Boy George and Culture Club Drummer Jon Moss Revisit Their Sexually Charged First Band Rehearsal: ‘Instant Flirtation’

It started pinch a image connected nan wall.

Boy George was connected day pinch Les Daley, nan editor of My Guy magazine, and during a pit extremity astatine Daley's office, George spotted a photograph of Jon Moss, early drummer of Culture Club, connected nan wall. The remainder is history that's being revisited successful nan caller documentary Boy George & Culture Club, premiering June 5 astatine nan Tribeca Festival. The film, directed by Alison Ellwood, is screening astatine Tribeca done June 12.

All 4 members of Culture Club participated successful nan documentary: George, Moss, bassist Mikey Craig and guitarist Roy Hay. In nan beginning, location was conscionable George (real name: George O'Dowd), Craig and a guitarist named John Suede. They needed a drummer. And on came Moss.

"I rang him up, and we had nan astir bizarre conversation," George, 63, recalls of his first speech pinch Moss successful 1981. "I was like, 'You know, I'm starting this band, and we sewage a rehearsal connected Sunday astatine Elephant and Castle. Do you want to come?"

"He turns up — I didn't deliberation he was going to come," George continues. "He turns up successful this, like, you know, very costly Golf Convertible pinch this stinking and beautiful perfume, pinch his earrings in, and yeah, it was, it was emotion astatine first sight, basically."

Moss, 67, past slow walks done a backmost doorway to show his broadside of nan story. "He was a beautiful, exotic creature," he says of George. "Really attracted to him, for illustration a crush, you know, though I'd ne'er had a narration pinch a man before, and I was perfectly smitten."

George picks up nan story: "When I met John, John was truthful benignant of, almost a spot coquettish and provocative. He wasn't some, like, uptight consecutive feline that was, like, lured into immoderate evil world by me. I mean, he was arsenic overmuch a portion of it arsenic I was. You know, location was an instant flirtation betwixt us."

Things heated up beautiful quickly. "So we had this benignant of rehearsal, and I deliberation I put my manus connected his knee, and he put his manus connected my knee, and it was like, ooh, exciting. It's very exciting," Moss says.

"If you're fortunate capable successful your life to person a moment, it must beryllium for illustration having fate," he adds. "There was a infinitesimal successful my life erstwhile I thought, 'I don't cognize what's happening here, but something's happening.' I conscionable retrieve it was like... I knew my life was gonna change."

Craig recalls noticing "an interaction" betwixt nan 2 during that first rehearsal. "By astir nan 3rd rehearsal, we're packing up nan cogwheel fresh to spell home, and Jon says, 'I benignant of for illustration George,' " Craig recalls successful nan documentary. "And I said, 'No, no, you can't. You can't do this.' I said, 'It's not gonna work. You're gonna ruin nan band. It's gonna, it's gonna extremity earlier we begin.' And John turned to maine and says, 'It's excessively late. I've already slept pinch him.' "

It didn't ruin nan set — astatine slightest not astatine first. After replacing Suede pinch Roy Hay and becoming Culture Club (a motion to nan 4 chopped backgrounds of nan members: George is Irish, Moss is Jewish, Craig is of Jamaican descent and Hay is and Englishman), nan set would spell connected to dizzying success. Their first 2 albums, 1982's Kissing to Be Clever and 1983's Colour by Numbers, were world hits that spawned a drawstring of monolithic deed singles, including "Do You Really Wanna Hurt Me" and "Karma Chameleon." At nan 1984 Grammys, they won Best New Artist complete Eurythmics.

Two years later, amid declining sales, clash successful nan band, nan extremity of George and Moss's tumultuous relationship, and George's descent into addiction, Culture Club divided up. They reformed successful 1998 for 4 years and reunited again successful 2011. They stay progressive to this day, though without Moss, who departed successful 2018 and sued nan set for circuit income he claimed was owed to him aft he was allegedly "expelled" from nan group by nan band's manager. The lawsuit was settled retired of tribunal successful 2023 for a reported £1.75m.

Although each 4 contributed to nan caller documentary, they each look successful abstracted interviews. So immoderate difficult feelings?

"I've really ne'er been onstage pinch him and felt for illustration I didn't want to beryllium there," George says adjacent nan extremity of nan documentary. "So location successful there, there's love."

"A peculiar type of love," he says pinch a laugh. "But location is decidedly emotion successful there."