How Jesus, Krishna and acid house generated love for Boy George

Boy George as Krishna by Pierre and Gilles (1989)

It was the late 80s and queer pop icon Boy George was under pressure to reform Culture Club.

Despite having a massive number one with Everything I Own, the solo hits had dried up.

But George had other ideas. By mixing blissed-out dancefloor devotion with global holy passion, he would create some of the best music of his life.

Take a trip with me

Having kicked a well-documented heroin addiction, George immersed himself in the UK’s blossoming acid house scene. Ravers in Smiley t-shirts were off their faces on ecstasy at clubs like Shoom and Spectrum in London and Manchester’s Hacienda.

The potential for anonymity also appealed to him at the time. “The stars were faceless DJs and techno-buffs,” George wrote in his 1995 autobiography Take It Like A Man. “Everyone was dressing down to get high.”

Re-titled Everything Starts With an E, this became a scene-defining classic

George teamed up with DJ Jeremy Healy and rapper MC Kinky (who had appeared on his solo track Kipsy) to parody this Second Summer of Love on the raucous dance track Everything Starts With an E.