Boy George

by James Bonisteel

Talk about someone who has a history in this business. Between Culture Club & many numerous other bands he has played with in the past, he has given this whole world music and memories to last a lifetime. Although this man has had such a great career in the past does not mean he doesn't have a future. His new album, "Cheapness & Beauty," shows him as someone who can change his style of music and go forward to the future. If you're expecting the same Culture Club sound on this album, don't--this album ROCKS!!!

RAD: How have you enjoyed touring again?
Boy George: It's been nice. We've been doing small club dates, and we haven't had a bad gig. We had a pretty dismal gig in Wichita, Kansas. I think it was just a case of putting us in the wrong place and the wrong crowd. But in the whole it has been very enthusiastic because mostly it has been older fans. It's been nice.
RAD: I know you have a lot of history behind you with Culture Club and other bands. What do you think of the past that you have had?
Boy George: It's not that I have a problem with the past, but I think people, especially in America, are obsessed with nostalgia to such an extreme that it's sickening. Our show is reflective of most of the things I have done in my career. I do some of the old songs. I think it's important for any creative person to move on and to stretch their own imagination as well as the audience's. I mean, I'm not in the business of selling soap powder. I'm a creative person. My mood changes daily, monthly, yearly, and my music is a reflection of my changing moods.
RAD: I can see America being into nostalgia a lot and I'm sure the audience is hoping to see some of the older stuff.
Boy George: We do a fair amount of old songs but this show isn't based around reliving the eighties. The eighties are over. One thing I would like to say is that I get very frustrated when Culture Club gets lumped in with all the other eighties bands because our message and our vibe was just so separate from all those other bands. It just infuriates me. Now if you take a band like Duran Duran, they were selling dolls and champagne and yachts - a whole different message than what we were about. We were always about confronting prejudice and trying to tell people to be what they wanted to be.

So it really annoys me when we get lumped in with other bands from the eighties and people saying, "Oh you were an eighties icon", like I fucking died ten years ago or something! From a songwriting point of view and a musical perspective, I really feel like I'm just starting. This is the beginning for me. I was in a band for a long time with three other people who very much influenced my sound and in some ways restricted what I could play.

The fact that you can get off a plane in Russia and fucking see Janet Jackson on TV. You know it's like GO AWAY! I have this song in the show called "Who Killed Rock & Roll" which is all about the fact that there really isn't any alternative anymore! I 'm in kind of a weird position because the music that I'm making at the moment it isn't disco dolly gay music and at the same time it's too homosexual for the alternative set, so I'm kind of on my own, in my own little sphere, on the edge of nowhere.
RAD: The past is the past, and it looks like it was pretty good for you, but what is does the future hold for you.
Boy George: Well, this album, Cheapness and Beauty, is very much an autobiographical album. Judging from the songs that we are writing at the moment for the next album, I'm going to be continuing the same thing. I'm writing songs at a much more personal level now. I'm writing about things that I know and feel and see. I am also writing about a lot of people that I know, personal situations, friends, observations, so I think I am going to continue that sort of theme.
RAD: Well, that's better than putting a beat behind anything and trying to sell it commercially.
Boy George: My favorite type of music has always been personal music. There are some great pop records.
RAD: So who would you consider to be your inspiration when it comes to music?
Boy George: Well, a lot of people inspire me, and I think Morrissey has been quite an inspiration as a writer. I think as a person he kind of sucks on ice, but as a writer he has got a very interesting edge on life - an unusual way of applying words to music. He's been a big inspiration to me. I'm sure he'd be horrified to hear that. Bjork is someone that I think has a very unusual way of phrasing that's influenced me a bit. I just love music. I love great songs. I really love Courtney Love and Hole. I know a lot of people rip on her, but I really think she a very clever lyricist, and she's got something to say. I mean she's nuts, but I kind of respect that in my rock & roll heroes. I think a lot of the women are doing it really well, like Elastica. If you compare Elastica to Blur, there's really no competition. I mean Justine's lyrics are far superior and far more intelligent. I think that Blur is kind of a tragic hype if you have heard them. I have heard too much of them.
RAD: So are you getting more airplay in England than here?
Boy George: Actually, across the world I have had brilliant reviews. I have had better reviews for this record than I've had for any record before, but I haven't been supported on radio because the album is dealing with contentious issues because I'm singing about my sexuality. What I've found over the years is that people can tolerate sex with diversity as long as it's not political. The minute you start to talk about sexuality in a political way, people get nervous.
RAD: I know you have been having problems with Virgin Records.
Boy George: Actually, I am no longer with Virgin. We decided a month ago to divorce, and I would like to say it was amicable but that would be dishonest. One of the problems I had was that it's very similar to the problem that George Michael had with Sony. Richard Branson sold Virgin about three years ago, and I got sold with it to EMI. You end up with a bunch of people who you don't know. They sack off the company, and we really never did see eye to eye, including this album. I knew it was going to be difficult for them because of the drastic change in sound and also because of the subject matter, but they really were very cowardly. I mean they didn't target the gay community, they didn't fucking target anybody. I mean I have been going to radio stations on this tour and most of them haven't even received a copy of the album - it's like the hype machine. I think probably I'll probably put my records out through my own label in England.
RAD: What label is that?
Boy George: I have a label called More Protein. It's a dance-based label, and the support band tonight is actually on my label. They are called Gallagher and also our backing singer Z, so we're kind of like an organic family sort of revue in some ways.
RAD: With the way the music business is today, if someone was to ask you about it, what would you say to them?
Boy George: I think you need to be hungry. There are so many people out there clawing for fame. So many people want to be in bands and I think the thing that really carries you through - obviously you have to have talent, although that's not always neccesary obviously, you have to have drive, you have to really be hungry. You just have to want it - you can't pursue it in a half-hearted way. You have to live and breathe it! I was living and breathing music since I was six years old so I had the hunger and the desire.
RAD: What made you want to get into this business?
Boy George: I tried working at different jobs, and I was never really good with authority figures. I lasted like three months, six months, etc. My father was a self-employed builder, and I guess, it's in our blood. My dad never worked for anybody and always found it difficult taking orders. So this is the perfect job for someone like me. Like your job, you're a journalist. It's pretty free really. You can make your own rules to a certain extent. I mean not everyone can do it, but if you can do it, it's a great job. I get really angry when I hear some rock & rollers complaining because it's much better than working in a shoe shop. I mean give me rock & roll over Burger King any day! And as I've gotten older I have learned to appreciate the whole thing much more.

We have to quit taking people like Boy George who are still recording albums and quit making them these so called EIGHTIES ICONS. I know they have had a great past but we need to look to what they are doing now. If not, we just might be missing out on a lot of great music.