BOY GEORGE
Straight
There’s no need to introduce Boy George. I suppose even your granny knows who he is. But in the last ten years he has disappeared out of the public eye. Well not quite, but it’s a massive difference compared to those early Culture Club days. That was a time when his looks could outrage people while these days is seems impossible to shock anyone that way.
After Culture Club split in 1987 Boy George’s commercial fortunes, like most of his competitors and contemporaries, gradually declined. But to me his reputation grew because he released some excellent solo material and took some interesting corners. First of all he gave us his version of European dance pop with the incredible Jesus Loves You. That should have rewarded him with at least five massive hits. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. From then on it went all downhill saleswise. His Bowie-inspired solo album Cheapness And Beauty was good but no big hit. His music seems to get more interesting with every record he released. Still his albums often were uneven, mixing impeccable highs with a few misses. The greatest of his tunes should make for an excellent compilation but I guess that’s too much to ask for.
Towards the end of the decade Culture Club, along with The Human League and ABC invented the eighties cash-in live revivals before everyone else turned to that. It was followed by an album by Culture Club before Boy George released another solo album and some spin off projects such as The Twin. In 2002 his musical Taboo hit the East End followed by a spell at Broadway. Apart from that he also introduced his own line of clothing and found some time to run a record label. This must be a man who hardly ever sleeps or doesn’t like television!
In 1994 Boy George wrote his hilarious biography Take It Like A Man. Over a decade later it’s time for his second book. And rather than a biographical document on the last decade this is more a long rant and his view on the world. Or rather other musicians, the gay scene and people his knows in fashion or music. And everyone involved with the Taboo musical. A lot of that! Strangely enough it continues in the vein of his recent record. Mixing great bits with superfluous parts.
Writer Paul Gorman starts very promising with an appealing introduction that captures my interest and imagination. Sadly he doesn’t keep up that level and the book is a bit disjointed and uneven. One feels that a character as interesting as Boy George should offer plenty of opportunities for excellent quotes and interesting stories. For such an inventive artist it’s a bit of a shame that few pages deal with his actual commercial progress and motives. There’s a little too much about his friends (some of whom, but not all, are interesting to read about) and Taboo’s disastrous Broadway adventure for it to be consistent and interesting.
This book has it’s moments but it’s not quite as good as the first. To save the day the book comes with a five track CD that gives some insight into his current musical philosophy. Songs like Panic and Julian are fluent, beautiful pop songs. Kookie Jar is fairly rough. A collection of some very personal songs it makes for a very nice half a bonus album.
After Culture Club split in 1987 Boy George’s commercial fortunes, like most of his competitors and contemporaries, gradually declined. But to me his reputation grew because he released some excellent solo material and took some interesting corners. First of all he gave us his version of European dance pop with the incredible Jesus Loves You. That should have rewarded him with at least five massive hits. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. From then on it went all downhill saleswise. His Bowie-inspired solo album Cheapness And Beauty was good but no big hit. His music seems to get more interesting with every record he released. Still his albums often were uneven, mixing impeccable highs with a few misses. The greatest of his tunes should make for an excellent compilation but I guess that’s too much to ask for.
Towards the end of the decade Culture Club, along with The Human League and ABC invented the eighties cash-in live revivals before everyone else turned to that. It was followed by an album by Culture Club before Boy George released another solo album and some spin off projects such as The Twin. In 2002 his musical Taboo hit the East End followed by a spell at Broadway. Apart from that he also introduced his own line of clothing and found some time to run a record label. This must be a man who hardly ever sleeps or doesn’t like television!
In 1994 Boy George wrote his hilarious biography Take It Like A Man. Over a decade later it’s time for his second book. And rather than a biographical document on the last decade this is more a long rant and his view on the world. Or rather other musicians, the gay scene and people his knows in fashion or music. And everyone involved with the Taboo musical. A lot of that! Strangely enough it continues in the vein of his recent record. Mixing great bits with superfluous parts.
Writer Paul Gorman starts very promising with an appealing introduction that captures my interest and imagination. Sadly he doesn’t keep up that level and the book is a bit disjointed and uneven. One feels that a character as interesting as Boy George should offer plenty of opportunities for excellent quotes and interesting stories. For such an inventive artist it’s a bit of a shame that few pages deal with his actual commercial progress and motives. There’s a little too much about his friends (some of whom, but not all, are interesting to read about) and Taboo’s disastrous Broadway adventure for it to be consistent and interesting.
This book has it’s moments but it’s not quite as good as the first. To save the day the book comes with a five track CD that gives some insight into his current musical philosophy. Songs like Panic and Julian are fluent, beautiful pop songs. Kookie Jar is fairly rough. A collection of some very personal songs it makes for a very nice half a bonus album.
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