Our article titled “Culture Club 2012 is an exciting prospect” (published in September 2012) was clearly premature. In the last two years, there was a lot of excitement revolving around a potential Culture Club reunion that lead singer Boy George had announced in a television interview. When the band previewed a new song titled “Universal Love” at a New Years Eve show in Sydney, hopes of the band’s legions of fans across the world soared – and then it seemed like things went very quiet. In late 2013, Boy George released a solo album titled “This Is What I Do” (which featured the fantastic lead single “King Of Everything”). His solo endeavor suggested that some of the band’s issues had resurfaced and that the new project was shelved. In our interview with Boy George in October 2013, he put these rumors to rest by emphatically stating that Culture Club was on track to be back in the recording studio in 2014 to complete work on an album they had started over two years ago.
Now, we have even more concrete information. In December, Culture Club is slated to go on tour in the UK (hopefully us Americans will not have to wait too long). Apparently, 19 tracks have been recorded. There are tentative plans for a new single to surface in the fall and an album to follow in early 2015. Hopefully, ageism does not prevail in mainstream media’s music outlets and Culture Club has a fair chance of charting again. “Universal Love”, the song they played at live gigs in Dubai and Sydney two years ago is a Culture Club essential. We sure hope the rest of the material lives up to the standard of this great song.
In a recent interview with Lorraine Kelly, the original members of Culture Club have discussed their plans for the immediate future and are set to win the hearts of their global fanbase all over again – and definitely pick up scores of new fans too. Here is the interview with Lorraine Kelly:
And here is a full-length clip of a live version of “Universal Love”. We’re guessing the version of this song below is in a fairly raw state so one can only imagine how good the final studio version will be.
So are you nearly as excited about this reunion as we are? Feel free to comment below!
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At last. I am glad they have waited until the time is right. Georges last album and 2 solo tours have proved to be a great success and were received with a lot of enthusiasm. He is sounding so good vocally and looks great too. I like the fact it will be new music and a tour to promote the new album, although the hits ect will be included. There was a Q&A session live on facebook with Culture Club, where I asked “Will the tour be big and glitzy?” to which George replied “With bells on!” ..so we are in for quite a show on the Culture Club tour. Cant wait! 🙂
@David: We’re supremely relieved. After hearing “Universal Love”, we were gutted at the idea that the reunion project was shelved. Now,things are looking really positive. Well, Boy George had told us about his plans to work with Culture Club when we interviewed him back in October 2013 so we’ve been positive ever since. And as you mentioned, he looks GREAT and is sounding better than ever so I guess there is a LOT to look forward to. I am just hoping those of us in the US get to cash in on this excitement too. Just out of curiosity, how did you discover our radio station?
Hope it all works out for them. But I just find myself very jaded by all these promises. It just never seems to work out. I guess I wasn’t as impressed with George’s solo album as everyone else. I went to his solo tour in the US and the audience really did not receive it well. They didn’t really connect to so many new songs and he got very upset with them talking and even leaving in the middle of the concert and he started yelling at the audience. I try to give him the benefit of the doubt but he always does something like that which is exactly the opposite of the new professional George that he tries to put forth in interviews. I just feel he says one thing, does another.
Great news! Thanks for that update and interview. But that interviewer is very rude to the other members of CC especially Jon Moss. She totally forgets to mention his name. The look on his face is priceless. And then she precedes to address most of her questions just to George praising his talent and his looks, while mostly ignoring the other guys. That’s the main problem in CC. It’s no fun for the other guys because it’s all about George and the others are disrespected and ignored.
@Frannie: I get the feeling the Culture Club album will be very different. Besides, “King Of Everything”, the rest of the album didn’t really grab me either but right now, I am pretty anchored to “Don’t mind if I do” and “Universal Love” – and I am hoping that whatever Culture Club records shows progression from there. One can only hope right? Did you watch Boy George in D.C.?
@Jenny: It is a bit frustrating that it happens – since I definitely get the feeling that the work that Culture Club releases is the fruit of all their talents. I will admit I too thought it was all about George in the 80s. It wasn’t until recently, that I started to acknowledge how critical Roy, Mikey and Jon were to the equation. You definitely get the sense of them being an actual band now – as opposed to Boy George and the rest.
About George’s solo album, I liked King of Everything, My God and Bigger than War on it. I did not care for all the reggae tracks and some of the acoustic singer/songwriter thing on it. So it had some potential, but it got a little boring towards the end. I hope the new CC album has a diverse band sound like those first 3 songs and not the UB40 like band sound or the overly stripped down acoustic stuff. Jon in the interview when he did get to say something said the new record was “unusual” so I would hope that would mean not the reggae or the acoustic since that would not be unusual to anyone.
I hope it’s more of an actual band but George seems like such a big star, diva and quite controlling so it’s hard for the other guys to put themselves in.
Yes, I saw him in DC. The concert to be fair started off well so I was thinking this is going to be good. He started off alternating new and old songs. I think the first 4 songs were King of Everything, Everything I Own, Bigger than War and Church of the Poison Mind. The crowd did like that, but then he started doing so many new songs all in a row and more of the reggae and slow songs and the crowd lost energy and started getting bored. Plus, this was a standing venue so it’s somewhere people go to dance or rock out to stuff and there was nothing you could move to. The yelling happened during his cover of a Bob Dylan song. He said people in France know how to listen, but people in the US and DC don’t probably because we are all drunk! I kid you not. People felt very dissed. Plus he kept saying this weird saying Rico Rico during the reggae songs. We were all trying to figure out what Rico meant!
It also didn’t help that there was no opening act so people had been standing a long time with nothing to do really, so they were a little bored and restless.
@Jenny: The ideal CC album would be a mix of uptempo stuff and downtempo stuff that is reminiscent of “Don’t Mind If I Do”. Hoping it is not acoustic. On hearing “Universal Love”, CC sounded more like a band than a project that is Boy George-centric so I am hopeful than it will be a band effort.
@Frannie: This is a risk we run in attending a tour by an artist that is promoting a new album. They tend to go heavy on the new material and the older material is more like an afterthought. I had this experience back in 2004 when Sting was promoting “Sacred Love” (which is a think is a mediocre album with the exception of the brilliant “Book of my life”). The other challenge is that more singles get released overseas than they do in the US. Hence, in general, the average listener overseas is more clued in to an artist’s catalog than the average US listener is. I have always preferred watching an artists/band when they were promoting greatest hits. This is probably why I had so much fun when I watched Michael Jackson back in 1996 when he was promoting history and of course George Michael twice when he was promoting 25Live.
Personally, I like a balance of both the old and the new in concerts. I don’t like a greatest hits show which can be boring, but I don’t like a super heavy emphasis on just the new album and ignore the older stuff almost completely which he did. That’s why I said I thought the concert was going well at the beginning where he was alternating the old and the new songs, but then he started doing just the new album. I have been to lots of artists’ tours where the tour is named after the new album and they are promoting the new album but they still do a decent amount of the old stuff too. Something like 50/50 or 60/40 is totally fine. But his set list was more like 80% new and 20% old which did not work at all. I’ve never been to a concert by any artist where there was that much material from the new album.He did sort of mislead people in some press articles where he said the concert was going to be a mix of old, new and covers. He said he would consider doing 90’s stuff like the Crying Game which he did not do.
I agree the CC album should be a mix of uptempo and downtempo, but personally I would like more of the uptempo. But my main thing is I really don’t like all the reggae he seems to be hung up on doing. It really annoys me and bores me out of my mind. I liked Universal Love even though I’m not huge on Don’t Mind If I Do because it got away from all of that reggae. It had a nice almost rock guitar based solo. More of that, please! I think a funky direction would be great for CC, something like early Michael Jackson or Prince.
Personally, I like a balance of both the old and the new in concerts. I don’t like a greatest hits show which can be boring, but I don’t like a super heavy emphasis on just the new album and ignore the older stuff almost completely which he did. That’s why I said I thought the concert was going well at the beginning where he was alternating the old and the new songs, but then he started doing just the new album. I have been to lots of artists’ tours where the tour is named after the new album and they are promoting the new album but they still do a decent amount of the old stuff too. Something like 50/50 or 60/40 is totally fine. But his set list was more like 80% new and 20% old which did not work at all. I’ve never been to a concert by any artist where there was that much material from the new album.He did sort of mislead people in some press articles where he said the concert was going to be a mix of old, new and covers. He said he would consider doing 90’s stuff like the Crying Game which he did not do.
I agree the CC album should be a mix of uptempo and downtempo, but personally I would like more of the uptempo. But my main thing is I really don’t like all the reggae he seems to be hung up on doing. It really annoys me and bores me out of my mind. I liked Universal Love even though I’m not huge on Don’t Mind If I Do because it had too much reggae. I liked Universal Love because it wasn’t reggae. It had a nice almost rock guitar based solo. More of that, please! I think a funky direction would be great for CC, something like early Michael Jackson or Prince.
Sorry about the double post!
@Frannie: You are supremely lucky if you have been to concerts wherein the artists have been promoting their new album and have NOT delved primarily into their new material. A 50/50 split is fair but in most cases, I’ve seen more of an 80/20 with the 80 leaning towards the new material. I’ve had that experience with Sting, Mariah Carey, and to a certain extent with Tears For Fears. This is not a good thing – especially when the new material is not the artist’s strongest. I’d love a funky direction for Culture Club too.
Really? Tori Amos who is one of my favorite artists who I’ve seen probably more times than any other artist, does about 5 new songs out of a set of around 18 songs, She always tours with a new album and even names the tours after the current album. With Tori though, she changes the setlist almost every night, so over the course of the whole tour she does do almost all of the new album although not in the same concert, which I suppose is a great compromise because it gives her a chance to perform all her new songs but not bore the audience with them all in one night.
Even Madonna who does a lot of new material, I don’t think it’s 80% new, I think she’s more 60% new and 40% old, but maybe it’s more and I didn’t notice because I like her new stuff most of the time. Generally, I do tend to like new albums from my favorite artists most of the time so It’s not such a big issue. That’s why I like them because I trust their judgment about their new stuff. I guess, Boy George was an exception to that. George is also a little different in that he hadn’t toured the US in years so people hadn’t heard the old stuff and weren’t sick of it. So there was more of a desire to hear the old stuff since people hadn’t heard it live in a long time. With someone like Madonna who tours the US around every 2 years, she can’t do a Greatest Hits tour every time because it’s going to get boring if she just plays the same stuff over and over again. She doesn’t play a ton of new stuff in her concerts but over the last several tours when you combine them all together she has played most of her bigger hits of the 80’s and 90’s that fans want to hear.
If you look on George’s instagram there are some clips of the new CC songs. There was one reggae thing I didn’t like, but there was also a nice piano ballad sort of like Victims and a couple of funky R&B like tracks.
@Frannie: When I watched Madonna back in 2001, almost all the material she performed was post-1998. The only song she did pre-1998 was “Holiday”. Needless to say, it was a disappointing show. I watched her in Paris. Fortunately, the show she did in 2004 compensated for it in a big way. Madonna does not play any of the stuff from her early 90s catalog – songs like “Bad Girl” and “Rain” have not been sung live in at least 20 years.
On another note, I already love two of the new CC clips on Boy George’s instagram page. I also like the one he plays with the video from his hotel room. The piano ballad sounds very promising. I believe it’s called “Just like 73”.
Yes, I really liked the ballad Just Like 73 too.
As for Madonna, I think the tour you are referring to was the Drowned World tour which had more new material than most of her tours. But the reason for that was that she hadn’t toured in a while due to having a child and also doing movies so she had done two new albums Ray of Light and Music since the last tour so she had two new albums she wanted to do stuff from instead of the usual one. So that didn’t leave as much room for the older stuff.
The main issue I have with a lot of older artists and their set list tends to be not that they don’t do enough older material but they tend to do the same more obvious older songs that were #1 or Top 10’s, and leave out the older stuff that maybe wasn’t as successful but that some more hardcore fans still like. So if you see them repeatedly, they tend to do the same super huge older songs. I get why they do that for casual fans, but I would like to hear some older less successful stuff. I think that would explain why Madonna doesn’t do Bad Girl and Rain. I love them of course, but chartwise they were only minor Top 40 hits. She does tend to do certain older songs over and over on her tours that were the biggest hits and the most iconic. Things like Like A Prayer, Ray of Light, Music, Vogue, La Isla Bonita. From the early 90’s she has done Secret and Human Nature more recently. I love her early 90s albums like Erotica and Bedtime Stories, but they did underperform commercially a little bit. She didn’t really have a big comeback until Ray of Light so perhaps that’s why the early 90’s stuff gets a little ignored. When most people think of the most iconic parts of her career, they do tend to think of either the 80’s stuff or Ray of Light, her 90’s stuff doesn’t always first come to mind at least among casual fans. But I definitely would like to hear from her some of her older stuff that as I said isn’t as obvious or iconic to casual fans.
As far as CC, the new record sounds great so far. But with them it always makes me sad that they spent so many years being alienated from each other and with drug and personal problems and this will probably be their last ever album. They have so much potential and they could have made so many more albums. I just never understood George’s attitude towards the band and their music. He until recently acted like it was something to be ashamed of. I know George loves his djing and does his solo stuff, but I feel he could have achieved more if he had stuck with the band or at least alternated solo and band projects like Stevie Nicks does with her solo music and Fleetwood Mac. And of course, the other guys in the band kind of missed out on the chance to do more of what they loved because George wouldn’t cooperate with them. I just don’t understand why he wanted to throw the band in the garbage and sort of forget about them. Some interviewer asked Jon Moss why it took them so long to do a reunion and he said “I don’t know!”. I don’t know either. I just have never understood George’s mostly negative attitude until recently towards the band.
Speaking of Stevie Nicks, do you ever play her stuff on your station? I actually like her solo music more than Fleetwood Mac. Her last solo album In Your Dreams, produced by David Stewart was great, even though commercially it was for the most part ignored. Definitely worth checking out if you haven’t heard it.
This is off the topic, but have you heard the new Chrissie Hynde album, Stockholm? I recommend that a lot. I think some of the stuff on that would be perfect for your station. It was supposed to be a Pretenders album but for some reason the other guys couldn’t do it. So it has a similiar sound to the Pretenders. Her voice is really great even after all these years.
@Frannie: Will check out the Stevie Nicks album. I think for Culture Club, the relative failure of “Don’t mind if I do” must have really had all of them rethink their prospects as Culture Club. The album was great but the promotion for it was god-awful. I mean, it did not even release in the US. Furthermore, I think they actually got dropped from Virgin Records after that album. In that situation, it becomes hard to want to go on as a band. It must have been a pride thing for George. In a way, the “absence makes the heart grow fonder” syndrome might actually boost Culture Club’s chances this time around – especially in America.
I have not heard the new Chrissie Hynde material although I have heard of “Stockholm”? Any specific track recommendations? Please do let me know!
Yes, I think the lack of commercial success of Don’t Mind If I Do did have a lot to do with it. I read somewhere that Virgin was going to release it in the US but they wanted it remixed and George and the label didn’t agree on the remixes. Yes, they did get dropped from Virgin after that but they did have an opportunity to sign with another label and do another album but George decided he didn’t want to and would rather dj. Also, at that time I read George really wanted them to go into the dance direction which the other guys weren’t into. I love dance/electronic music but I’m not sure that’s a good direction for CC. At that time, it seemed like George only cared about dance music and lost interest in CC style music. I just think that if you get an older band together after many years you have to be realistic. It’s nice to make a new album but it’s probably not going to sell a huge amount. So if you are only getting together hoping to have another big hit album, you are going to be disappointed. You have to enjoy performing the older songs as well and being together as a band. I hate to be pessimistic but I don’t see the new album selling a lot. Us dedicated fans will buy it of course, but I doubt it would be a huge hit no matter how good it is. In 2014, even Mariah Carey can’t sell records anymore. I think the other guys would have been happy to continue as CC since they didn’t have much else going on, but George had his djing and so he decided to do that. I know it’s a politically incorrect thing to say since everyone loves George, but I think he has been very selfish in his dealings with the band. I think he could have found a way to do more with them. They could have found a small label or released their own stuff independently if he really wanted to. But I also think the personal tensions played a big role in them splitting not just the commercial failure of DMIID. I don’t think if you really care about a band, you just give up because you have one record that doesn’t do so well. Duran Duran didn’t quit after Red Carpet Massacre didn’t do so great, they stuck together and found a way to go on.
George has his other solo band where he can go out and tour anytime he wants, but where does that leave the other guys? I don’t think it’s fair to them at all.
As far as Chrissie Hynde, I recommend the first two singles, Dark Sunglasses and You or No one. They both got a lot of airplay on BBC 2. As I said before, it’s kind of a solo album in name only, since it’s has pretty much the same sound as the Pretenders. If you like the Pretenders, you will love this, but don’t expect anything too shocking or different. Plus, I just love Chrissie in general. She is such a unique character and such a huge influence on women in pop and rock, everyone from Madonna to Shirley Manson to Tori Amos.
@Frannie: I am glad “Don’t Mind If I Do” did not get remixed for the US release. Dance/electronic music is not a right direction for CC. I agree with that. As far an older band is concerned, their album would do well if it was good IF the singles off the album got radio airplay. Unfortunately, the ageist bias in the US in particular is pretty bad. An older artist has to pull off a marketing stunt to get back in the limelight (e.g. Santana doing a duet with Rob Thomas in 1999). I personally think the ageist bias is unfair. This is something we’ve talked about in the following article: https://www.radiocremebrulee.com/music-industry/the-rampant-trend-of-ageism-in-modern-pop-music
If the new album does not sell a lot, it will mostly be because the “masses” are unaware of the album’s existence. There is no space for older artists that have paid their dues on mainstream avenues for music, and sadly in America, terrestrial continues to determine the fate of an artist’s commercial success.
I would not be surprised if inter-member tensions surfaced back in 1999/2000. That might have had something to do with the band not moving forward. At the time, there will still a stigma with being relegated to a small independent label after major label success. That stigma no longer exists and many artists and bands have managed to strike the optimal balance between creative control and commercial success without the oversight of a major label.
Duran Duran were not on a label after Red Carpet Massacre. It is good that they did not throw in the towel and continued with “All you need is now” – which I think is a great album. They were subjected to the “not so nice” aspect of being on a label – wherein the album they had originally recorded (titled “Reportage”) was rejected by Sony since the label wanted something with a “modern beat” and apparently Timbaland had the ability to deliver that. Besides “Falling down”, he practically destroyed every other potential hit on the album – and there were at least two more.
I checked out the Chrissie Hynde tracks. They were pleasant but did not really grab me. I guess I was never much of a fan of The Pretenders either – so that might have something to do with my lack of enthusiasm for her new material.
But I do think if you are an older band and you release things a little more consistently you do have a better chance than if you release things every 10 to 15 years like CC. Regardless of radio, there are fans who follow bands online or in the media. But people are impatient. No matter how much you like a band, if they don’t release anything to keep your interest, fans will move on. I fear that is what has happened with Culture Club. Tori Amos is a perfect example. She doesn’t get much radio airplay but because she releases things every 2 to 3 years, she keeps a good loyal fan base going and her albums consistently debut in the Top 10 of the Billboard US chart.
As far as people not being aware of it, Boy George has always done a lot of media. So it’s hard for people to not be aware of when he releases something. But I guess a lot of the times the media does focus on his personal dramas and drug use and general outrageous personality rather than the actual music.
I just feel the main problem is Culture Club is George’s unfortunate selfishness and inability to allow the other guys’ space to be themselves or even talk in interviews. Look at an interview with Duran Duran and Simon Le Bon. Simon is much more generous towards the other guys and doesn’t always feel the need to hog the limelight like Boy George unfortunately does. I think it must be frustrating for the other guys to always feel like they are under George’s thumb and they can’t say anything or contradict him or he will get mad and stomp off and do his solo stuff and their careers are over. Actually, a label might be good for them because it could be mediate between George and the other guys.