August 27, 1983 - “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya” peaked at No.9 on the Hot 100.
According to Boy George, this upbeat diddy has a message. The Culture Club lead singer explained in a 1983 Trouser Press interview: My lyrics may not be so straightforward, but they are very real – like 'I'll Tumble 4 Ya' is about wanting to do anything to be the next big thing. We were very much a 'downtown band' at the time I wrote those words. In general I think my basic ideas come across.
A track from their debut album, this was the third single released in the United States by Culture Club, who got a lot of attention on MTV thanks to their androgynous frontman. In the days before you could Google such things, there was plenty of chatter about whether the singer was a boy or a girl. This look was far less shocking in England, where they were used to variations of Glam and music on TV, but in America it was something different.
Following "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" and "Time (Clock Of The Heart," it made Culture Club the first British band since The Beatles to score three Top 10 hits from their debut album. They enjoyed some critical success as well, winning the 1983 Grammy for Best New Artist.
Siobhan Barron directed the popular music video, which has the group performing alongside tumblers and female dancers in a rehearsal studio. The band's drummer Jon Moss, guitarist Roy Hay and bassist Mikey Craig all took tap lessons so they could perform a routine in the clip, but they chickened out and the scene was replaced.
Recognize one of those dancing girls? That's future supermodel Naomi Campbell as a pre-teen.
#cultureclub #thisdayinmusic #illtumble4ya#KissingToBeClever #boygeorge #1980s#1983 #JonMoss #MikeyCraig #RoyHay#picplaypost @picplaypost #musichistory#memorylane
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