Boy George trades trouble for turntables
Published: 03 May. 2005, 22:14
After pop hits in the ’80s followed by a series of drug-related incidents in the ’90s, Boy George is known as much for his personal ups-and-downs and flamboyant gender-ambiguous look as his music.
But what many people don’t know is that he started his career as a teenage DJ, and that’s where much of his creative focus lies today.
He will be performing live tonight past midnight at the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill Hotel’s Kayageum Theater with local and traveling guests, including Marc Vedo, also from Britain; the Bad Ass B*tches, who call themselves the No. 1 hottest dancers in North America” from the United States; and DJ Diong, DJ Devil and Frankie Shin from 02 Productions, and Beejay from Sublime. Boy George will be playing a mixture of tribal house and trance; Marc Vedo will also play trance.
People not familiar with Boy George’s DJ career recognize him for his unique and outrageous style. Most of the time, he is wearing super heavy makeup and wild outfits accentuated with freaky hats.
Boy George actually began DJ-ing when he was only 17, playing to a crowd of trendy Londoners at “The Planet” nightclub. Later he became well known as the vocalist of Culture Club.
After selling a few million records worldwide, writing a play and struggling with drug problems, his No. 1 passion DJ-ing resurfaced and he got the bug again.
Offers came flooding in, and he proved to them that he could still throw it down. Regular appearances at trendy clubs helped put Boy George’s DJ-ing career into full swing.
Boy George has produced a splendidly successful series of CD mixes called “Dance Nation” and “The Annual,” both released through the Ministry of Sound Recordings.
Soon after, a series of albums were released called “The Galaxy Weekender,” the first of which was a collaboration with Allistair Whitehead. Boy George has performed on the catwalks of the fashion hierarchy, designing music for shows and even DJ-ing at post show parties for Versace and Philip Treacy.
He also runs a successful cult label, More Protein, that was once a part of Virgin Records, and has also turned his hand to remixing, producing a fair few hits with Missy Elliot, EMF and Liberty X.
This “party of the year” ― hosted by 02 Productions and the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill Hotel ― will bring the new generation of clubbers and the old generation of music fans together.
The party is part of the British dance music production company Koolwaters’ (www.koolwaters.com) Asian Tour featuring its star DJs, Boy George and Marc Vedo.
The tour began April 19 in the Philippines, followed by Singapore. After Korea, the Koolwaters team is flying to Taipei, ending the Asian Tour on May 11 in Beijing.
The party is from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Tickets cost 40,000 won ($40) in advance or 50,000 won at the door, which includes one drink. Advance tickets are available at Music Library (02-511-0025) in Apgujeong-dong and Purple Records (02-336-3023) in Hongdae or through www.ticketpark.com and www.ticketlink.co.kr.
by Chu Hee-young
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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