Song · Culture Club
“Church of the Poison Mind” by Culture Club
From the album Colour by Numbers (1983)
“Church of the Poison Mind” by Culture Club appears on 9 radio countdowns from 6 stations between 1983 and 2021. It was first released in 1983 on the album Colour by Numbers. Its best result is #5 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1983. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #10 alternative song of 1983, #3,149 alternative song of all time and #257 of the '80s.
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"Church of the Poison Mind" kicked off Colour by Numbers, Culture Club's second and biggest album, in 1983, and it's the band at their most rambunctious: Motown stomp, harmonica wailing from Judd Lander, and Helen Terry's gospel-sized backing vocals trading blows with Boy George up front. Roy Hay piles on piano, guitar and electric sitar, Mikey Craig and Jon Moss keep the beat jumping, horns blast in, and Steve Levine produced.
In Britain only David Bowie's "Let's Dance" kept it off the top. In America it was still climbing when Epic rushed out "Karma Chameleon" early, and the song hit its peak the same week its successor entered the chart, giving the band their fourth Top 10 hit there and in Canada too. Depending on the country, the flip side was the percussion-heavy "Man Shake" or "Mystery Boy".
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | 5 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1983 | 107 |
| 1983 | 26 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 1983 | 91 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 342 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) | 500 |
| 1994 | 191 | Live 105 | Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) | 500 |
| 1998 | 342 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) | 488 |
| 1999 | 675 | Q101 | Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1017 |
| 2002 | 1771 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 1453 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2021 | 863 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s | 909 |
Also listed as: Church of the Poisoned Mind.
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