Culture Club

There is not a country in the world that doesn’t know the names of Boy George and Culture Club. The Grammy Award winners have sold in excess of 100 million singles and over 50 million albums, making it as one of the biggest pop bands of the 1980s.

They achieved seven straight Top 10 hits in the UK, had number 1 singles in over a dozen countries and multi platinum album sales across the world, and were first group since The Beatles to have three Top Ten hits in America from a debut album. They were also the first group in music history to have an album certified diamond in Canada.

ABC are one of those groups who come along once a decade to effect a paradigm shift in the way music is heard and made, one of those groups who move the music forward, alerting us to the possibilities of strange combinations, employing radical ideas yet never confusing arrogance with ambition. They kick-started the Eighties with their own brand of pop for the new decade.

Fusing dance floor finesse with a post-punk attitude they released their first single, ‘Tears Are Not Enough’, in the autumn of 1981. More hits followed in rapid succession. ‘Poison Arrow’, ‘The Look Of Love’ and ‘All Of My Heart’. On its release in May 1982 their debut album ‘The Lexicon of Love’ crashed straight into the album charts at number one. Although they continued to release more albums over the years, they eventually made an acclaimed sequel to their debut, releasing 'The Lexicon of Love II' in 2017.

ABC continue to tour extensively throughout the world, playing sell-out concerts from London‘s Royal Albert Hall to California’s Hollywood Bowl. Whether performing as a band, or performing with an Orchestra, Martin Fry remains the consummate show man.

Of all pop’s shining, fiery comets, Haircut 100 burnt brightly, gave off heat, changed the landscape, and then, as fast as they appeared, were gone, leaving many happy memories.

For 18 months or so in the early 1980s, Haircut did their thing. Who can forget songs as joyous and memorable as Fantastic Day, Love Plus One and Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl) and the accompanying album, the mighty, flirty and flighty Pelican West. It was already platinum-certified in the UK only three months after release. The album spent 11 consecutive weeks in the British Top 10 and twice reached No. 2. It also charted in the US, Australia and beyond.

“Haircut 100 were a revelation,” Mickey McCarter wrote for Parklife DC about the band’s show at Columbus Athenaeum in 2024. “Nick Heyward and company delivered these tunes with an upbeat boyish charm that had everyone in the venue feeling good . . . It was truly remarkable to see Haircut 100 in action. Here’s to hoping these Englishmen tour American venues again in the near future.” Well, even in today’s somewhat crazy world, wishes can still come true. Haircut 100 are returning, basking in the moment, revelling in rekindled friendships, emboldened by new material, their catalogue of hits sounding better each play and ready to take the show back on the road.