Kissing to Be Clever by Culture Club

Kissing to Be Clever, Culture Club's debut, came out on Virgin in 1982, and it announced a London band that refused to stay in any one lane. Boy George sings lead, Roy Hay handles guitar and keyboards, Mikey Craig plays bass and Jon Moss drums, and producer Steve Levine buffs it all to a sleek new wave sheen that still leaves plenty of room for the groove.

The pull here is American soul run through new wave, with reggae lilting in around the edges: George's voice is smoky and sweet, and the band keep things light on their feet. They came up out of the New Romantic scene, with George's androgynous look grabbing as many headlines as the music, and "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" was the song that broke them, a slow, aching plea that went to number one at home and into the top ten across the world. "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" bounces along right behind it. The album has sold around 5 million copies, platinum in the US among them.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.