Kissing to Be Clever [Bonus Tracks] [Remaster] (CD - 1982)

Additional personnel: Helen Terry (vocals); Captain Crucial (spoken vocals); Nick Payne (flute, harmonica, saxophone); Terry Bailey (trumpet); Phil Pickett (keyboards, background vocals); Denise Spooner, Colin Campsie (background vocals).

Personnel: Helen Terry, Boy George (vocals); Roy Hay (guitar, sitar, electric sitar, piano, keyboards); Nicky Payne (flute, harmonica, saxophone); Terry Bailey (trumpet); Phil Pickett (keyboards, background vocals); Keith Miller (Synclavier, programming); John Moss (drums, percussion, programming); Jon Moss (drums, percussion, drum programming); Colin Campsie, Denise Spooner (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Jon Moss; Steve Levine.

Photographers: Mark Lebon; Andy Phillips.

Unknown Contributor Role: Captain Crucial.

It can be hard to remember with memories of drug busts and increasingly wacky outfits clouding the issue, but the reason Culture Club became as huge as they did was that their debut album, 1982's KISSING TO BE CLEVER, is an unabashedly commercial and often brilliant amalgam of American R&B and British chart pop. Remember, "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" was a UK hit before anyone even knew who Boy George was, and for good reason. Even though nothing on the album matches that transcendent single, the pop-reggae-soul-dance grooves are always entertaining and often, as on "I'm Afraid Of Me" and the spooky "White Boys Can't Control It," simply excellent.

American fans should be aware that this CD contains the original UK edition of the album, which doesn't include the hit single "Time (Clock of the Heart)" and has a somewhat less satisfying running order.

Born of the image- and fashion-conscious glam rock of the mid-'70s, the Brit-based Culture Club were perfectly suited to the 1980s with a fresh blend of pop and (at the very least) eye-catching style -- courtesy, for the most part, of flamboyant and ambiguously gendered frontman "Boy" George O' Dowd (vocals). The quartet also featured Jon Moss (percussion), Roy Hay (guitar/keyboard/sitar), and Michael Craig (bass) and quickly became the darlings of the newly launched 24-hour-a-day cable TV phenom known as MTV. Behind George's brash sense of chic, clever wit and more than acceptable vocal talent, their debut, Kissing to Be Clever (1982), was embraced by not only post-disco dance music enthusiasts, but also new wave listeners and pop fans as well. Although the LP itself failed to place within the Top Ten, it spawned a trio of tunes that did make it into the uppermost tier of the singles chart. On the whole, they provide accurate thumbnail sketches of what Culture Club were capable of pulling off musically. "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" is a noir love song guilded in the warm and languid balladry and instrumentation that would not have sounded too out of place with a 1940's big-band arrangement. The nimble and undeniably catchy "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" bobbles about with a slightly Caribbean feel, replete with steel drums and repetitive syncopated handclaps. "Time (Clock of the Heart)" -- which has been restored to the track list for the Kissing to Be Clever (2003) reissue -- remains a brilliant slice of Culture Club at both their most interesting and pop-oriented. From the light and buoyant Philly soul-inspired string arrangement to the effervescent and singalongable chorus, the melody foreshadowed a similar vibe that would carry over to their sophomore long-player, Colour by Numbers (1983). Other bonus tracks on the 2003 remastered disc include previously hard-to-find B-sides. Conspicuously absent is the unique "Dub Mix" of "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me," or the single edit of same, which was slightly different from the album version. The 12-page booklet is full of band photos and reproductions of picture sleeves. ~ Lindsay Planer minimize