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When I was five, I didn't know what karma was. I probably didn't know what a chameleon was. I had no idea what was so important about red, gold and green, apart from the fact that they were pretty colours. I certainly had no inkling of what this song was really about. Even then, though, I could tell there was something a bit unusual about Boy George.
With hindsight in particular, it's very obvious just how much their career seemed to be based around the persona of Boy George ("He's called Boy because he dresses like a girl," I'm sure someone explained to me the time), which is presumably why he's still in his usual regalia in the video, despite that not really fitting the period setting. And this is one song that's difficult to think of without the video, because I don't really recall hearing it without the video, at least until much later - I was slightly surprised to discover that there even was a Top Of The Pops performance of it, since they wouldn't show a video if they could help it. The two are almost indivisible in my mind, particularly that chanted section at the end which accompanies the card shark being made to walk the plank. But if I do watch TotP's version, what do I notice, other than somebody dropping a camera at about 1:40? Well, there really isn't a lot to this song, but Steve Levine did his best to make an interesting record out of it, with a promising intro and that infectious harmonica hook (played by Judd Lander, says Wikipedia). Levine's commercial instincts were well-placed since this became the UK's biggest-selling single of 1983, and topped charts in a huge number of other countries. Nonetheless, it's hard to imagine this being as big a hit as it was without George's presence. And harder still to imagine how they ever thought it would be a good idea to reform without him.
Obvious joke alert: "I'm a man without convictions". Not any more you're not, George.
Also appearing on: Now 2, 4, 41 and 43
Available on: The Best of Culture Club
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