Category Archives: Culture Club

Blitz: The Club That Shaped The 80s @ Design Museum, 27 September 2025

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England, 1979: punk is out, sus laws and Thatcher are in. Nightclubs are closing down and youth violence and political unrest are on the rise (as are movements like Rock Against Racism).

But, in a curious echo of punk five years before, something is stirring in the London suburbs. Young Roxy, Bowie and Kraftwerk fans from Bromley, Burnt Oak and Basildon are dressing up in style (Zoot and toy-soldier suits, cummerbunds, bolero hats, geometric haircuts) and flocking to clubs like Covent Garden’s famous Blitz, now the subject of an engaging exhibition running until 29 March 2026 at the Design Museum

It was the apex of a scene which encompassed fashion, graphic design, journalism, electronic dance music, squatting and a New Pop sensibility which would soon sweep the charts. In short, it’s arguably the best of the 1980s, and this fascinating exhibition neatly incorporates most of it.

Blitz Kids including Midge Ure, Steve Strange, Billy Currie and Rusty Egan

We see the original flyers and posters which wittily and stylishly trailed the Blitz club nights, and there are many items of vintage clothing. The rarely-seen photos are worth the price of admission alone, many contributed by original scenesters like Boy George, Siobahn Fahey, Robert Elms and Marilyn, including a priceless shot of David Bowie with Toni Basil (we also get the full story of Bowie’s recruitment of Strange et al for the ‘Ashes To Ashes’ video).

But the jewel in the exhibition’s crown is probably the recreation of the Blitz itself, with an AI Rusty Egan on the decks and Spandau Ballet performing ‘To Cut A Long Story Short’ on the ‘live stage’ (elsewhere Elms has donated his embarrassing handwritten poem which he used to announce their debut gig at the club).

Rusty Egan, Gary Kemp, Fiona Dealey and Robert Elms in the exhibition’s recreated Blitz. Photo by PA Media

The exhibition widens out to encompass other fascinating early 1980s artefacts, like the posters advertising Sade’s pre-fame Ronnie Scott’s gigs – well over a year before Diamond Life was released – and evidence of the media’s generally condescending attitude towards The Cult With No Name/New Romantics/Blitz Kids.

Then there are the textiles, hats and magazines galore (the exhibition dovetails slightly with the Portrait Gallery’s recent Face exhibition), and even the first all-electronic drum set, a Simmons SDS-V, as used by Kajagoogoo, Flock Of Seagulls, Ultravox etc.

This is an engaging, fun exhibition curated by people who were there and/or obviously care about this stuff. And there’s just enough social/political context for it to be educational too – it was good to see so many youngsters enjoying it with their parents. Highly recommended.

The Blitz in 1980, with Boy George (left)

Culture Club: ‘Karma Chameleon’ Hits US #1 40 Years Ago Today

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The Second British Invasion hit its imperial phase 40 years ago today, a week after Newsweek had put Annie Lennox and Boy George on its cover.

Off the back of Eurythmics’ ‘Sweet Dreams’ hitting #1 in the US during September 1983, ‘Here Comes The Rain Again’ peaked at #4 at the beginning of February 1984.

In the same week, Culture Club’s ‘Karma Chameleon’ hit #1, their only American chart-topper to date. The band then won Best New Artist at the 1984 Grammy Awards on 28 February, Boy George giving one of the most famous music-award thank-yous of all time:

Regarding the Newsweek photoshoot, George later reported in his autobiography ‘Take It Like A Man’: ‘I heard Annie telling the make-up artist Lynne Easton not to make her look like Boy George. Annie was my female counterpart, the tomboy to my tomgirl. I enjoyed the irony of my being photographed with her; I was the fan made good, even if she didn’t want Boy George eyebrows.’

Both Culture Club and Eurythmics then toured the US during April 1984, the latter enjoying a famous residency at The Ritz in New York City. Did you see either of them live in ’84? Let us know your memories below.

Great Brit Swearing: Ian Dury, Culture Club, Prefab Sprout, David Bowie & Up Yaws

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487px-Ian_Dury_1I’ve always had a penchant for good swearing in music. And long before those Parental Advisory stickers, there were some real humdingers.

Ian Dury’s oeuvre was of course an early landmark – his ‘Plaistow Patricia’ became a kind of forbidden, blasphemous classic as did Marianne Faithful’s coruscating ‘Why D’Ya Do It’. They both sounded like they really meant it.

David Bowie’s ‘It’s No Game (Part 2)’ would also have us in stitches. His rather random four-letter word, sung in Iggyish baritone, enlivened many a dull afternoon.

Even Prefab Sprout’s ‘Horsechimes’ somehow shocked with Paddy McAloon’s rather pristine vocals uttering the word ‘piss’.

But then my uncle (it’s always uncles) passed me the following curio (the Up Yaws video currently deleted/age-restricted by YouTube…) and the world of muso swearing was never quite the same again. Initially coming on like a first-rate pastiche of early-’80s UK jazz/funk as played by the likes of Shakatak, its gradual insertion of four-letter words and random insults never fails to provoke a titter.

It’s puerile, silly and childish, and I absolutely defend it as a piece of music. Rumours abound as to who’s responsible, some mentioning Adrian Edmondson, some The Damned… (If anyone knows for sure, please leave a message at the bottom of this post.)

Then there’s the whole subgenre of bands getting it wrong in the studio and swearing-alot. The Troggs Tapes is of course the industry standard, but a Culture Club outtake from 1983 recently came to light on a career-spanning box set (also recently removed from YouTube, sadly…).

It features our four heroes (plus poor pianist Phil Pickett) trying to record ‘Victims’ with the underlying pressures of expensive studio costs, an out-of-tune fretless bass and Boy George/Jon Moss’s corrosive love affair.

Suffice it to say, things don’t go too well. But imagine trying to ‘produce’ this lot. Come to think of it, producer Steve Levine is possibly the one voice we don’t hear. Had he given up the ghost or was he all-too-aware of not getting involved and spoiling an audio-verite ‘classic’?