" & "Mannequin".
71	* TheSomethingSong: "The War Song" from ''Waking Up With The House On Fire''. Also "The Medal Song" from the same album.
72	* SpotlightStealingSquad: Before Culture Club, George occasionally performed with the Malcolm [=McLaren=] group Music/BowWowWow until he was kicked out for overshadowing the lead singer.
73	* StageNames: Boy George, a.k.a. George Alan O'Dowd.
74	* SynthPop: They [[GenreShift switched over to this]] in ''From Luxury To Heartache''. The fans weren't amused, and neither were the critics.
75	* TheMasochismTango: Boy George & Jon Moss were a ''superb'' example.
76	* ThePrimaDonna: Boy George, which lead to [[TroubledProduction problems during the making of Colour By Numbers]]. During the production of the song "Miss Me Blind", for example, Roy & George disagreed about the inclusion of the long guitar solo, which George insisted shouldn't be kept in, despite the fact that everyone else in the studio disagreed with him. Roy eventually snuck it in when George wasn't in the studio.
77	* TruckDriversGearChange: "Time (Clock of the Heart)", but subtly handled, with the key change happening at the start of the instrumental bridge and continuing for the rest of the song.
78	* TitleOnlyChorus: "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" (though they replace "ya" with "you" every fourth repetition).
79	** "Mistake No. 3" ''almost'' qualifies, were it not for "and make" preceding the TitleDrop. Same goes for ''(in the)'' "Church of the Poison Mind".
80	** "I'm Afraid Of Me".
81	* TitleTrack: Interestingly, "Colour By Numbers" was a B-side that was never released on the album of the same name until recently on the CD remaster. Also, "Life" from the album of the same name.
82	* VisualKei: All over the "Miss Me Blind" video.
83	* WarIsHell: "The War Song".
84	* WordSaladLyrics: ''Over half their songs''. To wit:
85	** "Karma Chameleon" makes a ''tad'' bit of sense, with the lyrics seemingly describing wanting [[TheMasochismTango a tortuous lover]][[note]]Which, knowing Jon & George's relationship, has a lot of RealitySubtext[[/note]] to get LaserGuidedKarma, but then says dreams can be made up solely of ''solid colours'', being "red, gold and green" - a line that has baffled listeners for decades (though in a 2018 response to a fan on Website/{{Twitter}}, George confirmed the longstanding theory that it was a ShoutOut to the [[DreadlockRasta Rastafarian colours]]).
86	** "Mannequin" has lyrics that start off bizarre and dive straight into the Twilight Zone. The speaker describes his lover as being a [[LivingToys mannequin]], apparently ''creating'' him, making you wonder if this is the first SillyLoveSong ever written from the point of view of a MadScientist. And then there's the nonsensical [[LyricalShoehorn lyrical shoehorns]] like "[[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext laughter and political sway]]"...
87	** "Too Bad" is RandomEventsPlot: the song. The speaker begins by mentioning UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream, then says his kids hate ''everything'' except a vaguely-defined "game", ''then'' says that someone gave the person he's singing to a heart - that's right, a ''mid-lyric'' RomanticPlotTumor.

Context Music / CultureClub