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for more information on Culture Club,
visit their MySpace profile at: www.myspace.com/cultureclubspace The Culture Club Connection forum: www.cultureclubforum.com/ or the Friends of Culture Club MySpace group: http://groups.myspace.com/cultureclubfriends
News digest Culture Club, with new lead singer Sam Butcher, are touring the UK in December. Sam joins Jon Moss, Mikey Craig and Phil Pickett as the line-up for Culture Club 2006. Sam's debut with Culture Club was on July 25 at a showcase at Too2Much in London, performing eight of Culture Club's hits (Do You Really Want To Hurt Me, Move Away, It's A Miracle, Church of the Poison Mind, Black Money, I Just Wanna Be Loved, Miss Me Blind, Karma Chameleon). Culture Club are currently recording new songs with Sam for release early next year, and their showcase at Too2Much was filmed for an upcoming DVD release.
Concert dates: For bookings, visit bookingsdirect.com and click on "Events", then "Culture Club"
Video links on YouTube:
Culture Club hires Sam Butcher after placing ad on Gumtree Iconic band Culture Club has found a new lead singer in the shape of Sam Butcher, after placing an ad on Gumtree.
Butcher, 29, applied to join original band members Jon Moss, Mikey Craig and Phil Pickett thinking the ad was a wind up - he joked "I wouldn't prefer a cup of tea to sex, but I wouldn't mind a Brandy Alexander." The band, who enjoyed a string of hits across the Eighties, took the unusual step of advertising for a new lead singer on community classifieds site Gumtree.com in a bid to find a rising star with a unique voice and look. And Butcher certainly fits the bill with his feminine appearance. The advert for the position, posted on Gumtree.com, the UK's busiest site for jobs*, received a staggering 50,000 hits in its first day. Sophy Silver of Gumtree.com said, "Gumtree.com is the UK's most popular local classified site and a great place to find anything - from a flat or a car, to a singer in a supergroup! The music section of Gumtree.com is hugely influential and many people use it to put together bands. We wish Sam lots of luck in his new role."
Some questions we asked Sam: 1. What made you apply for the job as Culture Club's lead singer? Obviously you don't just wake up one day and say... "Ok, I'm going to apply to front Culture Club". The opportunity - like a lot of things in life - has to come to you. Gumtree played a big part in that process. But I'm a great believer in destiny. There's no doubt the planets have all suddenly come into alignment for me this year. Everything feels 'different'... like I've been walking on the spot... but now it's my time and everything is a little brighter and a bit more positive. I actually didn't see the ad initially...the link to Gumtree was emailed through to me by a friend. She knew I was absolutely dedicated to song writing and singing and said..."you SO should be going for this." I wasn't convinced the ad wasn't a joke... but she made me send a reply anyway. The rest is history. 2. Have you always been a fan of Culture Club? If so, what is your favourite Culture Club song? Like most people, I've always been aware of Culture Club's music but I couldn't have called myself a fan. I guess I'm just a huge fan of ALL good music - whatever the genre. If the songs and the recorded productions are compelling, I'll be into them. You can't fail to be impressed by the quality of Culture Club's back catalogue, though. I was really into their 1999 hit song, "I Just Wanna Be Loved" and I loved the video too. My favourite Culture Club song ever though is 'Black Money' (from the 'Colour By Numbers' album) followed closely by "Love Got Lost" (a new song we've just finished) and "Cold Shoulder" (from the most recent Culture Club album). 3. Tell us a bit about your background. What was your first band? How many have you been in? I guess I was very shy as a youngster - but always into music and always dreaming of making music. As I became a teenager, expressing that musicality became more important and being in bands was a way to do that but yet not to be 'too exposed' in the way that solo singers are. I've lost count of the so called bands that I was in at school - some of them only lasted a few days and were more fantasy than reality! Really connecting with the others you've teamed up with and jointly striving to create wonderful songs and to 'take on the world' can be more important than anything else at that age. Fronting Culture Club is really no different... so maybe I've still not changed to this day. 4. How would you describe your style? Extravagant, artistic, expressive - and sometimes, a little misguided!!! 5. You say you're not a Boy George replacement Ð is there anyone whose style you admire? Who would you say were your biggest influences? I admire the style of lots of people. You see loads of people with amazing street style every day in London. Pete from Big Brother 7 is currently a favourite - he's just 'out there' and completely confident with it - whether he's in pyjamas or with dungarees, a mohican and face paint. My designer friend Kurt Jones is amazing. He actually helped to style part of our look for my first show with Culture Club last week. He changes his look more often than Madonna and always looks 'fresh' though he's a busy working guy and a dad. In the public eye, I often admire those with a 'less is more' philosophy of fashion - Audrey Hepburn, Coldplay's Chris Martin, new Bond actor Daniel Craig. I rarely follow their restrained example though!!!
6. What would you say "qualifies" you to be the new lead singer of Culture Club? What are you going to bring to the band? What is unique about you that will make the band great? 7. How long have you been using Gumtree? I was a Gumtree 'virgin'! Luckily, my first time was just great so I'll certainly be back for more. In fact I have several times already. (Call me a floozy if you must!) Have you ever read through the ads from those offering themselves up to live in your house for no rent ("I can't pay anything but you'll really enjoy having me around") - hilarious!!! 8. How did you first hear about Gumtree? When my friend sent me the link to the Culture Club ad. "Give it a go," she said, assuring me that the site is nothing to do with eucalyptus cultivation or tree care!" 9. Have you applied for other band roles on Gumtree? What made you think of Gumtree when finding band jobs? No...but maybe I should? Got anyone else big about to advertise? Maybe Madonna's looking for a writing partner? Or maybe Blur want to reform and I could take Damon's place in between Culture Club gigs??? Ha ha... I just see the look on my new band mates' faces now! 10. Would you recommend Gumtree to other budding musicians? Sure. Anything that gives you a channel that you can use to get noticed or to find other like-minded artists can't be bad. 11. What's your favourite section on Gumtree and why do you like the site? The missed connections page is the coolest. (If the polish girl at La Havana Latin Club last Saturday is reading this, her future husband is trying to contact her there today for another dance! In case she's wondering, he had no intentions whatsoever to make her believe he was stalking her and also felt ashamed not to be able to think of anything more memorable to tell her than that she is a good dancer and a gorgeous girl.) Classic. Hats off to him for bravery, anyway. 12. Can you recall a memorable experience or unique/funny posting from Gumtree in the past? The only one that sticks in my head was shown to me by a friend. It was from an American student coming to London who was looking for accommodation. "I'd like to have a double room with it's own seating and television area plus its own separate kitchen and bathroom - jacuzzi preferred. It should be in Zone 1 with a private garden with direct access to lots of sunshine and secure parking - oh and I'd like to pay £40-£50 per week maximum." Poor love. I really thought she had a LOT to learn about surviving in London!
From Bent Magazine (UK), September 2006 Meet Sam, he's the new Boy George... or, at least, he's the new singer for Culture Club who've reformed without their troubled frontman. BENT wanted to find out a little more about the long-haired, make-up wearing enigma, but he refused to tell us how old he was, whether he was gay, or what his second name was, saying 'That stuff's boring' and 'My second name's a bit naff'. Sam answered an advert on the Gum Tree website, through which people are more likely to find au pairs, bedsits and, er, carpenters. It called for a 'new,exciting' singer for Culture Club and not a Boy George clone. The group had a lot of responses including Sam, who suspected it was a joke ad, but sent a photo saying, 'I don't prefer a cup of tea to sex but I wouldn't mind a Brandy Alexander. He sang the hits at a launch gig at London's Two2Much, and he's been busy writing new songs: 'Love Got Lost', 'Reformation', 'Step Inside The Culture Club' - with founder members Mikey Craig and Jon Moss. 'Mikey's great', says Sam. 'I went out shopping 'round Covent Garden with him, an hour before the gig when we were supposed to be sound checking. Jon's lovely and so is his wife'. 'Before the launch, on a scale of nervousness, I went between about zero and 20, but as soon as I got onstage I felt covered with love'. American dates are set to follow. Sam, who's done backing vocals for the likes of Marc Almond and sinita, as well as releasing his own solo album in Japan, says: I've never met George but my dream would be to do a duet with him'. Following is an interview Sam gave to the London Times:
Bye George, Sam's the man A classified ads website, where mothers hunt down au pairs and students find bedsits, is not the first place you would expect to see an advertisement for a new lead singer of one of the most controversial bands of the Eighties. So it's unsurprising, really, that when a 29-year-old man named Sam Butcher responded to the posting for a new Culture Club vocalist to replace Boy George that he thought it was a wind-up. The songwriter, whose greatest claim to fame was a stint as Marc Almond's backing vocalist, responded to the Gumtree.com posting with a gag. He sent a photograph with a note: "No, this is not Boy George. I wouldn't prefer a cup of tea, but I wouldn't mind a Brandy Alexander." It wasn't likely to win him a slot on the Comedy Channel, admittedly, but those whose memories stretch back 20 years may spot the allusion to George's famous soundbite that he preferred a cup of char to hanky panky. And it worked. The joke caught the attention of Culture Club's management. Sam - a long-haired lovely from South London who has since dropped his surname for rock'n'roll ("It's catchier") - received a phone call within the hour. He met up with Phil Pickett, Jon Moss and Mikey Craig, the trio of fortysomethings who constitute Culture Club in 2006. After a five-minute audition, Tony Gordon, the band's manager, spoke the future T-shirt slogan: "Sam's the Man." Last Tuesday night, dressed as an angel, Sam performed his first gig with the band: eight old Culture Club tracks at the Too2Much club in Soho, London. "I have never seen the film A Star is Born but I think that that gig was what it must have been like," Sam says in a well-spoken whisper. "I am completely grabbing it with both hands, I'm like a kid in a candy store." Sam has been on the London music scene for a decade, fronting various uncommercial projects that included a collaboration with Mike Edwards of those other former hit-makers, Jesus Jones. He refuses to reveal his family details, where he went to school or what he studied at college ("I am a private, introspective person and I made a decison early on not to talk about my private life"), but admits to five years of piano lessons which left him "hopeless". Culture Club retain a large fan base in the United States and he says that there is already a possibility of the new-look band collaborating with Scissor Sisters and Mary J. Blige. "I'm so not fazed by that," he says, voice fizzing. He was aware of Culture Club growing up but says he was never a "fan fan". His favourite song by the band is Black Money. Otherwise his influences are eclectic. "I liked Blur a lot," he says, "and Blondie and the Police and that Eddie Grant song Electric Avenue." He remarks casually that he is "just slotting in" to the hole that Boy George left, but claims that he is no George lookalike. He says he has always dressed extravagantly. The Culture Club fans at the Tuesday gig agreed - there was noisy applause as he revealed a hairless torso adorned with what looked like a leather parachute harness. "I really relate to Pete from Big Brother," he elaborates. "Like him, I have always been artistic and I think that how you wear your hair reflects how creative you are. (My look) fits in with the ethos of music now." George's own fortunes have been less rosy of late. The singer was sentenced to five days' community service in New York in June after being convicted of wasting police time for falsely reporting a burglary. After being told that he would have to sweep leaves in a New York park he snapped, with his usual Wildean panache: "I don't care about doing cleaning. I've always been a scrubber." Sam insists, hesitantly, that there is no obvious bad feeling, pointing out that George - who joined Culture Club for their 1998 tour - turned down the opportunity this time round. "But I have had no contact with George," he says, choosing his words with precision. "The whole history of Culture Club has been tumultuous. My understanding is that they had a lot of demands to tour but because he is so creative he didn't have the time. "So they said they would find another singer if he didn't do it and George said 'Go for it'. I am a great admirer of his inventiveness and his talent." Meanwhile, Culture Club are recording new songs in a studio in the house of keyboardist Phil Pickett, who has been biding his time writing songs for Will Young. Tony Denton, the booking agent, says he wants to represent the band and they have plans for a tour in September, a single in December and a TV documentary on this "new phase" of the band's life. Luckily, Sam can flick back claims that this is just another example of the serial flogging of the donkey sanctuary otherwise known as Eighties pop. "I wouldn't call Culture Club an Eighties band," he says, reminding me that they had a Top Five album in 1999. "I see it as continuing the story. I hope the new material is successful and the time with Boy George is seen as a golden period. "I couldn't fill shoes as big as George's, anyway."
UPDATE The auditions are a success - Culture Club have found a new singer! In an initial audition, he performed eight of Culture Club's hits and a few of the new songs they have written, exceeding all expectations. The general consensus? - "He is breathtaking - a fantastic performer on stage with an amazing voice. He brings emotion and a really beautiful voice to the Culture Club songs. We all left as fans." The reunited Culture Club lineup currently features Jon Moss, Mikey Craig and Phil Pickett. Roy Hay is currently not taking part in the reunion as he is based in Los Angeles and unsure if he wants to commit to travelling to and from London for rehearsals, and for months touring the world - but is welcome to rejoin the band at anytime when he can. Auditions were held on Friday and further auditions will be held to find another two or three singers to join the front line before rehearsals officially begin. Culture Club have been offered a TV show in America, and a tour in November / December.
UPDATE Ladies and Gentlemen, this news is true! I have had confirmation of this from Tony Gordon, Culture Club's manager, who says: We are all very excited. The reason why Culture Club are deciding to reform without Boy George was that although they love him and would have preferred to reform with him, George is currently into a different kind of music and direction and is no longer interested in performing with Culture Club.
Culture Club are looking for a new lead singer! The original members of Culture Club are searching for a unique star vocalist with a brilliant voice, boy or girl, to take part in a 2007 World Tour and TV series. NOT, repeat NOT a karaoke Boy George 'lookalike' but a charismatic & unique performer in his or her own right with something truly fresh, contemporary and original to offer. This is an authentic and genuine 'once in a lifetime' opportunity to change your life (& yes, it is real!) For an audition, if you're, (a) posess an original talent, (b) professional and serious, or (c) know someone who might fit the bill, please:-
1. Send email (please keep it brief!) with a recent photo (no mp3's at this stage) CLICK HERE for the original advert and to apply
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