Culture Club/Boy George

Led by the golden voice, sharp wit, and cross-dressing panache of Boy George, Culture Club gleefully turned pop on its head when they stormed the charts with the breakthrough single "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" in 1982. A killer combination of great tunes and clear-eyed intelligence made them stars on both sides of the Atlantic.

Boy George's solo work is a study in versatility. A red-hot version of Iggy Pop's "Funtime", from 1995's Cheapness and Beauty, represents his hard-rockin' side, while the dance-floor doctor in him administers some potent medicine to techno-heads on Pascal Gabriel's mix of "No Clause", from 1991's storming The Martyr Mantras.

A common thread that runs through the work of Culture Club, and the solo Boy George, is the urge to pull together disparate styles and create something unique. From the Caribbean rhythms on "You Know I'm Not Crazy" on their debut LP, Kissing to Be Clever, to Massive Attack's treatment of "One On One", the envelope is always pushed.

There's far more to Culture Club and Boy George than their moment of megafame in the mid-'80s, as this rich and rewarding playlist of their finest work confirms. Sure, they had the world singing along to hits like "Karma Chameleon" and "Time (Clock of the Heart)", but Boy George's stunning and soulful voice allowed for excursions into rock and ballad territory, while his dedication to cutting-edge dance-floor material (he's also a fine DJ) kicked up a host of dazzling remixes. Fabulous.