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Boy George has won Brit Awards and Grammys, and has sold over 100 million singles, and 50 million albums worldwide. Plus, he also told me to fuck off on Twitter last month. But I still love him (in a platonic way).
Boy George’s 1970s: Save Me from Suburbia is how the man saw the 1970s, and what formed his life to the point where he ended up on Top of the Pops on September 30th 1982, turning the pop world upside down with Culture Club and Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?, when the media didn’t know if he was a boy or a girl.
He spent his time going to nightclubs, such as The Blitz, run by the late, great Steve Strange, where the key was to stay ahead of fashion, and as we see from early TV footage, Boy George was always trying something new.
He was influenced by David Bowie, when his brother gave him his The Man Who Sold The World LP, and it was at that time he learned they he shared the same bus route in South London with the Thin White Duke. He takes us back to where Bowie and his wife, Angie, had a flat, and how they peered into their garden and Angie looked out and told them to ‘fuck off’, and how it was the highlight of their year. And now things have come full circle with the aforementioned Twitter exchange 🙂
There’s the rise of punk music – including the Sex Pistols and much more, and the punk movement, the run-down 1970s London with aged buildings ready to be pulled down and replaced, but then the council’s money ran out and squatters moved in, including one George O’Dowd and his occasional best friend Marilyn, plus George moving to Birmingham in 1979, not only for the reggae music, but to live with Martin Degville, later to form Sigue Sigue Sputnik.
As someone born in 1972, and only really paying attention to what was going on from the ’80s onwards, including the presenter’s career and the great music he’s given us on a regular basis, Boy George’s 1970s: Save Me from Suburbia is an essential 60 minutes, whether you just want a taster of the ’70s, or to know more about the man telling his life story.
Boy George’s 1970s: Save Me from Suburbia isn’t yet scheduled for a Blu-ray or DVD release, although much of his music can be bought online, but if you missed this one, you can watch it on BBC iPlayer, up until November 7th, and click on the top image for the full-size version.
Score: 8/10
Writer/Presenter: Boy George
Producer/Director: Ian Denyer
Interviewed Guests: Nicola Tyson, Andy Polaris, Philip Sallon, Princess Julia, Rusty Egan, Caryn Franklin, Marilyn, Jon Savage, Martin Degville
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.