My Boy George Book!

Writing and Writhing Through a Culture Club Quickie

The other day I watched the 2016 concert film Culture Club Live at Wembley on PBS Passport, and available for rent at Amazon Prime for a little as 99 cents. That tells you something about Culture Club, who once ruled a large segment of the crowded 1983-1984 marketplace with such dominance in the growing video music/hit records niche that I wrote a book about them. Or rather, him: Boy George.

Did you know I wrote a book about Boy George and Culture Club? Of course you don't, how would you know? It was a way to get my foot in the door of the book publishing industry.

It was spring 1984. MTV had busted out, taking over pop music with videos. It didn't matter that much what the band sounded like, but it helped if you were handsome, like Duran Duran, or fierce, like Billy Idol, or had a funny haircut, like the Cure, or played all-synthesizers, like Depeche Mode.

There was also Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Prince, Tina Turner, the Police, Van Halen, the whole new …