21 March 1987
By early 1987 Boy George had been through a tough year of drug addiction, police drug raids on his home, and the death of friends by drug overdose, including one also at his home. All of the above seemed to be splashed constantly across the tabloids, judging by what I saw on front pages in the shops, and referenced on TV and radio. (Not that he may have noticed, but this was also when his label-mates Microdisney wrote the scathing ‘Singer’s Hampstead Home’ inspired by the whole affair.) George needed a break, and I always thought he was a likeable and self-aware sort, so in one way it’s nice to see him bounce back for a solo chart-topper with something in his comfort zone of soul-inflected reggae pop.
Truth be told, ‘Everything I Own’—his cover of Ken Booth’s reggae reworking of Bread’s MOR ballad—is thin fare. Most of that is due to the inherent blandness of the song itself, but you also have to wonder how much his personal difficulties had understandably knocked some of the stuffing out of a subdued-sounding George. In the video there are welcome smiles but his shaved head and sober suit give him the look of someone knocked back on his heels a little. Since then, notwithstanding a few more run-ins with the law over substances, he has occupied himself with DJ-ing, releasing new music, appearing on TV, reforming Culture Club for occasional shows, and generally being an icon. We can cut George some slack here and consider ‘Everything I Own’ as a high-profile pop star weathering a rough patch and, if you’ll forgive the expression, getting back on the horse.
