FEATURE:
Vinyl Corner
Culture Club – Colour by Numbers
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WHILST there is concern and stress…
IN THIS PHOTO: Mikey Craig, Jon Moss, Boy George, and Roy Hay of Culture Club in 1983/PHOTO CREDIT: Ebet Roberts/Redferns
regarding the coronavirus pandemic, there is not as much music news as there usually is. In terms of thins to write about, I am looking at existing features and I will sprinkle in some features that recommend music/things to keep you occupied at this time. I am keeping Vinyl Corner rolling, as there are loads of albums that one needs to get on vinyl. Today’s entry is from 1983; it is Culture Club’s Colour by Numbers. Grab it on vinyl if you can as it is a wonderful album. I was born in 1983, so I have a special fondness for music released from that year. I am not a massive Culture Club fan, but I have a lot of respect for their second studio album. The hit single, Karma Chameleon, is one of the best songs ever, and its irresistible chorus stays in your head forever! That track reached the top spot in several countries, whilst Colour by Numbers topped the charts in the U.K. and sold more than ten-million copies worldwide. Whilst their 1982 debut, Kissing to Be Clever, has many fine moments – including Do You Really Want to Hurt Me -, I think its follow-up is a more satisfying and broader listen. Colour by Numbers is frequently viewed as one of the best albums of the 1980s, and it is a record that can lift, move, and inspire at the same time. You can stream the album, but there are rewards to listening on vinyl.
We think of the 1980s, and many sort of think it was cheesy and overrated. Others love the sheer quality of Pop music during the decade. I think Culture Club were at the forefront of the Pop movement. Led by Boy George – a singer with charisma, and a blue-eyed Soul voice -, Culture Club were a huge force in the 1980s – they are still performing today and look set to record for a long time to come. When we think of the biggest albums of the 1980s, maybe you consider artists like Madonna, The Smiths, and Michael Jackson, but Culture Club’s Colour by Numbers should definitely make everyone’s top-ten. I want to bring in a couple of reviews for the album, but this fascinating article from Classic Pop Magazine gave some great background to Colour by Numbers:
“This next album is going to prove that we’re very musical,” George said in an interview with The Tube in early 1983. “It’s a lot more mature and sophisticated than Kissing To Be Clever. We work very closely with Steve Levine, who is almost the fifth member of Culture Club. We all have the same idea of what we want the end result to be, which is essentially a well-structured pop song, and we have developed our own sound now. A lot of bands are wanting to work with Steve to achieve the ‘Culture Club sound’ but it’s not possible, because it’s a collaboration – it’s not a situation like a lot of bands who don’t know what they want to sound like, so the producer ends up taking over.
“Roy and Mikey love the new machines – the Fairlights, and the computers – while Jon and I prefer an acoustic sound, really rough and soulful. So we mix both to get a fine balance.”
Achieving that result had proved anything but smooth. “We’re very adult in our approach to the studio, but we fight a lot in the rehearsals,” George said. “There’s a lot of throwing coffee over each other and guitars being thrown, that sort of thing.” Years later, an insight into the machinations of Culture Club at this time was revealed when a recording taken during the making of Victims, in which the band tore into each other, was leaked onto the internet. Finding it hilarious in retrospect, the argument was entitled Shirley Temple Moment and released as a track on the band’s 2002 career-retrospective boxset.
While Culture Club’s music was a collaborative effort, the song’s lyrics were strictly George’s domain. “I write all the lyrics,” he said. “I never sing anyone else’s lyrics – they all come from a very personal basis and are about what’s going on in my life, in my relationships at the time – they’re deeply personal.”
Although George and drummer Jon Moss’ relationship wasn’t public knowledge by this point, their tempestuous union was the basis for much of Culture Club’s material. As millions of fans unwittingly sang along, their biggest hit, Karma Chameleon was a visceral depiction of a volatile relationship with lyrics such as: “I heard you say that my love was an addiction/ When we cling, our love is strong/When you go, you’re gone forever, you string along” and “Everyday is like survival, you’re my lover, not my rival”, a theme prevalent throughout the rest of the record”.
I have recently picked Colour by Numbers up after a bit of a spell, and it is full of wonderful performances and terrific songs. I have not seen a bad review for Colour by Numbers – one or two are not as euphoric as they should be! -, and this is what AllMusic said in their assessment:
“Colour by Numbers was Culture Club's most successful album, and, undoubtedly, one of the most popular albums from the 1980s. Scoring no less than four U.S. hit singles (and five overseas), this set dominated the charts for a full year, both in the United States and in Europe. The songs were infectious, the videos were all over MTV, and the band was a media magnet. Boy George sounded as warm and soulful as ever, but one of the real stars on this set was backing vocalist Helen Terry, who really brought the house down on the album's unforgettable first single, "Church of the Poison Mind." This album also featured the band's biggest (and only number one) hit, the irresistibly catchy "Karma Chameleon," its more rock & roll Top Five follow-up "Miss Me Blind," and the fourth single (and big club hit), "It's a Miracle" (which also featured Helen Terry's unmistakable belting). Also here are "Victims," a big, dark, deep, and bombastic power ballad that was a huge hit overseas but never released in the U.S., and other soulful favorites such as "Black Money" and "That's the Way (I'm Only Trying to Help You)," where Boy George truly flexed his vocal muscles. In the 1980s music was, in many cases, flamboyant, fun, sexy, soulful, colorful, androgynous, and carefree, and this album captured that spirit perfectly. A must for any collector of 1980s music, and the artistic and commercial pinnacle of a band that still attracted new fans years later”.
A lot of us are in a position where we need to stay in and will have more time on our hands when it comes to music. There are loads of great albums you should investigate, and I would add Culture Club’s Colour by Numbers to the pile! It is a tremendous album that sounds relevant and inspiring in 2020. I wonder whether new Pop artists pay as much attention to bands like Culture Club as they should. The power of the band’s work and how wonderful the music still sounds…there is a lot in there that artists can learn from! I will wrap things up soon. In their review, SLANT had this to say:
“Boy George sounded equally at ease whether singing flashy, upbeat numbers or somber ballads, and while his voice wasn’t the strongest in the world, he was able to find his inner Motown soul when necessary, especially when trading vocals with backup singer Helen Terry, whose captivating, gospel-infused voice is a highlight on “Black Money” and “That’s the Way (I’m Only Trying to Help You).” Boy George’s charisma and confidence as a frontman had grown remarkably since Culture Club’s debut, allowing him to carry songs like “It’s A Miracle,” a piece of sweet pop candy that, in another band’s hands, might have come off as a lightweight embarrassment. The same can be said of the album’s first single, the rousing “Church Of The Poison Mind,” in which a carefree Boy George sings, “Watch me clinging to the beat/I had to fight to make it mine/That religion you could sink in neat/Just move your feet and you’ll feel fine.”
Flamboyant, vibrant and fun, “Church,” like the rest of Colour By Numbers, fits the very definition of what pop music is supposed to be, and there were few better pure pop albums made in the 1980s. Part dance, part new-wave, part white-boy soul, Colour By Numbers helped establish the blueprint for the boy-bands that would follow in Culture Club’s wake (the group disbanded in 1986 amid rumors of Boy George’s heroin addiction and his break-up with Moss). The album was re-released last year for its 20th anniversary, with five bonus songs, including the title track, which curiously did not appear on the original record. But, in the end, Colour By Numbers is an album that needs no tinkering”.
Go and grab a copy of Colour by Numbers – or stream the album if you like -, and you will discover an album that is brimming with genius. Life – credited to Boy George and Culture Club – was released in 2018, and it was the first album for the band since they reformed in 2014. I think there will be more albums, and there is a big demand for the legendary Culture Club. They have recorded several stunning albums, but Colour by Numbers is their finest hour. Enjoy this ace album as it is…
PERFECT if you want to unwind and feel uplifted.