Culture Club’s Colour by Numbers album, one of the most successful hit-records of the 1980’s is 40 years old today. The British band really hit it big with their second album when it came out in 1983.
Their debut record Kissing to Be Clever came out just one year earlier in October 1982, and at first it struggled to score any hits. Their first two singles flopped completely, but the band’s fortunes picked up with later releases Do You Really Want to Hurt Me, Time (Clock of the Heart) and I’ll Tumble 4 Ya.
Riding a wave of success, the band were quickly back in the studio recording their follow up album, and it contained their biggest ever hit.
The album opens up with Karma Chameleon, a song that Boy George wrote while on holiday in Egypt, and none of the other band members were particularly fond of. The harmonica filled tune with a country vibe became the band’s signature tune, and they now always close their concerts with the song.
Other hits from the album include Miss Me Blind, which the band mashed together with Wham’s I’m Your Man at their recent Perth concert. It’s a Mircale, Victims and Church of the Poison Mind were also found on the record.
The original version featured 10 tracks, but in 2003 an extended version was released with five additional tunes that have served as b-sides to the album’ singles.
The album spent six weeks in the number 2 position on the US charts, kept from being a number one by Michael Jackson’s long running success with Thriller. It made it to the number one spot here in Australia though where the band had a huge fan base.
In 2014 Boy George curated a celebration of the album with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra playing the tracks and some big names coming onboard to sing them. Jimmy Sommerville, John Grant, Hollie Cook and Eve Gallagher all took part in the show.
Two of the backing singers on the record would go on to have successful pop careers of their own. Helen Terry, whose soulful vocals were an essential part of the Culture Club sound would bring out her debut single Love Lies Lost the following year, while Jermaine Stewart would score his biggest hit in 1986 when he released, We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off.
Culture Club would go on to record two more albums before disbanding shortly after their 1986 album From Luxury to Heartache was released. The band briefly reformed in 1998 to record Don’t Mind If I Do and to embark on a world tour, before parting ways once again.
They finally reunited in 2013 and set about making music again. In 2018 they recorded 18 tracks for a record named Tribes, but it never saw the light of day. Instead, they released Life in 2018 and toured extensively, including three separate visits to Perth.
Recently the band parted ways with founding member Jon Moss, but if their recent Perth show is anything to go from, they’ve still got a lot planned for the future.
OIP Staff
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