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By George
By James Atwood
IT'S 1.30AM in London and Boy George is in a chatty mood. He's even had time to sing 'Happy Birthday'down the phone to my mother. Briefly back in England before returning to New York after an eight-month stint, the boy the whole world fell in love with 20 years ago hasn't changed in many ways - maybe just older and wiser. Still funny. Still friendly, and still highly intelligent; he has an opinion on anything and everything from music, gay rights, drugs, politics, Princess Diana, Madonna and George Michael.
Despite, or perhaps due to a lack of radio airplay, George has been steering his career in another musical direction of late, having penned (and starred in) a hight musical on both sides of the Atlantic. Set in the seedy, ultra-hip London club scene of the 80s, Taboo intertwines the story of George's rise to fame with that of flamboyant artist Leigh Bowery, Steve Strange and that fellow 'gender bender' Marilyn. The show is still playing to packed houses and rave reviews in the UK after 18 months, but only enjoyed a three-month stint on Broadway this year amid rumours of financial strife and poor box office returns.
So what was it like reliving his old life to a certain extent? "Well, the score for Taboo is completely new," he says. "So for me it was a new venture. Even though it has a foot in the past it isn't an out-and-out nostalgia fest. It was fantastic to do it."
The politics of Broadway however left him a little jaded. The corporate atmosphere, dollars for art and the new Andrew Lloyd Webber didn't marry well in the land of the greenback. "I always focus on what I'm doing artistically rather than worry about what is going on in the background," he says. "It was a whole different experience for me really and obviously it ws my first introduction to Broadway."
Though a new solo album is due for release next year, as is his latest autobiography, however much George tries to reinvent himself he will possibly be forever written into the history books as the front man of Culture Club. After successful world tours, and another album with the band, he now says enough is enough, preferring not to be sewn permanently back into his old 80s costume.
"If I keep doing that nostalgia thing then I'm going to be stuck there forever," he says. "The band was quite happy to go out and play purely for the money, but I think we have very different reasons for making music and that's just something that we have to accept."
Culture Club's 20th Anniversary concert at London's Royal Albert Hall has just been released locally on DVD, a show that George describes as "really good fun", despite wanting to let go of the past. "Whenever I do shows with Culture Club it's always very affectionate and there is always so much warmth," he says. "That's the thing - and one of the reasons why it's (sometimes) so difficult not to do it. But from a creative point of view it's like if you're a painter; you're not made to paint the same painting for 20 years. As much as Culture Club was wonderful and I loved it, I'm really bored with the whole 80s thing."
Of course George has an opinion on his fellow 80s superstar - the 'other' George - and his infamous 'outing to a public loo in LA (and the subsequent hit single spawned by the incident). "Personally I think Outside really should have been called Inside," he bitches, clearly disappointed that Michael didn't come out years earlier when it was "so obvious" he was gay. "It's like, how much money do you have to make and how insecure do you have to be before you actually feel comfortable about who you are?"
"I know gay people go out and have sex in toilets or saunas but not every gay person does that. I mean the fact he had a boyfriend and was going out from his mansion in LA to have sex in a toilet - if he were my boyfriend I would have kicked him out the door. I'm a romantic. If you want an open relationship, open the door and leave. I'm not into gay marriage or aping heterosexuality, but we don't have to treat people like objects." The man who once so famously said he preferred a cup of tea to sex has clearly moved on. "Oh, fuck off," he says laughing when I raise the subject. "Obviously I don't".
Boy George on...
...Homophobia
...Internalised homophobia
... Relationships
... DJing
... Hugh Jackman
... George Michael
... Shirley Maclaine
... J. Lo
... Will Young
... Princess Diana
... Elton John
... Culture Club
... Australia
Culture Club
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