Holiday Cheer? Do They Know it's Christmas?

Another one from the vaults. I'm aware that some people put this song in their "worsts" lists. I disagree, but there is a fair amount of nostalgia in this one for me.

ORIGINAL POST

I'm a child of the 70s and 80s. And one of the "big events" of the 80s was Band Aid, and "Do They Know it's Christmas?" It was a star-studded (by British and MTV standards) effort to spotlight the suffering of African people who were starving. Or something.

Today, the song is simply a perennial, an inclusion into our "All Christmas, All the Time" music stations. Whatever good it might have done at the time is rendered into a classic song that plays along side I Want a Hippopotomous for Christmas, and Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. Still, it was a chance to hear Boy George (O'Dowd)'s voice meld into George Michael's, Simon Le Bon's, Sting's and Bono's. I still don't know if this song helped starving people. But it is a pop culture touchstone. Enjoy. Or be depressed. Whatever.

25 Years Ago Today: Karma Chameleon by Culture Club

I'm painfully aware that this year is my 25th high school class reunion. Yes, I'm from the infamous class of 1984, a banner year for music, thanks to MTV. Most of the music of the day is painfully dated today--though not all--but it is recorded in great detail. 1984 may have been the first year that every hit song had a video. MTV (born in 1981) no longer had to take just every video handed to them, they could pick and choose.



And they made a lot of stars far bigger than they ever would have been otherwise. Many acts, like Duran Duran, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, and Pat Benatar may never have been quite as big without music video. No group was powered by video more than Culture Club. Boy George's gender-bending antics hit at exactly the right time, and his group's colorful videos set the tone for many videos (and popular trends) for the middle of the decade.

George O'Dowd (Boy's real name) has fallen on hard times of late. So, it is nice to remember the happier days, in fact of exactly 25 years ago, when Boy George and Culture Club hit #1 on the Billboard charts with Karma Chameleon. It is not--in my opinion--the best of his or their songs, but it is likely the most remembered.

Holiday Cheer? Do They Know it's Christmas?

I'm a child of the 70s and 80s. And one of the "big events" of the 80s was Band Aid, and "Do They Know it's Christmas?" It was a star-studded (by British and MTV standards) effort to spotlight the suffering of African people who were starving. Or something.

Today, the song is simply a perennial, an inclusion into our "All Christmas, All the Time" music stations. Whatever good it might have done at the time is rendered into a classic song that plays along side I Want a Hippopotomous for Christmas, and Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. Still, it was a chance to hear Boy George (O'Dowd)'s voice meld into George Michael's, Simon Le Bon's, Sting's and Bono's. I still don't know if this song helped starving people. But it is a pop culture touchstone. Enjoy. Or be depressed. Whatever.

From Luxury to Heartache: Boy George Guilty

A part of my pop-culture heart will always belong to the 80s, the era in which I graduated high school, and MTV became a phenomenon (instead of a music channel that doesn't play music anymore). In those days, a not weird yet Michael Jackson, a not old yet Madonna, and a not freaky yet Prince ruled the airwaves. Or is that cable waves? Also in that list were Cyndi Lauper, Duran Duran, Pat Benatar, Wham! and of course, Culture Club.

All of those acts still have a regular spot in my CD Jukebox, and if I ever graduate to an iPod, I'm sure they'll make the trip. Culture Club, with lead singer Boy George, is one of the acts that holds up best. And I'm talking more in music than in image. Put on At Worst. . .the Best of Boy George and Culture Club, and you'll see what I mean.

But alas, poor George. Unlike George Michael, who only manages to embarrass himself with sex and drug scandals, George O'Dowd has gone and gotten himself a jail sentence.

[Excerpt]

Escort Attack: Boy George Guilty: Boy George is facing a possible jail term after being found guilty of falsely imprisoning a male escort.

Norwegian Audun Carlsen, 29, said the singer beat him with a metal chain as he tried to escape from his flat after a naked photo shoot.

The 46-year-old singer, who was tried under his real name of George O'Dowd, declined to give evidence in his trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court. . .

Read more at: SkyNews