If I were to tell you that a particular musical act was eponymous with androgyny in the mid 1980’s you just might get into an argument with me based on my answer.

But you would probably be wrong if you did.

So what musical act do I have in mind, you ask? Well I would argue that Boy George of Culture Club is probably the best example of this fluid behaviour. Mostly because that group won awards right out of the international gate and their image was a major part of their identity.

Sure you could say that Michael Jackson was influential at the time, but his significance to pop culture started from a young age and spanned a much wider cultural net – and the dude got some major accolades. *cough* King of Pop *cough*. And David Bowie is another great choice for sure, but he was a major influencer in the 70’s already, so that takes him out of the equation too. And yeah Annie Lennox is a great example for sure – I mean, I love the Eurythmics, but they didn’t win a Grammy award for Best New Artist.

Culture Club did though. For 1983.

Know what song they released that year? Karma Chameleon.

Now that I have put together enough preamble to get you thinking about a really fun song from a great English band, I’m going to ask you to think about something related to that particular song; because that’s what I usually do for you fine folks, I weave things together that a lot of people might not necessarily bother with.

Interesting anecdote about the meaning of the song – Boy George said to Fred Bronson (The Billboard Book of #1 Hits ) that “The song is about the terrible fear of alienation that people have, the fear of standing up for one thing. It’s about trying to suck up to everybody. Basically, if you aren’t true, if you don’t act like you feel, then you get Karma-justice, that’s nature’s way of paying you back.”

I have written about these ideas of maintaining your cool and holding onto your identity before in at least one other post, but I have not really talked, err I mean written, about the implications of it yet. Especially for people whose professions depend on being emotionally available to borrowing other identities regularly. *cough* foreshadowing *cough*

But guys and gals I am not going to lead you on, I will cut to the chase.

I have been working hard in the lab, cooking up something even more exciting than audio based interviews. Yep, that’s right, I’m moving onwards and upwards.

I bought some camera equipment, started to mess around on iMovie and some other video editing software. Truth be told, I already have 3 VIDEO INTERVIEWS in various stages of completeness – which I hope to start pushing off the assembly line in a rather regular fashion very soon.

And guess what, dear readers? I’m interviewing other kinds of artists now, not solely illustrators and graphic designers.

For starters, I will be posting an interview with a triple threat actor, singer, and dancer. Following that, I will be posting a neat discussion I had with a visual artist who mainly works in the painting medium, and after THAT, I will be sharing this wicked-awesome interview I did with a musician beloved by many folk music listening types. Heck, you might just know some of these fine folks already.

I kind of hate to tease you, especially after I got to the reveal so quickly, but I really think you should watch Karma Chameleon before I post this first video interview. It will all make more sense in the moment, but I have never led you astray before, have I?

I’m really excited about this first video interview too.

The lady who so graciously donated her time to speak with me, is incredibly talented and is very fun to talk with.

I should stop here though, because if I write too much more, I’m going to start giving things away, and I would really hate to do that. So stay posted folks, enjoy your week and I will be sharing more with you soon. As I am prone to say – I’m out of theories for now.

But tell me, what are some of your favourite music videos of the 1980s? Do you really think that Video Killed The Radio Star? Do you have any tips for me on YouTube interview channels I should be following?

Tim!