Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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BOY GEORGE

(b George Alan O'Dowd, 14 June '61, Kent) UK pop singer, songwriter, bandleader, trend-setting 'new romantic' in early '80s. Worked picking fruit, dressing windows, as model, as makeup artist for Royal Shakespeare Co.; almost joined Bow Wow Wow early '81; while leading group In Praise of Lemmings met drummer Jon Moss (b 11 Sep. '57, London; ex-Damned, Adam Ant); both had links with Malcolm McLaren, but formed band Culture Club '81 free of his infl. with Mikey Craig (b 15 Feb. '60), Roy Hay (b 12 Aug. '61). LPs, singles prod. by Steve Levine were massive hits '82--3: Kissing To Be Clever incl. 'Do You Really Want To Hurt Me' (white reggae, no. 1 UK), 'I'll Tumble 4 Ya'; Motown pastiche 'Time (Clock Of The Heart)' no. 3 '82 UK, no. 2 USA '83; Colour By Numbers incl. 'Church Of The Poison Mind', 'Karma Chameleon' (no. 1 USA/UK), 'Victims', 'It's A Miracle', 'Miss Me Blind'. Helen Terry sang with band (e.g. backup on 'Do You Really Want To Hurt Me'; also sang on Lou Reed hit 'Walk On The Wild Side' '72), later went solo. George's image in frocks and makeup provocative at first but was soon perceived as delight in dressing up: the object was to have fun and the eclectic music had wide appeal; even parents liked him, with his sense of humour, same persona offstage as on; group headed new British Invasion of USA (Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley had USA top ten country hit 'Where's The Dress?', spoofing 'Karma'). Finally George was overexposed, his musical cleverness flagging: a media backlash was accompanied by a slump in sales relying on image. Waking Up With The House On Fire '84 was described as forgettable: made no. 26 in USA LP chart (compared to no. 2 for Colour By Numbers); single 'The War Song' made no. 2 UK/17 USA, but 'The Medal Song', 'Mistake No. 3' did not make top 20 anywhere. George forgot to shave for a while, then cut his hair, confusing his image; played '85 Athens European culture festival (promoted by Greek Minister of Culture Melina Mercouri, actress best known for Never On Sunday '60): the crowd threw bricks and bottles. Undaunted, George was an amusing talk-show guest, enjoyed the band's popularity in France, USA sales of 7m albums: 'If that's not being successful, I don't know what is.' From Luxury To Heartache '86 was prod. by Arif Mardin: silky modern soul with classy backup singing incl. single 'Move Away'. In mid-'86 his family revealed his heroin problem; musician friends incl. band's new keyboardist Michael Rudetsky were found dead: no blame was attached to George, but the 'new romantics' had got old quickly. Culture Club split; Hay formed This Way Up; Moss went into production; George recovered, made a more mature solo album Sold '87, incl. songs by Lamont Dozier; but High Hat '89 sold poorly. He formed band Jesus Loves You, made album The Martyr Mantras '91. Autobiography Take It Like A Man '93 with ghostwriter Spencer Bright was described as having wit and sparkle, but the album Cheapness And Beauty '95 on Virgin got mixed reviews: older and wiser, he had lost his musical identity and was searching for another.