I can honestly say that this week's band never had another tune that I remotely liked let alone loved, but when they made featured tune #212, the Gods of Pop threw a thunderbolt with a touch of magic their way and they made the most of it.
Culture Club formed in 1981 in London and head a hell of a run for their first five years. Led by the flamboyant Boy George, the band released four of their six total albums all of which reached the top twenty in their native UK and the top forty here in the States. They also had ten top ten singles in the UK (two #1's) and seven here in America (one #1). Sadly the band had some inner turmoil (Boy George and drummer Jon Moss had a tumultuous romantic relationship), and went their separate ways in the mid-eighties. Boy George through the years has battled addictions to varying drugs and has been arrested for possession a number of times--though he's also found time to start a fashion line, write two autobiographies, continue to write songs, release solo albums, and has become quite a well known DJ. The band reunited in 1999, released an album that didn't sell, and went back to their lives. They reunited again in 2011 and have remained together since mostly for touring and the occasional guest appearance, though they did release an album last year. Overall the band has sold over 150 million records, won a Grammy Award, a couple of Brit Awards (UK's equivalent of our Grammy), and are considered a staple of the eighties new wave movement (with a shout out to MTV).
Fun Fact: The band's name is a play on the band member's racial, sexual, and religious make-up--it features a gay Irishman, a black Briton, a blonde Briton, and one member of the Jewish persuasion.
"Karma Chameleon" was released in 1983 on their Colour by Numbers album, both of which were the biggest hits of their career. "Karma Chameleon" went to number one in both the UK (for six weeks) and the US (for three weeks) and eventually sold over five million copies. The album reached #1 in the UK and stayed at #2 on the Billboard 200 for three weeks behind Michael Jackson's Thriller (there's some luck--having your best selling album on the charts at the same time as the best selling album of all-time) here in America, and sold over sixteen million copies.
There's nothing much fancy about this one--regular readers know that emaycee is a big fan of a) blue-eyed soul, b) harmonicas, and c) catchy pop tunes, all of which are features of "Karma Chameleon." Ostensibly the song is about staying true to yourself--or rather, the song's protagonist is asking his lover to say true to him/herself. Boy George' vocals truly carry the day, though there's a nice bass line and some quirky guitar along the way as well. The chorus is a pop single fan's favorite ice cream--it melts in your mouth and feels good all the way down to the pit of your stomach. I should also mention that the band chimes in with some really nice backing vocals--a spot here and a spot there that help make the song even better. "Karma Chameleon" is one of the few songs from the eighties new wave movement that has aged very well and is as hoppin' and boppin' as it was when it first came out thirty-five years ago--another in a long line of great Brit pop.
Lyric Sheet: "Every day is like survival/You're my lover not my rival..."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee
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