In Case You Missed It: Join the (Music) Club!

If you’re a British compilation hunter or fan of imports, it’s tough to go wrong with Demon Music Group’s Music Club Deluxe label. The relatively inexpensive double-disc sets the label turns out might look simple or quickly assembled, but they’re in fact often packed with a few rarities for your buck.

In recent weeks, Music Club Deluxe has issued a half-dozen compilations, all for ’80s pop/rock artists. You likely know their hits, but there are some great album cuts, B-sides and remixes to go around for each. Hit the jump and we’ll run through them all.

Back Tracks: Culture Club

It’s safe to say we’ve given Boy George more than enough time to realize his crime. The beleaguered singer has had more than his share of legal troubles throughout the ’90s and 2000s, and that has occasionally overshadowed the music he put out in the 1980s. This is a shame, since Culture Club was one of the better U.K. pop bands of the early ’80s.

Don’t let George’s gender-bending look fool you. Heaven knows that’s become the primary takeaway for nostalgists, but there’s a lot more underneath the eye makeup and braids. Their distinctive blue-eyed soul sound netted them a clutch of hits in both their native U.K. and America, and they’ve been anthologized on almost every kind of ‘as-seen-on-TV ’80s compilation you can imagine.

But what of their actual records? There’s not a particularly large amount of Culture Club material out there (the number grows thanks to an endless parade of dancehall producers remixing the same few hits into oblivion), so we figured it wouldn’t hurt to shed some light on George O’Dowd, Jon Moss, Mikey Craig and Roy Hay’s collective discography.

With reports circulating that the band will yet again reunite in the coming years to celebrate their 30th anniversary, there may be no better time to turn red, gold and green. After the jump, check out our Back Tracks run through the music of Culture Club.