Boy George & Culture Club

During the early ’80s, Culture Club racked up seven straight top ten hits in the U.K. and six top ten singles in the U.S. with their light, infectious pop-soul. Though their music was radio-ready, what brought the band stardom was Boy George, the group’s charismatic, cross-dressing lead singer. George dressed in flamboyant dresses and wore heavy makeup, creating a disarmingly androgynous appearance that created a sensation on early MTV. George also had a biting wit and frequently came up with cutting quips that won Culture Club heavy media exposure in both America and Britain. The band’s hits include “Karma Chameleon,” “It’s a Miracle,” “Miss Me Blind” and more.

Electronic music pioneer Howard Jones has been a constant presence on the international touring scene for the past four decades. He first burst upon the contemporary music scene in 1983, with his very English songwriting and pioneering synthesizers with “New Song.” His first two albums Human’s Lib and Dream Into Action were worldwide hits. Human’s Lib reached No. 1 in 1984 in the U.K. and featured the hits “New Song” and “What Is Love?”  In 1985, Jones released the follow-up, Dream Into Action, which quickly became a top ten Platinum® album in the United States and featured the smashes: “Things Can Only Get Better,” “Life In One Day,” “No One Is To Blame” and “Like To Get To Know You Well.”

Berlin will forever be recognized as the American progenitor of electro-pop artistry with sensually appealing lyrics. Few bands emerging from the era of Berlin have achieved as far-reaching and long-lasting an impact and, rarely, such a timeless array of musical grooves. The Los Angeles-based band made its first national impression with the provocative single “Sex (I’m A…)” from the platinum-selling debut EP Pleasure Victim in 1982. Yet it was the unforgettable, intimate and strikingly beautiful love song, “Take My Breath Away” that took the band to another level. The ballad’s defining role in the Tom Cruise film, Top Gun, helped solidify Berlin’s everlasting place in American pop-culture.  The song was a No. 1 international hit and received both the Golden Globe and Academy Award® for best original song in 1986.