New Year's Eve may be on Saturday, but UAE revellers will have a head start when the UK's 1980s hit-makers Culture Club perform on Thursday night in Dubai's Tennis Centre, kicking off a weekend of festivities including concerts, raves and a masquerade ball before culminating with band-of-the-moment Coldplay ringing in the new year on Abu Dhabi's Corniche.

Culture Club's reunion, however, has its own share of eager fans. The frontman Boy George says the decision to begin the band's 30th anniversary tour in Dubai - its first performance in 13 years - during the festive season was a no-brainer for the group.

"Well, what we do is not really a hard job," he laughs. "I was walking with my friend the other day and I saw a man digging the road. I remember looking at him and saying, 'Now that is real work!'

"There is a certain amount of stress that sometimes comes with touring, but to be honest, it's just bonkers that I am making a living doing what I love."

For Boy George, the reformation of Culture Club is not merely another chapter in the band's storied career, but also marks a personal rejuvenation of a life that has seen as many highs as lows.

George credits the lessons learnt from his personal struggles to the fact that he turned 50 in June, which triggered a fresh bout of self-reflection.

"I am definitely a smarter person than what I used to be," he admits. "I realise now how lucky I am doing what I love. It's very exciting now, more exciting that I am enjoying it." 

George is referring to the announcement earlier in the year that Culture Club would reunite for a new world tour and a sixth album in 2012.

Speaking from a London rehearsal venue, George says time has not affected the group's chemistry.

"Even with the large gaps, the weird thing is that everything seems to fall back into place," he says. "The spark is more about how much you enjoy what you do. If you love what you do, that translates to whatever it is."

Perhaps more than his band's other members, it is George who will keenly feel the difference performing with them on Thursday night.

For the past two decades, he has been touring sporadically as a solo act, part of which brought him to Dubai in April as one of the headliners of the Here and Now - The Very Best of the 1980s concert at Meydan Racecourse.

He says the experience made him realise Culture Club is truly a group effort.

"We are more powerful as a combination and that really makes a difference," he says. "To be back in the band, there is something special about it, what we do together is magical and individual and it pushes you to do different things."

This eclectic band dynamic was responsible for Culture Club's success in the mid-1980s.

Powered by the hit singles Do You Really Want to Hurt Me, Karma Chameleon and Church of the Poison Mind, the group's sound incorporated reggae, rock, calypso and blue eyed soul.

No wonder the media had a hard time pegging the band, with Culture Club labelled everything from pop, rock, reggae to new wave, all of which George brushes off.

"When we got successful we got lumped with all these 80s bands, but we don't have that 80s sound at all. When we are writing a new record, we put all our favourite influences into the pot, we are not thinking about what's trendy or what the kids are doing."

Even now, George says he remains aloof from what is happening in the pop world and that years of being an in-demand house music DJ have brought home to him some of the limitations of pop music.

"I don't feel very connected to the pop scene; it feels like a separate universe to me to be honest," he says. "I love the way dance music is always evolving, how there are new things to play ... It just seems there are less rules in dance than pop music."

However, with the exception of "more of a groove element", George promises the new album will be similar to the group's classic material; British producer Steve Levine, who helmed the group's 1983 hit-laden album - Colour by Numbers - has even been enlisted for the project.

George states that Dubai will be the first audience to hear the new material sounds, with the group introducing one new song among all the old hits.

"This Dubai show will be mostly hits and in chronological order, so it will be songs that people know," George says. "We even have a large brass band and backing singers as well. It is a big production."

Culture Club plays at Dubai Tennis Centre, 31 A Street in Al Garhood on Thursday. Doors open 6pm; the show will start at 9pm. Tickets are Dh295 from timeouttickets.com

http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/music/boy-george-there-is-something-special-about-culture-club

Boy George est considéré comme l’un des plus grand artistes reconnu universellement  et cela depuis plus de trente ans en maintenant sa position de leader au sein d’une industrie en continuel changement et aux multiples facettes. En attirant de nombreux éloges des médias, il a su gagner une réelle reconnaissance internationale. Aujourd'hui, Boy George est de retour avec un nouvel album solo baptisé "Ordinary Alien" en  licence sur le label Back Up Recordings. En parallèle, l'artiste continue à officier en qualité de DJ dans le monde entier et prépare surtout le prochain retour de son groupe Culture Club avec la sortie d'un nouvel album suivi d'une tournée mondiale.

Ce retour sur le devant de la scène est l'occasion de revenir sur l'ensemble de sa carrière. Et on peut dire que le parcours de Boy George est sans précédent... Outre sa carrière d’artiste, il fut l’un des seuls à avoir été éditorialiste pour le Daily Express, auteur de deux best-sellers autobiographiques, mais aussi coproducteur, auteur et intervenant de la célèbre comédie musicale Taboo primé d'un Award à Broadway (New York) et West End (Londres). Il créa sa propre ligne de vêtements nommé B-Rude implanté à New York, Los Angeles et Londres tout en maintenant un statut important au sein de l’élite du monde de la mode. On le verra alors mixer dans de nombreux défilé de mode tel que Versace, Phillip Treacy ou plus récemment Hugo Boss.

DJ professionnel depuis la fin des années 1970, Boy George a eu une longue carrière pleine de succès associé à la House Music, tirant son influence de l’Acid House et des différents mouvements de Chicago des années 1980 jusqu’à l’Electro/House des années 1990-2000. Enchainant les dates de tournée, il parcouru des milliers de kilomètres des montagnes enneigés de Vancouver jusqu’au soleil dorée de Bondi Beach.

Personnage récurrent dans le milieu de la Dance Music des années 2000, Boy George a été propulsé dans les hits radio et clubs où, aux côtés de Pete Tong de la Radio 1, il aidera au lancement du titre phare "Ministry Of Sound" de la compilation "The Annual". L'album s'est vendu à plus de 200 000 exemplaires et a été le catalyseur du mouvement de label actuel. D'autres compilations faites par l’artiste prennent en compte "Galaxy Weekender", "Dance Nation" mais aussi les deux versions de l’album "The Annual" qui ont suivies.

Il parcouru plus de soixante dix pays à travers le monde au sein de fameux festivals tel que Godskitchen, Cream, Manumission ou encore Spundae mais aussi au sein de lieux mythiques comme le Ministry of Sound à Londres, le Zouk à Singapour et le Guvernment à Toronto. De plus, son nom fut la tête d’affiche de nombreux festivals mondiaux comptant Homelands, BigGayOut et le V Festival.

Il se démarque alors en tant que producteur avec des tubes tels que "Generations Of Love" et "When Will You Learn", productions qui sortiront au cours des années par des majors comme Sony, GU Music, Virgin, Polystar, Hed Kandi, Universal, Subliminal, EMI et Fantazia. Boy George collabora sur des compilations diverses tels que "Global Underground", "Bedrock To Chill Out Ibiza" et "Clubbers Guide". En effet, la liste des collaborations de l’artiste est impressionnante, réunissant les plus grands de la Dance Music comme Erick Morillo, Jeremy Healy, Deep Dish, Rui Da Silva, Afrika Bambaataa, Hi-Gate, Adamski et Faithless.

George présenta sa propre émission de radio durant deux ans sur Radio 1, Kiss FM, Sirius et Galaxy. Puis fit des apparitions dans des émissions télévisées à travers le monde entier comme BBC 1 Jonathan Ross, BBC 2 Jools Holland, MTV Cribs, BPM:tv, Brit Awards, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, CNN, VH1, Top of the Pops et CD:TV.

Malgré l’obsession des médias sur les récentes polémiques à son sujet, la présence de Boy George reste toujours d'actualité dans l'industrie musicale.

http://www.jenzinemagazine.com/article.php?id=507

But Boy George is set to lend his voice to a more intimate track to raise money for the Marie Curie Hospice in Hampstead – and is calling on residents to join him.

The former Culture Club frontman, who lives in Hampstead, will record four big numbers from the1960s - including Dusty Springfield’s You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me - and hopes to recruit dozens of Hampstead and Highgate back-up singers.

Musician Matthew Jones, who is collaborating with the Karma Chameleon singer on the project, said the pair shared a passion for big, dramatic numbers.

Mr Jones said: “I first met George in the summer when we worked together at The Royal Albert Hall for a Dusty Springfield tribute I organised.

“We had a massive choir of 200 and an orchestra. The sound was incredible and really lent itself to Boy George’s voice. So we thought, why not collaborate further?”

Mr Jones said he and Boy George had chosen Marie Curie because it is a charity “close to their hearts”.

He said: “My mother passed away when she was only 47-years-old and I was very young. At the time she was cared for by Marie Curie nurses, in fact we all were because they gave the whole family counselling and support for two years. It was incredible.

“And of course it is a local charity for Boy George, so it is close to both of our hearts.”

Seasoned singers and amateurs alike are being urged to volunteer to sing on the record as Mr Jones insists that with training and advice, everyone can hold a note.

“This is for everyone, including those who don’t think they are strong singers or think they are tone deaf,” he said.

Profits will be split between the Marie Curie Hospice in Lyndhurst Gardens, Hampstead, and a hospice in Mr Jones’ home town of Birmingham.

The more singers that take part from Hampstead the better, as the profits will be split between the hospices in proportion to the number of people from each area that sing on the final EP.

Choirs and singing groups have given the project the thumbs up.

Pam Gilby, of the Hampstead based Fleet Singers, said: “I think this is a wonderful idea. I am sure many of our members would be interested in getting involved.

“Marie Curie is a very well supported charity in Hampstead and I’m sure everyone will get behind this.”

Emma Carlisle, fundraising manager at the Hampstead hospice, said: “We are very grateful for any funds raised in need of Marie Curie care.”

Rehearsals start over Christmas and the tracks will be recorded in February.

For information on volunteering contact Jenny Sloan at 0121 632 2330.

http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/boy_george_to_release_charity_single_for_hampstead_marie_curie_1_1154018