Culture Club new album and tour news

What music? He isn't releasing any!

I think this is more than just petty nonsense. I don't post every little feud he does. A lot of fans were really angry about the meet and greet. If he wants to be successful it is very important to keep a good relationship with your paying fans.

 

I think they'd both have careers in music of some kind but maybe not as lucrative as it's been for them (but then again, who knows? They could have found work in other bands and had just as much success). Both had music careers before Culture Club and continued to work in music when Culture Club wasn't active.

 

And what career would George have without them? He has never been able to write hit songs as a solo artist. His only big solo hits are covers. I'm sick of people demeaning their contribution. At the end of the day George needs them as much as they need him!

 

Riiiiiight.... and with that, another members joins my ignore list...

 

Very true with a minor correction. Jon was in a lot of professional bands before Culture Club such as the Damned and the Clash because he was older. Roy didn't have a music career before the band because he was young. He had only played in a few amateur bands and practiced guitar at home.

Jon was absolutely crucial to them becoming successful because he was the only one with any real professional experience or understandings of the workings of the music business. George himself despite his personal issues with Jon has said this numerous times in interviews. Anyone who thinks Jon isn't absolutely crucial to Culture Club must have been asleep for the last 35 years and isn't a true Culture Club fan.

 

Clearly you don't like the truth. If George doesn't need them, then why did he reform the band if his solo career was so great?

I've always found it shocking that George hasn't had more hits as a solo artist given the amount of publicity he gets. It surely isn't because people don't know about him or his solo releases.

 

They are announcing dates for this summer. The first date is August 3 in Asbury Park, NJ. It is with the Thompson Twins or more precisely Tom Bailey, not the B-52's as previously rumored. The Thompson Twins are okay, but I would have preferred the B-52's as they are more timeless and not as stereotypically 80's.

George also said on twitter the new album is coming soon, bigger, badder and better! But they don't seem to be bundling it with the tour tickets, like a lot of older artists do. Bon Jovi got a #1 album by doing that! So I guess their lack of proper organization continues!

 

Or maybe they didnt have a record company willing to underwrite the costs of a big CD giveaway? Cos Im betting the cost of any discounting etc to get that to happen didnt come out of Bon Jovi's pockets hehe

 

Bingo!

 

But it's not a giveaway. The price of the album is included in the concert ticket. And it's usually a digital copy not a cd which avoids mailing costs. Record companies still make money from cd's and downloads. included with concet tickets. You just aren't charged twice.
Duran Duran did a similar thing for All You Need is Now when they weren't signed to a major label.
Plus, they are signed to a major label BMG.
More likely they just haven't finished the album and you won't be able to buy it at the time of the tour.

 

They just announced a big US tour with the B-52's and Thompson Twins! 40 dates! Not sure they can sell all those dates. They are coming to Wolf Trap here which is a gorgeous venue! I'm there.

George is promising a new single and album for the tour. Apparently the album is now called Life. I preferred Tribes. Rumor has it the first single is a song he played on Instagram live which is one of those reggae songs. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of that UB40 like sound. It has become a dated cliched thing for them. I would have preferred one of their funky songs like Hard Times or Solid Ground!

 

Jon Bon Jovi will not get a #1 album from bundling it with tickets. Chart returns are not from concert ticket / CD deals.

CC will go part-way down the reggae route as that is what George likes these days.

As for the content of a BG show in Vegas. He has always sung the CC hits as well as his own at his solo shows. I would have thought that doing a long run of shows would be a risk with his throat problems.

 

Always thought he had a good voice. Interesting tunes as well. He & the drummer I think had a falling out relationship wise. And he was into heavy drugs.

 

At this point I would be shocked if the new album comes out at all, much less this year.

 

FWIW, Thompson Twins aren't on the tour - it's "Tom Bailey of the Thompson Twins".

Thompson Twins apparently haven't existed as a band for 25 years...

 

Bon Jovi's album did debut at #1 due to the bundling, but the next week it had a huge drop to 100 and something. I doubt they made money from the album because sales are so low , but having a #1 album even for a week is an ego boost.

The Vegas residency is apparently off. George is not a big enough star and doesn't have enough hits to sustain a long term residency. Plus, George's style of performing isn't really suited to Vegas. A lot of the more successful shows like Britney and J Lo involve choreography which George doesn't do.

I never believed that first tour was cancelled for throat problems. I think he just got in a fight with the other guys. So the throat problems are non existent! So the real risk is he will have a diva fit and quit! But since he no longer dj's CC is his only money making venture these days so I don't see him quitting.

Yes, he plays the hits with the other band but they don't play them with the same style and spark as Jon, Roy and Mikey. And George performs much better with CC than the solo band. George is the type of character who thrives on arguments and conflict. His relationships with them are strained but he needs that edge to get up to performing. George with the solo band is Snoozeville!

 

I understand people are skeptical but I think it might because they are on BMG and so its release is controlled by them not by George.

 

I actually realize that. I just didn't want to type the whole name out. He does play their hits so it's basically the same.

 

Note the billing change with BG's name being above the band.

 

Makes sense to me- I mean he has name recognition. Most people don't know who Roy, Mikey, or Jon are.

 

It's him thinking he more important than the group. Stevie Nicks doesn't ask for silly "the Big Star, plus a couple other guys" billing.

 

Yes, but how is that different from any other band? The singer is always more famous than the other members, yet their name is not featured separately . It's not Simon Le Bon and Duran Duran, Shirley Manson and Garbage or Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones!

The only time the singer's name is listed separately is if a famous singer starts a new band and so they list their name or you wouldn't know who the lead singer is! For example it's Steven Tyler and the Loving Mary Band, his new country band, but just Aerosmith when he performs with them.

And I think most people do know at least Jon Moss given all the press around their relationship. He was quite the pin up in the 80's.

I wonder if the name has any actual significance? Does it mean George makes more money than the others?

The new name doesn't seem to be catching on though. I heard George interviewed on the radio and the dj referred to them as Culture Club, not BG and CC!

 

In other news, they are working with Future Cuts, a drum and bass dj/producer who is reworking the album which is now called Life. Seems a weird match for them. A shame because I liked what Youth did. He really understood what so many people even so called fans don't get that they are an actual band who all contribute not just George.

 

If anyone deserves separate billing it would be Stevie not George! She has way more solo hits than he does! Wild Heart was one of the first albums I ever bought! I like her solo albums way more than Fleetwood Mac which is the opposite of how I feel about George and CC!