Boy George & Culture Club, a documentary about the hitmaking ’80s British group, premiered last week at New York’s Tribeca Festival. Bass player Mikey Craig says he’s pleased that at long last, the true history of the band — comprised of himself, singer Boy George, drummer Jon Moss and guitarist Roy Hay — is being told.
“There’ve been so many bad versions of what happened,” Mikey tells ABC Audio. “Finally, here we are now with an honest, pretty accurate version of the events.”
As director Alison Ellwood notes, “The focus so often is on George that the others, I think, really appreciated the opportunity to be able to tell their side.”
The film actually gave Mikey “a renewed appreciation of George,” he says.
“He’s actually a genius, basically,” Mikey says of the flamboyant frontman. “A genius is not easy to deal with at times, but he is a genius. And ideas just flow from him. It’s incredible.”
Watching the film, Mikey was also surprised to hear Moss’ thoughts on George; the two were romantically involved during the band’s heyday.
“I got a real emotional kind of surge when Jon said that he still loved George,” shares Mikey. “I mean, I knew they were in love … but I didn’t realize he still had those kind of feelings … that was quite a big surprise, and that really touched my heart.”
Ellwood hopes that the film will give fans “an understanding of the depth and sophistication” of Culture Club’s music; she also feels that Jon and George’s love story “has more resonance now, maybe, than ever.”
“As George says so poignantly in the film, ‘Why do you care [if I’m gay]? If it doesn’t affect you, why do you care?'” Ellwood notes. “And I hope that that’s a message that people walk away with.”
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