David Sylvian (right) of Japan onstage in 1979.

New Romanticism (also referred to as blitz kids and by a wide variety of other names),^[1] was a pop culture movement in the United Kingdom that began around 1979 and peaked around 1981. Developing in London nightclubs such as Billy's and The Blitz and spreading to other major cities in the UK, it was based around flamboyant, eccentric fashion and New Wave music. Several music acts from the era adopted the style of the movement and became known to epitomise it within the music and mainstream press, including Ultravox, Visage, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, ABC and Boy George (of Culture Club). Adam and the Ants were also labelled as New Romantic by the press, although they had no direct connection to the original scene.^[1] A number of these bands adopted synthesizers and helped to develop synthpop in the early 1980s, which, combined with the distinctive New Romantic visuals helped them first to national success in the UK and, with help of MTV to play a major part in the Second British Invasion of the US charts. By the mid-1980s the original movement had largely dissipated and, although some of the artists associated with the scene continued their careers, they had largely abandoned the aesthetics of the movement and the synthpop sound. There were attempts to revive the movement from the 1990s, including the short-lived romo movement.

Characteristics[link]

David Bowie's androgynous Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders look, which was a major influence on the movement.

New Romanticism can be seen as a reaction to punk,^[2] and a revival of the glam rock of the early 1970s, particularly that of David Bowie and Roxy Music.^[3] In terms of style it rejected the austerity and anti-fashion stance of punk.^[4] Both sexes often dressed in counter-sexual or androgynous clothing and wore cosmetics such as eyeliner and lipstick, partly derived from earlier punk fashions.^[5] This "gender bending" was particularly evident in figures such as Boy George of Culture Club and Marilyn (Peter Robinson).^[2] Fashion was based on varied looks based on romantic themes, including frilly fop shirts in the style of the English Romantic period,^[5] Russian constructivism, Bonny Prince Charlie, French Incroyables and 1930s Cabaret, Hollywood starlets, Puritans and clowns, with any look being possible if it was adapted to be unusual and striking.^[6] Common hairstyles included quiffs,^[6] mullets and wedges.^[2] Soon after they began to gain mainstream attention, however, many New Romantic bands dropped the eclectic clothes and makeup in favour of sharp suits that echoed Bowie's Thin White Duke image.^[7]

New Romantic looks were propagated from fashion designer Helen Robinson's Covent Garden shop PX,^[8] began to influence major collections and were spread, with a delay, through reviews of what was being worn in clubs via magazines including i-D and The Face.^[6] The emergence of the New Romantic movement into the mainstream coincided with Vivienne Westwood's unveiling of her "pirate collection", which was promoted by Bow Wow Wow and Adam and the Ants, who were managed by her then partner Malcolm McLaren.^[9] However, the post-punk Adam Ant himself has always denied being a New Romantic, and reiterated this in 2012.^[10]

While some contemporary bands, particularly those of the 2 Tone ska revival, dealt with issues of unemployment and urban decay, New Romantics adopted an escapist and aspirational stance.^[11] With its interest in design, marketing and image, has been seen an acceptance of Thatcherism and style commentator Peter York even suggested that it was aligned with the New Right.^[12]

Names[link]

In its early stages the movement was known by a large number of names, including "new dandies", "romantic rebels", "peacock punk", "the now crowd", "the futurists", "the cult with no name" and eventually as the "Blitz Kids". As the scene moved beyond a single club the press settled on the name New Romantics.^[1][13]

History[link]

Origins[link]

The movement developed out of David Bowie and Roxy Music nights run during 1978 in the nightclub Billy's in Dean Street, London.^[14] In 1979, the growing popularity of the club forced organisers Steve Strange and Rusty Egan to relocate to a larger venue in the Blitz, a wine bar in Great Queen Street, Covent Garden, where they ran a Tuesday night "Club for Heroes".^[8] Its patrons dressing as uniquely as they could in an attempt to draw the most attention.^[8] Strange worked as the doorman and Egan was the club's DJ. The Blitz club became known for its exclusive door policy and strict dress code. Strange would frequently deny potential patrons admittance because he felt that they were not costumed creatively or subversively enough to blend in with those inside the club. In a highly publicised incident, Mick Jagger tried to enter the club while under the influence of alcohol, but was denied entry by Strange.^[15] The club spawned several spin-offs and there were soon clubs elsewhere in London and in other major British cities, including London, Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham.^[3]

While still at Billy's, Strange and Egan joined Billy Currie and Midge Ure of Ultravox to form the band Visage. Before forming Culture Club, Boy George and Marilyn worked as cloakroom attendants at the Blitz.^[16] The video for David Bowie's 1980 UK number one single "Ashes to Ashes" included appearances by Strange with three other Blitz Kids, the first time that mainstream audiences were aware of a glam rock revival.^[3]

Styles of music[link]

Bands that emerged from the New Romantic movement became closely associated with the use of synthesizers to create rock and pop music. This synthpop was prefigured in the 1960s and 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco, the "Kraut rock" of bands like Kraftwerk, the three albums made by Bowie with Brian Eno in his "Berlin period", and Yellow Magic Orchestra's early albums. After the breakthrough of Tubeway Army and Gary Numan in the British Singles Chart in 1979, large numbers of artists began to enjoy success with a synthesizer-based sound and they came to dominate the pop music of the early 1980s. Key New Romantic bands that adopted synthpop included Japan, Duran Duran, Ultravox, Visage, Spandau Ballet and ABC.^[17]

Early synthpop has been described as "eerie, sterile, and vaguely menacing", using droning electronics with little change in inflection. Later the introduction of dance beats made the music warmer and catchier and contained within the conventions of three-minute pop.^[18] Duran Duran, who emerged from the Birmingham scene, have been credited with incorporating a disco-derived rhythm section into synthpop to produce a catchier and warmer sound, which provided them with a series of hit singles.^[18] They would soon be followed onto the British charts by a series of bands utilising synthesisers to create catchy three-minute pop songs.^[19] Synthpop reached its commercial peak in the UK in the winter of 1981-2, with bands including Japan, Ultravox and Depeche Mode enjoying top ten hits.^[17]

Of groups associated with the New Romantic movement, Culture Club avoided a total reliance on synthesizers, producing a sound that combined elements of Motown, the Philly sound and lovers rock.^[20] Other London groups, including Bow Wow Wow and Adam and the Ants, utilised the African influenced rhythms of the "Burundi beat".^[21]

The second British invasion[link]

In the US the cable music channel MTV reached the media capitals of New York City and Los Angeles in 1982.^[19][22] Style conscious New Romantic synthpop acts became a major staple of MTV programming. "I Ran (So Far Away)" (1982), by A Flock of Seagulls, is generally considered the first hit by a British act to enter the Billboard Top Ten as a result of the power of video. They would be followed by a large number of acts, many of them employing synthpop sounds, over the next three years, with Duran Duran's glossy videos symbolising the power of MTV and this Second British Invasion. The switch to a "New Music" format in US radio stations was also significant in the success of British bands.^[22]

During 1983, 30% of the record sales were from British acts. On 18 July, 18 of the top 40, and 6 of the top 10 singles, were by British artists.^[22] Newsweek magazine ran an issue which featured Annie Lennox and Boy George on the cover of one of its issues, with the caption "Britain Rocks America – Again", while Rolling Stone would release an "England Swings" issue with Boy George on the cover.^[22] In April 1984, 40 of the top 100 singles, and in a May 1985 survey 8 of the top 10 singles, were by acts of British origin.^[23][24]

Decline and revivals[link]

The Live Aid stage at the JFK Stadium in Philadelphia in July 1985, where Duran Duran played, while Ultravox and Spandau Ballet appeared on the Wembley stage in the UK

Music journalist Dave Rimmer considered the peak of the movement was the Live Aid concert of July 1985, after which "everyone seemed to take hubristic tumbles",^[25] and Simon Reynolds also notes the "Do They Know Its Christmas" single in late 1984 and Live Aid in 1985 as a turning points, with the movement seen as having become decadent, with "overripe arrangements and bloated videos" for songs like Duran Duran's "Wild Boys" and Culture Club's "War Song".^[26] The proliferation of acts had led to an anti-synth backlash, with groups including Spandau Ballet, Soft Cell and ABC incorporating more conventional influences and instruments into their sounds.^[27] An American reaction against European synthpop and "haircut bands" has been seen as beginning in the mid-1980s with the rise of heartland rock and roots rock.^[28] In the UK, the arrival of indie rock bands, particularly The Smiths, has been seen as marking the end of synth-driven New Wave and the beginning of the guitar rock that would come to dominate rock into the 1990s.^[29][30] By the end of the 1980s many acts had been dropped by their labels and the solo careers of many New Romantic stars gradually faded.^[31]

In the mid-1990s, New Romanticism was the subject of nostalgia-oriented club nights — such as the Human League inspired "Don't You Want Me Baby", and "Planet Earth", a Duran Duran-themed night club whose promoter told The Sunday Times "It's more of a celebration than a revival".^[32] In the same period New Romanticism was also an inspiration for the short-lived romo musical movement. It was championed by Melody Maker, who proclaimed on its front cover in 1995 that it was a "future pop explosion" that had "executed" Britpop, and including bands Orlando, Plastic Fantastic, Minty, Viva, Sexus, Hollywood, Dex Dexter. None made the British top 75^[33] and after an unsuccessful Melody Maker organised tour most of the bands soon broke up.^[34]

See also[link]

• List of New Romantics

Notes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Peter Childs, Mike Storry (1999). Taylor & Francis. ed. Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture. pp. 181–184, 363, 562. ISBN 978-0-415-14726-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=iS4hsxKiMNgC&pg=182#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Steve Strange (2003). Blitzed! The Autobiography of Steve Strange. Orion. ISBN 978-0-7528-4936-2. 

External links[link]

• BBC News | REVIEWS | Romantic revival
• Walker, John. (1992) "New Romantics". Glossary of Art, Architecture & Design since 1945, 3rd. ed.

Laura Marling
Performing at The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, in November 2009.
Background information
Born	(1990-02-01) 1 February 1990 (age 22)
Origin	Eversley, Hampshire, England
Genres	Contemporary folk, folk rock
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass, piano
Years active	2006–present
Labels	WayOutWest, Virgin
Associated acts	Noah and the Whale, The Rakes, Mystery Jets, Johnny Flynn, Mumford & Sons
Website	LauraMarling.com

Laura Beatrice Marling (born 1 February 1990) is an English folk musician from Eversley, Hampshire.

Initially prominent within the London folk scene, she has also toured with a number of well-known indie artists in the UK. Her debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim and her second album I Speak Because I Can were nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2008 and 2010 respectively. She won Best Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards.

Biography[link]

Marling was born in Hampshire, England, the youngest of three daughters of a music teacher,^[1] and learned guitar at an early age. Her father, who ran a recording studio, introduced her to folk music and shaped her musical taste. This was "a bit of a blessing and a bit of a curse. I couldn’t slot myself into the age-appropriate genre", she later remembered.^[2] Marling was educated at Leighton Park School, a private Quaker school in Reading, Berkshire.^[3] She has said that during this time she felt uneasy around other people and had a fear of death.^[4]

At the age of 16 Marling moved to London, where she soon became part of a cluster of intertwined bands drawn to acoustic instruments and tradition-tinged melodies which formed a movement labelled "nu-folk" by the British press.^[2] She became part of the original line-up of indie folk band Noah and the Whale and was romantically linked with singer/guitarist Charlie Fink.^[3][5] She is featured as a background vocalist on their début album Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down; however, she left the group before the album's 2008 release and split up with Fink that same year.^[5][6] She also appeared on The Rakes track "Suspicious Eyes", from the band's 2007 album Ten New Messages, credited as 'Laura Marlin'. Marling would later collaborate with Mystery Jets, contributing guest vocals to the single "Young Love", released 10 March 2008. Previously, Marling was in a relationship with Marcus Mumford; they broke up around Christmas 2010, but are reportedly still friends.^[7]

[edit] Alas, I Cannot Swim

She was personally invited to tour with Jamie T after he attended her second-ever solo gig. She has also toured with a number of other musicians from the UK and beyond, including Adam Green from the anti-folk band The Moldy Peaches. She performed at the 2007 O₂ Wireless Festival and also performed at the first Underage Festival in August 2007 at Victoria Park, East London, before releasing her debut EP "London Town" on WayOutWest Records.

Her debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim was released on 4 February 2008,^[8] and later nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize.^[9] The album, as well as subsequent singles, were released on Virgin Records. The third and final single from her album, "Night Terror" was released on 27 October 2008, coinciding with a 6-date "Night Terror tour".^[10]

Marling's television appearances include The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and Later With Jools Holland, performing "Ghosts" and "New Romantic" respectively. In 2008 she appeared on Russell Brand's Radio 2 show alongside her sister. She once chose to perform on the street after being denied entry to one of her own performances for being underage.^[11][12]

[edit] I Speak Because I Can

The follow-up to Alas I Cannot Swim, titled I Speak Because I Can, was released on 22 March 2010. Produced by Ethan Johns, the album has a more mature sound and lyricism, dealing with "responsibility, particularly the responsibility of womanhood."^[13] The album is preceded by the singles "Goodbye England (Covered in Snow)", released on iTunes in December 2009^[14] and "Devil's Spoke" on 15 March 2010. On 28 March 2010, I Speak Because I Can entered the UK Albums Chart at Number 4. It was also nominated for the 2010 Mercury Music Prize.

[edit] A Creature I Don't Know

In 2010, Marling announced that she would release two albums in 2010, the first of which being I Speak Because I Can. She later announced that there was a change of plan and that she wouldn't be releasing a second album that year. She did, however, add that the album would be better due to the delay, and that she hoped to have it finished for February 2011. In June 2011, the new album's title was revealed to be A Creature I Don't Know and the album was released on 12 September 2011.^[15]

Discography[link]

• Alas, I Cannot Swim (2008)
• I Speak Because I Can (2010)
• A Creature I Don't Know (2011)

Laura Marling also has recorded various songs such as "Soulless Child", "Candlelight", "Karma" and "Mexico" (all of which can be heard on YouTube but are not yet for sale) as well as "She's Changed" (of which a live version is for sale, but not a studio version) and "Such a Shame" (which is neither for sale nor available on YouTube).

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Laura Marling

• Official Website

Jools Holland
Holland at the British Academy Television Awards 2009
Background information
Birth name	Julian Miles Holland
Born	(1958-01-24) 24 January 1958 (age 54) Blackheath, London, England
Genres	Boogie-woogie, jazz, blues, R&B
Occupations	Musician, composer, television presenter, bandleader
Instruments	Piano, keyboard, guitar
Years active	1974–present
Associated acts	Squeeze Rhythm & Blues Orchestra
Website	Official site

Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze (1974-1980 & 1985-1990) and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, David Gilmour, Magazine and Bono.

Holland is a published author and appears on television shows besides his own and contributes to radio shows. In 2004, he collaborated with Tom Jones on an album of traditional R&B music. He currently hosts Later... with Jools Holland, a music-based show aired on BBC2, on which his annual show Hootenanny, is based.^[1]

Life and career[link]

His great grandfather came from Ireland.^[2]

Holland played as a session musician before finding fame, and his first studio session was with Wayne County & the Electric Chairs in 1976 on their track "F*ck Off."^[3]

Holland was a founding member of the British pop band Squeeze, formed in March 1974, in which he played keyboards until 1981 and helped the band to achieve millions of record sales, before pursuing his solo career.^[3]

Holland began issuing solo records in 1978, his first EP being Boogie Woogie '78. He continued his solo career through the early 1980s, releasing an album and several singles between 1981 and 1984. He branched out into TV, co-presenting the Newcastle-based TV music show The Tube with Paula Yates. Holland achieved notoriety by inadvertently using the phrase "groovy fuckers" in a live, early evening TV trailer for the show, causing it to be suspended for six weeks.^[4] He referred to this in his sitcom "The Groovy Fellers" with Rowland Rivron.

Holland at the Tsunami Relief concert in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, 22 January 2005

In 1983 Holland played an extended piano solo on The The's re-recording of "Uncertain Smile" for the album Soul Mining. In 1985, Squeeze (which had continued in Holland's absence through to 1982) unexpectedly regrouped including Jools Holland as their keyboard player. Holland remained in the band until 1990, at which point, he again departed Squeeze on amicable terms to resume his solo career as a musician and a TV host.

In 1987, Holland formed The Jools Holland Big Band which consisted of himself and Gilson Lavis from Squeeze. This gradually became his 18-piece Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.^[3]

Between 1988 and 1990 he performed and co-hosted along with David Sanborn during the two seasons of the music performance program Sunday Night on NBC late-night television.^[5] Since 1992 he has presented the music program Later... with Jools Holland, plus an annual New Year's Eve Hootenanny.

In 1996, Holland signed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records,^[3] and his records are now marketed through Rhino Records.

Holland has a touring band, The Rhythm And Blues Orchestra, which often includes singers Sam Brown and Ruby Turner. In January 2005 Holland and his band performed with Eric Clapton as the headline act of the Tsunami Relief Cardiff.

Personal[link]

Holland lives in the Westcombe Park area of Blackheath in South East London, where he had his studio, Helicon Mountain, built to his design, inspired by Portmeirion, the setting for the 1960s TV series The Prisoner.^[6] Holland owns costumes and props from the series and occasionally appears wearing the trademark brown-with-white-pipe blazer featured in the series. In 1987, Holland demonstrated his love of the series and starred in a spoof documentary, The Laughing Prisoner, with Stephen Fry, Terence Alexander and Hugh Laurie.^[6] Much of it was shot on location in Portmeirion, with archive footage of Patrick McGoohan, and featuring musical numbers from Siouxsie and the Banshees, Magnum and XTC. Holland performed a number towards the end of the program. His younger brother, Christopher, also plays organ in the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, as well as being a singer-songwriter.

Holland was an interviewer for The Beatles Anthology TV project, and appeared in the 1997 film Spiceworld as a musical director.

He received an OBE in 2003 in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, for services to the British music industry as a television presenter and musician. In September 2006 Holland was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent.^[7] He is also known for his charity work: in June 2006 he performed in Southend for HIV/AIDS charity Mildmay,^[8] and in early 2007 he performed at Wells and Rochester Cathedrals to raise money for maintaining cathedral buildings.^[9] He is also patron of the Drake Music Project^[10] and has raised many thousands of pounds for the charity.

Holland was appointed an Honorary Fellow of Canterbury Christ Church University at a ceremony held at Canterbury Cathedral on 30 January 2009.^[11]

On 29 August 2005 Holland married Christabel McEwen, his girlfriend of 15 years (between 1983 and 1995 she had been married to Edward Lambton, 7th Earl of Durham, before they divorced). The wedding, at St James's Church, Cooling near Rochester, was attended by many celebrities, including Ringo Starr, Robbie Coltrane, Stephen Fry, Lenny Henry, Noel Gallagher, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.^[12]

Holland is also a patron for The Milton Rooms, an Arts centre in Malton, North Yorkshire, along with Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Kathy Burke.^[13]

Writing[link]

His 2007 biography, Barefaced Lies and Boogie Woogie Boasts was BBC Radio 4 "Book of the Week" in the week beginning 8 October 2007 and was read by Holland. He is the author or joint author of four other books.

Discography[link]

Albums that have charted and gained Certifications[link]

Releases[link]

• 1978 "Boogie Woogie '78" (EP)
• 1981 Jools Holland and His Millionaires
• 1984 Jools Holland Meets Rock 'A' Boogie Billy (U.S. release only)
• 1990 World Of His Own
• 1991 The Full Complement
• 1992 "Together Again" (single with Sam Brown)
• 1992 The A-Z Geographer's Guide To The Piano
• 1994 Solo Piano
• 1994 Live Performance
• 1996 " Jazz & Rock & Roll
• 1997 Lift The Lid
• 1998 Best Of
• 1999 Sunset Over London
• 2000 Hop The Wag
• 2001 Small World Big Band
• 2002 SWBB Volume Two: More Friends
• 2003 Jack O The Green (SWBB Friends 3)
• 2004 Tom Jones & Jools Holland
• 2005 Beatroute
• 2005 Swinging the Blues, Dancing the Ska
• 2006 Moving Out To The Country
• 2007 Best of Friends
• 2008 The Collection
• 2008 The Informer (With Ruby Turner)
• 2008 "The Informer" (single with Ruby Turner)
• 2009 "I Went By" (single with Louise Marshall)
• 2010 Rockinghorse

Film and television[link]

• 1981 Urgh! A Music War
• 1982 Police: Around the World
• 1982 - 1987 The Tube (Host for 121 editions)
• 1983 Rebellious Jukebox: Compere
• 1984 The Young Ones: Punk (Episode entitled "Summer Holiday")
• 1985 Walking To New Orleans (Jools Holland in New Orleans)
• 1987 Eat the Rich: Sun Reporter
• 1987 Filthy Rich & Catflap: Strip Show Pianist (Episode #1.3)
• 1987 The Laughing Prisoner: No. 7
• 1987 French and Saunders (Episode 1.5)
• 1988 Sunday Night: Host (unknown episodes)
• 1989 Juke Box Jury: Host (unknown episodes)
• 1989 The Groovy Fellers Himself, 6 episodes
• 1991 Mr Roadrunner (Jools Holland in Memphis)
• 1994 There's No Business: Pianist
• 1994 - 1995 Don't Forget Your Toothbrush
• 1995 The Beatles Anthology
• 1997 Spice World: Musical Director
• 1997 Name That Tune: Host and Pianist
• 2003 Jool's History of the Piano : Presenter
• 2006 Top Gear: Star in a reasonably priced car.
• 2007 Fairport@Forty: Interview
• 2009 Chop Shop Rover Concept: The Jet 1 Car : Customer

Current television programmes[link]

• 1992–present Later... with Jools Holland
• 1993–present Hootenanny

Books[link]

• "Rolling Stones": A Life on the Road, (with Dora Loewenstein), Viking/Allen Lane (1998), (ISBN 0-670-88051-5)
• Beat Route: Journeys Through Six Counties, Weidenfeld & Nicholson (1998), (ISBN 0-575-06700-4)
• Ray Charles: Man and Music, (with Michael Lydon), Payback Press (1999), (ISBN 0-86241-929-8)
• Hand That Changed Its Mind , International Music Publications (2007), (ISBN 1-84328-645-9)
• Barefaced Lies and Boogie-woogie Boasts , Michael Joseph Ltd (2007), (ISBN 0-7181-4915-7)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Jools Holland at the Internet Movie Database
• Jools Holland's Radio 2 show at BBC Programmes
• Later...with Jools Holland at BBC Online

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2008)

Boy George
Boy George in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2007
Background information
Birth name	George Alan O'Dowd
Born	(1961-06-14) 14 June 1961 (age 51) Bexley, Kent, England
Genres	New Wave, soul, pop, soft rock, disco
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, Disc Jockey (DJ), Fashion Designer, Performer, Photographer, Producer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1978–present
Labels	Virgin Records, Epic Records, Plan A Records
Associated acts	Culture Club, Jesus Loves You, Mark Ronson, Bow Wow Wow
Website	http://www.boygeorgeuk.com/

Boy George (born George Alan O'Dowd on 14 June 1961) is an English singer-songwriter, who was part of the English New Romanticism movement which emerged in the early 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by rhythm and blues and reggae. His 1990s and 2000s-era solo music has glam influences such as David Bowie and Iggy Pop. He also founded and was lead singer of Jesus Loves You during the period 1989–1992. Being involved in many activities (among them songwriting, DJing, writing books, designing clothes and photography), he has released fewer music recordings in the last decade.

Career[link]

Early life and career[link]

Boy George was born George Alan O'Dowd at Barnehurst Hospital in Bexley, Kent on 14 June 1961, to Jeremiah and Dinah O'Dowd (née Glynn), who were originally from Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland. He attended Eltham Green School in Eltham.^[1] He is one of six children. His siblings are Richard, Kevin, David, Gerald, and Siobhan.

He was a follower of the New Romantic movement which was popular in Britain in the early 1980s. George frequently lived at the infamous Warren Street Squat in Central London. George and his friend Marilyn were regulars at The Blitz,^[2] a trendy London nightclub run by Steve Strange of the group Visage.^[1] George and Marilyn also worked at the nightclub as cloakroom attendants.^{[citation needed]}

Culture Club[link]

Boy George's androgynous style of dressing caught the attention of music executive Malcolm McLaren (previously the manager of the Sex Pistols), who arranged for George to perform with the group Bow Wow Wow, featuring Annabella Lwin. Boy George's (then going by the name "Lieutenant Lush") tenure with Bow Wow Wow was a disaster and he was booed off the stage at a live performance and subsequently dropped from the group. He then started his own group with bassist Mikey Craig. Next came Jon Moss (who had drumming stints with The Damned and Adam and the Ants), and then Roy Hay. The group called themselves In Praise of Lemmings, but the name was later abandoned, as was their next name, Sex Gang Children. Realizing they had a transvestite Irish singer (George), a black-Briton (Craig), a Jewish drummer (Moss), and an Anglo-Saxon Englishman (Hay), they settled on the name Culture Club, referring to the various ethnic backgrounds of the members.

The band recorded demos that were paid for by EMI Records but the label declined to sign them. Virgin Records, however, expressed interest in signing the group in the UK for European releases, while Epic Records handled the US and North American distribution. They recorded their debut album Kissing to Be Clever (UK#5, US#14,) and it was released in 1982. The single "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?", became an international hit, reaching #1 in a dozen countries around the world, plus top ten in several more countries (US #2). This was followed by the Top 5 hit "Time (Clock of the Heart)" in the US and UK, and "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" which reached US #9. This gave Culture Club the distinction of being the first group since the Beatles to have three Top 10 hits in the US from a debut album.

Their next album, Colour By Numbers was an enormous success, topping the UK charts and hit #2 in the US. The single "Church of the Poison Mind" became a Top 10 hit, and "Karma Chameleon" became an international hit, peaking at #1 in sixteen countries, and the top ten in additional countries. It hit #1 in the US where it stayed for three weeks. It was the best-selling single of the year in the United Kingdom, where it spent six weeks at #1. "Miss Me Blind" and "It's a Miracle" were Top 5 and Top 20 hits respectively in the US. "Victims" was another Top 5 UK hit.

George and Roy Hay co-wrote the group's contributions to the movie soundtrack Electric Dreams with the songs "Love is Love" and "The Dream". The P. P. Arnold song "Electric Dreams" was written by George and Phil Pickett.

The band's third album Waking Up with the House on Fire (UK#2, US#26) featured the hit single "The War Song" and a modest hit in "Mistake No. 3". George then provided a lead vocal role on the Band Aid international hit single "Do They Know It's Christmas." He was not featured on the cover sleeve of the single. Proceeds from the single were donated to feed famine victims in Africa, particularly Ethiopia. In 1986, George guest-starred on an episode of the television action-drama series The A-Team, in which he played himself. The episode was entitled "Cowboy George".

George had been occasionally using drugs for several years, and by 1985, he had developed a heroin addiction. His relationship with Jon Moss had also completely soured, and the two could hardly be around each other at that point. The group released its fourth album, From Luxury To Heartache (UK#10, US#32), and it featured one hit single, "Move Away". However, word shortly began circulating in tabloids that George was addicted to drugs. He was arrested in Britain for possession of cannabis. Shortly thereafter, keyboardist Michael Rudetsky, who co-wrote the song "Sexuality" on Culture Club's From Luxury to Heartache album, was found dead of a heroin overdose in George's London home. George had expressed interest in working with the keyboardist on a solo album George was planning. Rudetsky's parents filed a wrongful death suit in Britain against George, seeking financial damages for their son's death. With George's drug addiction, the underwhelming performance of their latest album, a soured romance between band members shrouded in secrecy, and a wrongful death lawsuit, the group ultimately disbanded. George would win the court case against the Rudetskys, and would not be required to pay any monetary damages. He would agree to seek treatment for his addiction. Following next would be the death of his friend Mark Vaultier, who overdosed on methadone and Valium at a party. George had been arrested en-route to the party on suspicion of carrying drugs.

Solo career: late 1980s[link]

Boy George, now a solo artist and now signed to Virgin Records in the US and internationally, entered treatment for his addiction. He was prescribed narcotics to treat his heroin addiction. In kicking his heroin addiction, he then became addicted to those prescription narcotics that were used during his treatment. In 1987, he released his first solo album, Sold, and enjoyed its success in Europe. It spawned the UK singles "Everything I Own" (UK #1), "Keep Me In Mind" (UK #29), "To be Reborn" (UK #13), and the title song, "Sold" (UK #24). The singles were hits in various other European countries as well. The album's success, however, was not duplicated in the US. This may be due in part to the fact that George was prohibited by US authorities from travelling to America for several years because of his British drug charges. He did score his first solo Top 40 hit with the single "Live My Life" (US #40) from the Hiding Out soundtrack. Tense Nervous Headache (1988), and Boyfriend (1989) would be his next two internationally released albums; however, these two albums would not be distributed in the US. Instead, Virgin Records selected several songs from each of these two albums for a North American-only release called High Hat (1989). This album scored a US Top 5 R&B hit in "Don't Take My Mind On A Trip", produced by Teddy Riley. George's following single in the UK was a protest song against the UK Conservative Party's legal restriction that anyone working for a local authority be barred from "promoting" homosexuality. The song, 'No Clause 28 (Emilio Pasquez Space Face Full Remix)' was an underground acid house hit.

In 1989, George formed his own record label, More Protein, and began recording under the name Jesus Loves You, (writing under the pseudonym Angela Dust, a word play off angel dust). He released several underground hits; "After The Love", "Generations Of Love", and "Bow Down Mister", the latter giving him a UK Top 30 hit in 1991. Inspired by his involvement in the Hare Krishna movement (ISKCON),^[3] George had written the song during a trip to India. Another single, "One On One", featured a remix by Massive Attack.

	Bow Down Mister (A Small Portion 2 B Polite Mix) excerpt noicon An excerpt from Bow Down Mister (A Small Portion 2 B Polite Mix)
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Solo career: 1990s[link]

From March 1990 to April 1991, George presented a weekly chat and music show on the Power Station satellite channel called Blue Radio. In 1992, George had a major US and UK hit with the song "The Crying Game", from the movie soundtrack of the same name. The movie became a surprise hit and the single reached the #11 in the US. Although he had had several solo hits in Europe, this would be Boy George's biggest US hit since Culture Club's "Move Away" reached the US Top 20.

He has also enjoyed a second career as a notable music DJ. His first gig as a DJ was at Phillip Sallon's new nightclub, Planet's, located in Pickadilly. In the 1990s he came to the attention of legendary rave/house promoters Fantazia who asked him to mix 1 of the discs on the 2 volume in their new compilation series Fantazia The House Collection 2. This compilation was a success in the UK, going gold. The album was also sold to Sony for European-wide release. London nightclub Ministry of Sound hired him to compile one of their first CDs, and it promptly sold 100,000 copies. He then completed some compilations for them, five of them being the Annual I to V.

George made many recordings between 1990 and 1994, but none were issued. In 1992 a pop and world music-oriented album was scheduled for release by a group George was fronting called Jesus Loves You. The album, to be named "Popularity Breeds Contempt", was never released. An EP entitled "Sweet Toxic Love" released in 1990 reached #65 on the UK Chart. The phrase "popularity breeds contempt" was used as the opening line on the beginning of the 1993 greatest hits album At Worst: The Best of Boy George and Culture Club. In 1993, George was featured on the P.M. Dawn single "More Than Likely" which became a moderate US and UK hit.

George showed an interest in releasing a rock album. He released the rock-driven album Cheapness and Beauty in 1995, but the album was not successful, although the single "Same Thing in Reverse" became a minor US hit. The Unrecoupable One Man Bandit Volume One was the next album release, first being sold on the internet only. It was then distributed by independent labels. Another project from the time was a new group that would include Boy George and two long-time musicians, John Themis and Ritchie Stevens. Initially named "Shallow", it was later re-named "Dubversive". The project took place in 1997 and was to include trip-hop, dub and reggae. The project was not picked up by any major labels but some of the songs were later included on the 2002 Culture Club Box Set, and some others appeared on eBay in 2004.

On some other labels, several dance-oriented songs were released in various countries. For example, "Love is Leaving" went Top 3 in Italy and "When Will You Learn" reached the top positions in the Swiss charts. "When Will You Learn" was also nominated for the Best Dance Recording, at the Grammy Awards. In 1999, Boy George collaborated on songs with dance-oriented acts. For example, "Why Go", a slow-paced track with Faithless, from their Sunday 8 PM LP, was later released in a remixed form in some European countries and Australia. A track was done with Groove Armada, named "Innocence Is Lost", but was only released on a promo 12" in 1999.

Solo career: 2000s[link]

Boy George remained a figure in the public eye, starring in the London musical Taboo, based on his life (George did not play himself, opting instead to take on the persona of Australian-born performance artist Leigh Bowery). Boy George was nominated for a Tony Award for the "Best Musical Score" and Taboo was a great success in London's West End, though a heavily-altered Rosie O'Donnell-produced run in New York City was short-lived (100 performances, versus the two-year run in London).

In 2002, Boy George released U Can Never B2 Straight, an "unplugged" collection of rare and lesser known acoustic works. It contained unreleased tracks from previous years as well as some ballads from Cheapness And Beauty and the Culture Club album Don't Mind if I Do. It received the best reviews of Boy George's solo career, many of them highlighting his strong song writing abilities. The record was only released in the UK and Japan, and received almost no promotion from Virgin Records, only rising to #147 on the UK album charts.

From 2002 to 2004, under the pseudonym "The Twin", Boy George experimented in electronica, releasing limited edition 7" singles and promo records. Performed in small venues such as the Nag Nag Club, the material was considered innovative, but not commercially marketable.^{[citation needed]} This period, however, was a very creative and liberating one for George; for "The Twin", could sing whatever he wanted. The limited releases included four 500 to 520 copies 7", one limited 12" (for Sanitized) and a promo CD, 1000 copies 13-track album Yum Yum. Two years later, it was released via digital outlets like iTunes. An album recorded in the Spring of 2003 was also shelved. A collaboration with electronic combo T-Total, the album was a collection of covers of songs by Jefferson Airplane, David Bowie, John Lennon, Dusty Springfield, T. Rex, and Eurythmics among others. It is suggested that Boy George's numerous abandoned projects are due to his broad interest and need to explore other creative mediums such as photography, writing, and fashion.

During 2003, he presented a weekly show on London radio station LBC 97.3 for six months. He wrote the foreword for a feng shui book called Practical Feng Shui by Simon G. Brown (published in 1998). He also appeared as a guest on the British comedy-talk show The Kumars at No. 42. In March 2005 he was the guest host for an episode of The Friday Night Project, for Channel 4 television.

On his "More Protein" website, George did announce another unreleased album, named Straight, for mid-2005. It was to include tracks such as "Panic" and "Talking Love". Four tracks were released as a sampler with the book of the same name in 2005. A reggaeton oriented EP was also planned for August 2006 but was never released. Some recent tracks were shared by George himself in late 2006 and early 2007 on his YouTube account, his three Myspace pages and sometimes on his official site. In January 2007, Boy George released "Time Machine" on Plan A Records. "Time Machine" was co-written by double Ivor Novello Award-winning songwriter Amanda Ghost who also co-wrote "You're Beautiful" with James Blunt.^[4]

On 20 October 2006, it was announced that he would be writing some tracks for Kylie Minogue (News.com.au story) with Amanda Ghost; however, the songs were not included on her 2007 album. It was not the first time that George wrote songs for other artists; in the past, he shared songwriting credits with the Beach Boys, Caron Wheeler, Charlotte Church, Mica Paris and many others. He also wrote many of the tracks for the artists on his own dance oriented music label, More Protein, such as Eve Gallagher, Zee Asha, Lippy Lou, and E-Zee Posse.

Boy George has run his own fashion line for some years, called "B-Rude". B-Rude has shown at fashion shows in London, New York and Moscow. On 24 December 2006, George appeared on a one-off BBC TV programme Duet Impossible in which he performed with himself from the 1980s and joked about his street cleaning.

Later in 2007, two electronica/dance collaborations were released in limited editions. In the spring, the track "You're Not The One" was remixed from an old demo and released with the dance combo "Loverush UK" reaching the top 20 in the UK dance chart. It was a digital-only release, available in many digital retailers like iTunes. Also on iTunes, a new collaboration with trip-hop/electro band Dark Globe, called "Atoms", was released on 19 November. The single contains eight versions, from the slow original to electro remixes by Ariya and Henrik Schwarz. Also in late 2007, an EP titled "Disco Abomination" appeared on the internet, available for download on several underground outlets. It included new remixes of tracks like "Turn 2 Dust", "Love Your Brother", and covers of "Don't Wanna See Myself" and "Go Your Own Way". Most of the versions are remixes done by German producer Kinky Roland.

On 25 February 2007, George was special guest DJ at LGBT nightspot, The Court Hotel in Perth, Western Australia. On 4 March 2007, George performed as a DJ at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney for the Mardi Gras Festival. On 11 May 2007, George performed as a DJ at the launch party for the Palazzo Versace in Dubai, UAE. George cancelled his planned 2007 October tour via an announcement on his official website. In 2007: George toured as a DJ, visiting Florence, Stuttgart, Rotterdam, Toulouse, Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Dubai, Skopje, Niagara Falls, Montreal, Toronto, Cagliari, Blackpool, Coventry, Munich, Naples, Mantova, Lyon, Follonica, Paris, Kristiansand, Noli, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Amsterdam, Beirut, Budapest, Skanderborg, Baia, London, Mykonos, Geneva, Lausanne, Stockholm, Manchester, Brussels, Bologna, Hong Kong, Letterkenny, Aix-en-Provence, Reims, Moscow and Genova.

Upon his return from prison Boy George resumed his successful DJ career embarking on a worldwide tour of clubs. George has played a special residency at the Shaw Theatre in London (in which all shows were sold out) from 23 January 2008, followed by a full UK tour.^[5] In April 2008, The Biography Channel featured a documentary on the life of Boy George. The American tour which was planned for July/August 2008 had to be cancelled because he had been denied a United States visa due to a London court case scheduled for November 2008. On 2 July, 6 concert dates in South America were announced. Boy George participated in RETROFEST held in Scotland in August 2008,^[6] and a 30-date UK tour took place in October/November 2008.

In 2009 he signed a new record deal subsequently releasing the album Ordinary Alien – The Kinky Roland Files in the autumn of 2010. The album consisted of previously recorded tracks mixed by longtime dance partner Kinky Roland. He took part in Night of the Proms, which is a series of concerts held yearly in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain. Regularly there are also shows in France, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the Scandinavian countries. The concerts consist of a combination of pop music and popular classical music (often combined) and various well-known musicians and groups usually participate.

On 11 May 2009, Boy George was released from prison at HMP Edmunds Hill in Newmarket, Suffolk, four months into a fifteen-month sentence for the assault and false imprisonment of a male escort, in his East London flat. He was tagged and placed on a curfew for the remainder of the sentence.^[7]

In December 2009, Boy George had a successful run of concerts at the Leicester Square Theatre in London's West End.

Solo career: 2010s[link]

26 November 2010 saw the release of British DJ and musician Mark Ronson’s third single from his album Record Collection. "Somebody to Love Me" featured Boy George and was met with critical acclaim from critics and also meant a return to BBC Radio 1’s play list after being banned for many years.^{[citation needed]}

Reunions[link]

In July 1998, a reunited Culture Club performed three dates in Monte Carlo and then joined the Human League and Howard Jones in a "Big Rewind" tour of the US. The following month, the band appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman and made an appearance in Britain, their first in 14 years. Later that year, the band had a Top 5 hit in the UK with "I Just Wanna Be Loved" and later a top 30 hit with "Your Kisses are Charity". In 2006, the band decided to again reunite and tour; however, George declined to join them for this tour. As a result, two members of Culture Club replaced George with vocalist Sam Butcher. George has expressed his displeasure at the turn of events.^[8] Finally, after one showcase and one live show, that project was shelved.

Boy George announced in 27 January 2011 to the BBC that there will be a 30th anniversary Culture Club reunion tour sometime later in the year and that they would be releasing a new album in 2012.^[9] Although the 2011 tour never took place, Culture Club did play two live concerts, in Dubai and Sydney, the latter being a new year's eve concert. In interviews given shortly before the concerts, the group confirmed that they were indeed recording new material.

Legal problems[link]

By the late 1980s, George had been struggling with his severe heroin addiction for many years.^[10] He attempted to perform concerts while under its influence. Addictions to other drugs soon followed. Determined to save George's life, his younger brother David made an appearance on UK national television and discussed George's drug habit, which George had been publicly denying at that time. In 1986, Boy George was arrested for heroin possession as part of 'Operation Culture.'.^[11]

In 1995, Kirk Brandon sued George for libel claiming that George mentioned a love affair between them in George's autobiography, Take It Like a Man. George won the court case and Brandon was ordered to pay £200,000 to Virgin Records, EMI Virgin Music and the book publisher in costs. Brandon declared himself bankrupt, which resulted in Boy George paying over £60,000 in legal fees.^[12]

On 7 October 2005, George was arrested in Manhattan on suspicion of cocaine possession and falsely reporting a burglary. George denied that the drug was his.^[13] In court on 1 February 2006, the cocaine possession charge was dropped and George pleaded guilty to falsely reporting a burglary. He was sentenced to five days of community service, fined US$1,000 and ordered to attend a drug rehabilitation program.^[14]

On 17 June 2006, a Manhattan judge issued a warrant for the arrest of Boy George after he failed to appear in court for a hearing on why George wanted to change his sentence for the false burglary report. George's attorney informed the court that he had advised George not to appear at that hearing.^[15]

On 14 August 2006, George reported to the New York Department of Sanitation for his court-ordered community service. As a result of the swarming media coverage, he was allowed to finish his community service inside the Sanitation Department grounds.^[16]

In a February 2007 interview, the performer explained: “People have this idea of Boy George now, particularly the media: that I’m tragic, fucked up. I mean, I’m all those things, but I’m also lots of other things. Yes, I’ve had my dark periods, but that isn’t all I am.”^[17]

On 5 December 2008, George was convicted in Snaresbrook Crown Court, London, of the assault and false imprisonment of Audun Carlsen.^[18] On 16 January 2009, he was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment for these offences.^[19] George stated that Carlsen was viewing his private information without George's consent. Initially sent to HMP Pentonville in London, George was later transferred to HMP Edmunds Hill in Newmarket, Suffolk (a category C prison).^[20]

On 11 May 2009, George was released after serving four months of his 15 month custodial sentence at HMP Edmunds Hill. He was released on home detention curfew and was required to wear an ankle monitor for 90 days.^[21]

On 23 December 2009, George had his request to appear on the final series of Celebrity Big Brother (to be broadcast on Channel 4) turned down by the Probation Service. Richard Clayton QC, representing the Probation Service, said George's participation would pose "a high level of risk" to the service's reputation. Clayton argued that if he used the show to promote his status as a celebrity and earn "a lucrative sum of money" it could undermine public confidence in the criminal justice system.^[22]

In January 2011, George agreed to return to the Church of Cyprus an 18th-century icon of Christ that he had bought without knowing its origin. The icon, which had adorned his home for 26 years, had been looted from the church of St Charalampus from the village of New Chorio, near Kythrea. George had originally purchased the icon from a London art dealer eleven years after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. He returned the icon at the Saints Anargyroi Church, Highgate, north London.^[23][24]

Memoirs[link]

Harper Collins published his first autobiography, Take It Like a Man, in 1995, written with Spencer Bright. The book was released to coincide with the timing of George's solo album, Cheapness and Beauty, actually released at the same time, dealing with the same themes, and also including a number of photographs as in the book. Take It Like a Man was a bestseller in the UK.

In 2005, Century published Straight, his second autobiographical book, this time written with author Paul Gorman. It stayed in The Sunday Times bestseller list for six weeks. This latter autobiography starts off there where the former had stopped, though the two works are different in style, due to their different co-authors, and all of the chapters have a title in the 2005 book, while the 1995 autobiography only featured numbered sections.

Gorman has also ghost-written Cry Salty Tears, the memoirs of George's mother Dinah O'Dowd, which was published by Arrow Books, in January 2007. The same year also saw the publication of Straight in paperback. It was originally supposed to be updated, but Boy George declined to do so since he felt the book was too bitter and negative about other people, and he regretted writing it.^{[citation needed]}

Sexual orientation[link]

When Boy George was with Culture Club, much was made of his androgynous appearance, and there was speculation about his sexuality. When asked in interviews, George gave various answers. He gave a famous, oft-quoted response to an interviewer that he preferred "a nice cup of tea" to sex.^[25]

In Take It Like a Man, George told his side of his secret relationships with punk rock singer Kirk Brandon and Culture Club drummer Jon Moss. He stated many of the songs he wrote for Culture Club were directed at Moss. However, one of Culture Club's biggest hits "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" was about Brandon. Moss acknowledged that he had a sexual and romantic relationship with George, but Brandon denies he ever had a relationship with George.

In 2006, in an episodic documentary directed by Simon George titled The Madness of Boy George, George declared on camera he was "militantly gay".^[26] In a 2008 documentary Living with Boy George, he talks about his first realisation he was gay, and when he first told his parents. He discloses that he understands why men fall in love with one another as well as with women.^[27]

References in popular culture[link]

In 1984, during the height of the popularity of Culture Club, country singers Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley recorded a parody called "Where's the Dress". In the song, they see Boy George on television and decide they can be more successful if they dressed like him.^{[citation needed]} The intro to the song is identical to "Karma Chameleon" before it goes into a traditional country feel, which in turn caused problems due to copyright infringement.^{[citation needed]} However, the song reached #8 on the country charts.^[28]

In The Simpsons episode "Lisa's First Word", one-year-old Bart Simpson watches an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Johnny remarked: "No, this is true. The Coast Guard arrested Boy George for scraping the barnacles on his dinghy." Ed McMahon chuckles with his trademark "Hiyo!" laugh, and Bart laughs "Hiyo!" as well.^{[citation needed]}

Boy George was portrayed on film by Douglas Booth in the BBC2 drama documentary Worried About the Boy. The TV film was aired in May 2010.^[29]

Discography[link]

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

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• Official website
• Boy George on Myspace
• Boy George at the Internet Movie Database
• Boy George at the Internet Broadway Database
• Boy George Website