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Why Boy George ‘hated’ Culture Club music videos

10 September 2025, 13:15

By Hannah Watkin

The ‘Karma Chameleon’ star has revealed he didn’t always enjoy filming several of his group’s most iconic videos.

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Boy George and Culture Club are responsible for some of the 80s' most famous music videos.

But it turns out the ‘I’ll Tumble 4 Ya’ star was not as fond of the filming experience as fans might expect.

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Speaking on an edition of Smooth Radio’s Video Rewind, Boy George revealed: “I have to be honest, I hated all of our videos!” while rewatching the group’s iconic ‘Karma Chameleon’ film.

Elaborating on the surprise statement, he explained: “They weren’t really what I wanted to do.”

Watch Boy George's full Smooth Radio Video Rewind below:

Boy George rewatches Culture Club's BEST music videos!

Part of the problem was that the short films the band filmed for their songs never seemed to relate much if at all to their tracks.

“In those days, the director would have more say about [the content],” he added. “It would feel like the director took over.”

Looking back on Culture Club’s first music video, ‘Do You Really Want To Hurt Me’, the 64-year-old recalled how the director had him submerge himself in a swimming pool for a clever reversed clip featured in the film.

“The idea of being wet was horrifying, with my makeup running. I was just so vain in those days!” Boy George recalled, realising the experience may have coloured his views about future shoots.

Culture Club - Do You Really Want To Hurt Me

“I remember thinking: ‘The is video is really stupid!’ and that continued from that first video all the way through,” he explained. “[I'd think:] ‘What’s this got to do with the song?’"

While music videos became a great way of gaining global recognition in the 80s, the ‘Time (Clock Of The Heart)’ singer also shared regrets about how, at one point, it felt like “the video became more important than the song.”

“People were like ‘Have you seen the new video?’ rather than listening to the new record, and that was frustrating from a creative point of view," he said.

But while Boy George had some complaints about filming music videos, watching his reminiscences, it’s clear there was a lot to love in the experiences too, such as embracing the “outrageous” things they could achieve in videos like ‘Miss Me Blind’.

Culture Club - Miss Me Blind

“This is when I started to really go nuts with the costumes,” Boy George said. “It was a bit Japanese-y with a bit of a Thai flavour, it was like chucking everything into the pan!”

Over a two-day shoot, the group were permitted to push things “more and more ridiculous” and “over the top,” while spending quite a lot of money on sets and props, like burning guitars.

Boy George also “loved” filming his first solo single’s music video.

For ‘Everything I Own’, it’s clear the star had more of a say. The film was made with his friend, filmmaker and artist John Maybury, who was also known for his work with the Pet Shop Boys and Sinéad O'Connor.

“I actually like the video,” he said, adding: “I like the styling of it, it felt a bit more modern – no period costumes, no boats!”