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  • As part of our Boy George takeover week, we caught up with the big man himself. Check out our exclusive interview below:

    A: What music are you listening to at the moment that you'd recommend to Attitude readers?

    BG: At the moment I'm really into the cover of Sweet Harmony by Nu Gen which is unsigned and such a potential hit! I have to admit that the two guys in Nu Gen are pretty hot and I'm sure Attitude readers will agree! I also love the new album by Hurts; I went to their showcase recently and was seriously impressed. Theo, sounds a bit like 60's crooner Scott Walker.

    A: DJ Magazine’s Top100 DJ Poll is due to close this week. Looking over your Facebook it seems there’s been a lot of love for you in the campaign this year, have you been surprised by the support that has been flooding in?

    BG: Well, I've made a bit of an effort this time around to promote myself since I've just started to DJ all over the globe again and it would be very exciting and rewarding to get a place in the DJ top 100 this year. I don't really care how low or high my placing is just as long as I get in there somewhere, lol! I know I'm lucky to have support from so many people and I'm lucky to do what I do, whether it's on the decks or performing live with my band. I have a renewed excitement about my career right now and there's no time for messing around. I've always appreciated what I do because I know I have the best job in the world but sometimes you can get complacent and take things for granted. Well, that's a thing of the past for me, I'm in such an optimistic and positive mood about life in general.

    A: It’s great to see the djing is going so well – we’ve definitely got the support of everyone at Attitude!

    BG: Bless you, it's always good to have the support of my sisters!

    A: So on to some studio chatter, your new single is called Pentonville Blues, can you tell us a bit about that please George?

    BG: I wrote the lyrics while I was at her majesty's service in 2009 and then had the opportunity to work with Glide & Swerve who had a cool reggae backing track that the song fitted over perfectly so we decided to use it as part of their forthcoming album 'The Life & Times'. I was only at Pentonville prison for six days but it left quite an impression and the song deals with the emotional experience of those six days which seemed to go on forever. In the cells there is a blue line painted around the wall, hence the lyric 'follow the blue line feeling wretched, unclean, if these walls could talk I wonder would they whisper, would they scream'. Pentonville is a hideous Victorian monstrosity and it's not the cleanest place I've ever been to. I think they send you there as a kind of shock and then you eventually get moved somewhere else to serve out your sentence. Where I went afterwards seemed a bit like paradise in comparison! lol!

    A: And we read there is also a single due, which is a collaboration with your support dj Marc Vedo and features Charlene Hector from Basement Jaxx. Do you have a release date scheduled for this yet?

    BG: The track is called 'Sunshine Into My Life' and it's very gospel and positive. I've been playing it in my DJ sets and people have been singing along even though it's the first time they've heard it. Sharlene Evette Hector has the most heavenly voice and I think it will be a huge club track and quite possibly a pop hit too. I want to do some more tunes with Sharlene because for me she is one of the best vocalists in this country.

    A: We also heard you’re back in the studio with Mark Ronson – is this for one of your own projects this time?

    BG: Well, 2012 is Culture Club's thirty year anniversary and I'm hoping Mark Ronson will be on board to produce some tracks for our brand new studio album. He has agreed in principle and it's very exciting. Our D-Day will be April 30 2012 which is thirty years to the day we first released our debut single 'White Boy'. It's quite nuts to think it's been thirty years.

    A: How is Mark to work with in the studio?

    BG: Very professional and super relaxed actually. I really like him, he's the coolest dude on the planet and he knows what he's doing in the studio. I was able to spend quality time recording the track and it made it very enjoyable and special. I have DJ'd with him in New York a few years ago but I've only got to know him recently. Yeah, he's a sound bloke.

    A: So when can we expect a full release of the current single ‘Somebody to love me’ that you did with Mark?

    BG: I'm told it's coming out close to xmas but I'm not entirely sure. I only got a proper copy about two weeks ago because they don't want people downloading it for free!

    A: You’ve a new album coming up called ‘Ordinary Alien’ is this a primarily a DJ focus project or will you be including some live work in there also?

    BG: The album is a collection of tracks produced or remixed by Kinky Roland whom I have been working with for about fifteen years; the sub title is 'The Kinky Roland Files'. Some of the tracks, like 'I Don't Wanna See Myself' are vintage, it's a track I did with DJ & producer Nicky Holloway almost twenty years ago which Kinky has reworked for this album. I have already added some of the songs into my live set, like 'Brand New' which is one of my fave's on the new album. Then there is the opening track 'Turn 2 Dust' which deals with Ragga homophobia and opens with me singing 'Chi Chi man everywhere you turn! It's the most dance-floor friendly record since my 'Jesus Love's You' stuff!

    A: You recently played Manchester for Gay Pride did you get a chance to join in with the march up there also?

    BG: No, I was playing very late and flew in from Europe especially to spin at Venus which is a blinding club. It was like an old skool rave in there and it's one of the best clubs in the country for sure!

    A: Your last single ‘Amazing Grace’ was a high-profiled single for you. Are record sales and chart positions important to you?

    BG: Obviously you have to sell a certain amount of records to warrant the money spent by the label and we have done pretty well with Amazing Grace so I’m pretty happy but yeah I'd love it if radio stations in this country would support my music. Amazing Grace is a great pop dance track and deserved to be supported but I stopped worrying about getting support in the UK a long time ago. Luckily, I am known all over the world and I don't have to lose any sleep about the lack of industry love I am denied at home. It used to piss me off but now it's just how it is! If I could get to the wider public via radio then my tracks would chart, I’m not denied support by people in the street, they are always asking when I will release another record and I usually tell them to go to iTunes. People can't buy things they don't know about. It's that simple really. Thank god for the ardent fans!

    A: Obviously Pentonville Blues is connected to your time there. With so much that has gone on in your life of late how much of it do you use to inspire yourself musically these days?

    BG: I use my songs as a personal diary always so anything that happens (within reason) might come up in a song. Sometimes you use music to make sense of your life, especially relationship stuff. I usually turn boys into songs! I always want my songs to have meaning or what's the point. All my fave artists or bands are those who have substance in their writing. Bowie, Joni Michell, Morrisey.

    A: The likes of Lady Gaga and Adam Lambert clearly have been inspired by your own career. Are you a fan of what these guys are doing?

    BG: I met Adam who was very beautiful and sweet and I also had an encounter with La Gaga at 'The Brits' because my niece Molly ordered me to get her autograph. Yeah, I like what they are doing, it's great to see a bit of fresh glam back in music and I especially like that Adam is so open about his sexuality, it's refreshing and still very brave. He's not doing the usual; I'm gay but let's not talk about it. I hope he enjoys greater success!

    A: How’s the DJing going, looks like you’ve had a pretty hectic summer with club and festival dates? Any plans for a world tour next year to promote the new album?

    BG: There will be lots of live gigs next year and I will be as visible as I can. I have a renewed passion for live work and as I said earlier I feel very passionate again and I want to remind people that I'm an artist and focus on my music, DJ work and productions for other artists.

    A: What else have you got coming up in the future?

    BG: I've been doing a few collaborations with various people, I just wrote a fantastic song with John Reid of 'The Nightcrawlers' called 'Smoke & Mirrors' which I'm really excited about and I've been writing with another new band called 'Nocturne The Blonde' who are amazing and will blow up next year.

    http://www.attitude.co.uk/viewblog.aspx?blogid=2906&viewuserid=1d17547e-17b6-4271-8b20-f3eb845a65d0


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  • The DJ reveals that he and the band's frontman Boy George have talked about collaborating on a new record.

    Mark Ronson is engineering a Culture Club reunion.

    The group’s flamboyant singer, Boy George, appeared on Mark’s third album ‘Record Collection’ and wants the producer to help him reunite his former band for their 30th anniversary of their debut album ‘Kissing to Be Clever’.

    Mark said: “Boy George is going to do some shows with my band and we have talked about collaborating on a new Culture Club record because in 2012 it’s their 30th anniversary.

    “That should be fun, they were a great band.”

    ‘Bang Bang Bang’ hitmaker Mark explained the idea for a reunion came about after he approached George to sing with his group The Business International.

    Mark, 34, explained: “While we were writing the track ‘Somebody To Love Me’, I had another song in mind I aspired it to be like, Culture Club’s ‘Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?’ And when it was finished I thought, ‘Why don’t I just ask Boy George to do a duet?”

    George, 49 has previously admitted that his “completely destructive” relationship with former lover and bandmate Jon Moss along with his drug use played a huge part in the band’s initial demise in 1986.

    Speaking earlier this year about the potential comeback, George, 49, said: “I think we could do a one-off gig or maybe a small tour. But unfortunately, with all these reunions you get to a point where you start remembering why you left.”

    Culture Club have previously reunited in 1989, 1998 and 2002 and in 2006.

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  • Mark Ronson & The Business INTL. feat Boy George
    Somebody To Love Me
    Later.. with Jools Holland 250th episode

     

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/later/photos/37/1/

     

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