Songoftheday 10/21/18 - First there are kisses then there are sighs, and then before you know where you are you're sayin' goodbye...
from the album The Crying Game (Original Soundtrack) (1993)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #15 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 9
Today's song of the day comes from British pop icon Boy George, who after breaking up his band Culture Club, struck out on his own in the later half of the 1980s, eventually scoring a top-40 pop hit in America with "Live My Life" from the soundtrack to the movie Hiding Out. While his first solo album was rather ignored in the States, his record company Virgin tried to "reinvent" George by compiling a sophomore effort from tracks from two subsequent British releases that weren't put out in the U.S., Tense Nervous Heartache and Boyfriend. The result, High Hat, featured two songs produced by new jack swing king Teddy Riley (of Guy and Blackstreet fame), and from it the song "Don't Take My Mind On A Trip", was well-received enough to go to #5 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart in 1989, followed by "You Found Another Guy", which also made the R&B top-40 at #34. But even though High Hat was a true gem of an album, the combination of the change in sound and Virgin trying to "butch up" his appearance on video totally confused his core audience, and pop radio left it alone. Taking control of his life as well as his music by label More Protein, George's next project, under the moniker Jesus Loves You, returned him to the (mostly gay) clubs with a more progressive and satisfying house music groove in the album The Martyr Mantras. Five singles from the set reached the British chart, with two making the top 40; "Generations Of Love", which peaked at #35 and went to to climb to #11 on the American dance chart in Billboard, and the joyful "Bow Down Mister", which embraced his Hari Krishna spiritual leanings at that point in time, and made it to #27 in the UK.
In 1992, George was hired to cover a song that would be the title track for the British intrigue movie The Crying Game starring Stephen Rea and Jaye Davidson in a plot centering around the Irish/British guerrilla wars of the latter half of the 20th century. The original "Crying Game", performed by British singer Dave Berry, also appeared in the film. In 1964 it went to #5 on the British singles chart. Future Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin guitar god Jimmy Page played on this record...
In America, where Berry was not a factor (in the early 60s, before the Beatles, British and American artists would cover the same material), country-pop singer Brenda Lee released the song, where it was the "B-side" to single "Thanks A Lot", and on its own cresting at #87....
For Boy George's version, the Pet Shop Boys produced the track with a minimalist electronic approach, focusing on George's haunting gender-bending vocals, truly capturing the true theme of the movie itself (spoiler no spoilers), which was nominated for Oscars for Best Picture, Actor, Supporting Actor, Director, Editing, and won Best Original Screenplay (as a remake the song wasn't eligible)...
"The Crying Game" became Boy George's biggest solo pop hit in America, reaching the top 20 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart in May of 1993. The song also crossed over to #13 on Billboard's Modern Rock radio chart, as well as #14 on their Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") format tally. Internationally, the record topped the big chart in Canada, spending a week at #1, as well as doing the same in Iceland, and reached the top-40 in Italy (#16), the UK (#22), Ireland (#26), Sweden (#32), and Australia (#39). The record would be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal, which went to Sting for "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You".
The remainder of the 1990s found Boy George more recognized for his DJ and club work. Later in 1993 he collaborated with alternative hip-hop duo P.M. Dawn on the beautiful "More Than Likely", which reached #40 in the UK. His next album after "The Crying Game" didn't come until 1995's Cheapness and Beauty; lead single "Funtime" just missed the British top-40 at #45, while the remixed track "Same Thing In Reverse" scaled to #18 on the American dance chart. A few years later, one-off single "When Will You Learn" earned George a second Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording in 1999, which Madonna won for "Ray Of Light". That same year, he reunited with Culture Club for a new album, Don't Mind If I Do. Even though it scored a top ten hit in Britain with "I Just Wanna Be Loved", the record never was officially released in the States.
George started off the new millenium in bringing the story of mentor Leigh Bowery, Taboo, to the stage, where it had a successful London run and a disastrous Broadway attempt, albeit landing a Tony nomination for the score. But besides DJ gigs, he mostly popped into the news from various drug and other legal-related issues. In 2006, he did reappear on the British top-40 as a guest on fellow androgynous performer Antony & The Johnsons' single "You Are My Sister" (#39). Thankfully, he cleaned himself up, and in 2013, he returned with a critically heralded album, This Is What I Do, which hit the UK Top-40 (#33). After legal trouble kept him from being on Celebrity Big Brother UK in 2009, he was the runner-up on the Celebrity Apprentice in 2017 (after Trump left). Reuniting yet again with Culture Club for a very successful tour, the band is about to release a new album, Life, this coming Friday (October 26).
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
Here's Boy George appearing on French TV...
In 2002, Kylie Minogue included a cover of "The Crying Game" in her Fever tour in 2002...
Finally, here's Boy George and Culture Club in concert in Switzerland in 2016...
Up tomorrow: British pop diva professes a more meager existence.
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