Description: Celebrities attended the Get Tested at The Paradise, West London, UK. 26/11/2009 Pictured; Boy George

November 28th


First I just wanted to say thank you for all the effort that you made with our Dotty Horror Night.
I did promise that I would set a competition for our Birthday Party, as you know the 28th of November the Dot Cotton Club will be 18 years old.

The Competition
Dress to look like Boy George, from any period.

The Prize
Everybody that enters will get in for £7.50
The winner will get Three months free entry for 2

So Guys and Gals its over to you, dress it up dress it down, our 18th Birthday will be the highlight of the year.

http://www.junction.co.uk/events/day/2009/11/28/1038-dot-cotton-18th-birthday-party-feat-boy-george

BOY GEORGE SAYS HE IS OFF DRUGS FOR GOOD

1. You are one of the worlds biggest gay icons. In the 80s, being gay was a hard thing to accept for many people. Was it easy or difficult for you to just be yourself? Were you accepted for who you are by your family, friends and the music industry at first?


BOY GEORGE: Well, I came out well before the 80s. I was just sixteen when I came out to my family but in the 80s my sexuality became a public issue because of my fame so it was a whole different experience. Coming out to one's family is hard enough but being exposed to the entire world through the media, well, it's hard to explain what that's like. My relationship with Jon Moss also made it difficult because he wasn't comfortable with our relationship being public. For me it was less of an issue because I was already out to my family and friends and had lived for some years as an openly gay man. I look back now and I realise how huge it was but at the time I was quite so confused about what to say or do. I wanted to tell everyone that I loved Jon but was also afraid of loosing him so there was only one choice and that was to keep our relationship private. I had the support of my family always, right from the start. I know how important that is because so many people don't, even nowadays.


2. When people think of 80's music, CULTURE CLUB more than always comes to mind as one of the biggest bands of the era. Were you ready for fame? Did you think you were going to become one of the biggest stars in the world? What is the one moment that really stands out to you that you realized "You Made It". You are a Star

BOY GEORGE: I don't think I had much time to really sit around and think 'I'm a star'. I remember getting mobbed for the first time in a store in Scotland on tour. It was simply overnight, once we had been on TV I was instantly recognized everywhere and I just couldn't walk down the street. It was a bit like a roller coaster ride and you just go along with it because it's all new and exciting. Of course, like any new exciting experience it gets a little suffocating and I had to find a way of being able to walk around without being hounded. I can do it now much easier because I don't have the dreadlocks and I don't walk around in full costume and make up. Mind you, the minute the war paint and glad rags go on I get lots of attention and I get treated very differently. I handle it much better these days!


3. After leaving CULTURE CLUB you did many albums as a solo artist. Do any of them hold a special place in your heart? Which album was most personal to you as a solo artist? Why?

BOY GEORGE: I still haven't made the record I feel is my opus as a solo artist. I will know when it happens but as far as I'm concerned it's yet to happen! Of course I'm very proud of the solo work I've done but some of my favorite stuff has been largely ignored or is only known to hardcore fans. I guess I'm always looking to the next project. I think my work on Taboo is some of the stuff I'm most proud of from a song-writing perspective.


4. You are also known for being a superstar DJ. What made you cross over from singing to DJ'ing?

BOY GEORGE: I've never felt that I have to choose between one or the other. The DJ work has been more successful over the past ten years and I find it very exciting playing in clubs. My heart is always going to be more with singing and performing live with my band because it's more emotional and intimate. You can express yourself much more when performing as a musician and my stuff is always very personal so it's obviously going to mean much more. But when you have a dance crowd in your hands there is nothing quite like it. I enjoy anything that allows me to express my creative ideas, being a DJ, singing and writing, photography or creating fashion!


5. I recently heard some of your new demo tracks. Does this mean there is a new album in the works? Anything you can tell us about?


BOY GEORGE: The next thing I will release is a dance album with all the stuff I've collaborated on with Kinky Roland, some of it has been available before but there are lot's of tracks that never got released or mixes of tracks that have never been heard. We are including a few new things, Amazing Grace, Brand New, etc. There will be a special E.P out with additional tracks before the album. All this stuff will be available in the next couple of months. I'm doing a new album in october with Steve Levine who produced all the early Culture Club stuff. This album will be more traditional and will feature lots of interesting covers, jazz classics and gospel and a few brand new songs. I think 'Lights' will be part of this project and then I will tour this album from around next April. We are making a documentary to go with this project but it will be purely about the music, no scandal or bullshit!


6. At one time, you had a radio talk show on London's LBC. I am located in MASS, USA and I tuned in all the time online just to hear your show. (Gotta love that 5 hour time difference. lol)
What gave you the desire to step into that area of the business? being on the other side of the table?

BOY GEORGE: It was an opportunity that just arose and it was something new to try out. I enjoyed writing my column for the Sunday Express and it's something I'd like to do again but for now I want to focus on the music!


7. A few years back, you hit Broadway with TABOO. What was that like for you? Was that a first time experience? What made you turn to that direction?

BOY GEORGE: It was an anti-climax after doing Taboo in London. I don't think New York was ready for Taboo. Also, the New York production was less edgy so it felt like a real compromise but I had fun on Broadway despite the dramas!


8. During the TABOO era, correct me if I am wrong... but is that when you officially started the new look of paint on your face and head as an image? Was that more for shock value or just another persona? How did you come up with that incredible idea for a look?

BOY GEORGE: I was playing the late performance artist Leigh Bowery so those were his looks in fact.


9. I didnt really want to get into this topic, but I know many fans would like to know... When you did your prison time, was it anything like you were expecting it to be? Not only being gay, but also a celebrity - did this concern you? What was the experience like behind bars?


BOY GEORGE: I just got on with it to be honest. It was like being back at school but I made a few good friends and I tried to stay positive and I feel I was pretty successful. I read a lot of things that were printed about me when I was released and it was such a pile of crap. One day I will put down my story in a book but right now I just want to focus on the future and being creative. Prison pretends to be about rehabilitation but it's just lies. They feed you and lock you up and that's all that really happens. It's more about retribution and perhaps this is why so many people keep going back to prison again and again. Now that I've been there I can see why it can never work. Prison needs serious therapy!

10. What does the future hold for BOY GEORGE?
A new album? Culture Club Reunion?


BOY GEORGE: I think I've already answered this. A Culture Club reunion?
We tried that and it was fun briefly but it ended up being a proper headache.


Thanks George!

http://80sinyourface.ning.com/profiles/blogs/interview-boy-george

Boy George will release his version of the Christmas classic ‘White Christmas’ on December 13.  The single will be released digitally. The track has has been remixed by Kinky Roland but no word on when the remixes will be released.

If you buy the tracks from here a small percentage of your purchase will be donated to WSPA

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B002YLXGJK/100boy-20

Get Tested! Get Covered With Boy George and more ...

The Hepatitis C Trust’s GET TESTED! campaign is collaborating with Cover To Cover to rasie awareness of Hepititis C. On Thursday 26th November a one off celebrity extravaganza will take West London’s The Paradise by storm and will see some of the biggest names in fashion and music performing live onstage.

Together they have pooled their resources and come up with a fantastic line up of artists who will bring you their favourite covers. Upstairs, the likes of Boy George, David Mcalmont, Dot Allison and Sadie Frost will perform covers of their favourite songs backed by a live band. Downstairs the Cover To Cover residents Sean Rowley and Christian Laing, Ed Simons (The Chemical Brothers), Justin Robertson, Alan McGee and Dan Williams (Jezebel Sound System) will be playing their favourite cover records.

Cover to Cover is the brainchild of two well-known music obsessives, Sean Rowley (Guilty Pleasures) and Christian Laing (Buttoned Down Disco) which takes place at the Queen of Hoxton each month.

The GET TESTED! campaign encourages people to get tested for hepatitis C if they think they have been at risk. In 2010 GET TESTED! will be raising money to employ a blood borne virus nurse and a bus to tour the country testing people in hard to reach areas.

GET TESTED! 2009 was such a success we are doing it all over again and looking for people to sign up for the whacky races challenge from the UK to Ibiza ending with a big party in collaboration with Pete Tong’s International Music Summit.

Expect the unexpected with an unusually eclectic line up who will be sure to bring a madly diverse night of music...

Full line-up includes:

Boy George
Ed Simons (Chemical Brothers)
Sadie Frost
David Mcalmont
Dot Allison
Eliza Doolittle
Cover To Cover residents Sean Rowley and Christian Laing
Dan Williams (Jezebel Sound System)
Lisa Moorish
Alan McGee
Alice Temple
Ashely Walters aka Asher D
Justin Roberston

Plus some VERY special names still to confirm...

Announcements will be made on the night of which exciting people have signed up for next year’s mission.

BOY GEORGE SET FOR BIG BROTHER

POPSTAR Boy George is about to be banged up again - in the Celebrity Big Brother house.

But this time it is in the Big Brother house, we can exclusively reveal.The gender-bending pop star is already used to being confined in a small space. He was jailed earlier this year for imprisoning a rent boy in his flat. Now he has been released, Boy George wants to sign up for the last series of Celebrity Big Brother. The former Culture Club singer, 48, has turned down offers to appear on the show in the past. But now he has decided to give it a go and it is rumoured he has bagged a £200,000 fee for agreeing to sign. George said recently he is the happiest he has ever been and his stint in jail made him change for the better. He said: “I had prison coming to me. It wasn’t that big a surprise, I kind of knew it was going to happen.

“I just thought: ‘I’m going to make this work for me.’ I got a job quite quickly and worked in the kitchen.”

Our mole said: “Boy George will be explosive – get ready for Celebrity Big Brother to finish with a bang.”

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/109145/Boy-George-set-for-Big-Brother/

Picture taken on George's Twitter Profile.

ATTITUDE MAGAZINE