I first laid eyes on Boy George when my best friend Lauren brought Culture Club's first record Kissing To Be Clever to school. I was excited and shocked! I got the same feeling I got when I first saw Cher, David Bowie, KISS and Deborah Harry in the seventies. I couldn't wait to get home and listen to it. Then I saw the video for Do You Really Want To Hurt Me and I nearly lost my mind! He was everything I wanted in a rock star. He was by far the most outrageous person I'd ever seen. Within weeks, my bedroom walls were plastered with Boy George and Culture Club posters. I even had to remove some of my Marilyn Monroe posters to make room for George's gorgeous face. I saw every Culture Club concert in Southern California and my best friend and I even got to meet George a few times. Years later, he and I became friends in New York and it made me happy to realize how much we have in common. We're both moody Gemini's. We both come from large families of mostly boys with one sister, and we both like to wave our freak flags. We even wrote and recorded a song together called Stay Away From Pretty Boys and performed it a few times together when George lived in New York. He calls me Miss Goth and I call him Miss Glitter. How or why we came up with these nicknames I'm not quite sure.

Boy George is smart, witty and charming. He is incredibly talented and is one of the greatest singers and songwriters in the world. He became a pop culture phenomenon when his band skyrocketed to staggering heights in 1983. His perfectly made-up face graced the cover of Rolling Stone countless times. George was the first and only man, I believe, to be on the cover of Cosmopolitan, and he was even on the cover of Newsweek magazine with fellow gender-bender Annie Lennox! When you think of the pop music scene of the eighties, you think of Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince and Boy George. Culture Club fans dressed up as George the same way Madonna fans dressed up as her a couple years later and Gaga fans a couple decades later. The famous image he created is still just as instantly recognizable around the world today as it was then. Besides being a musical legend and icon, George is also a gifted photographer (I was lucky enough to be photographed by him in 2005), a clothing designer, DJ and one of England's most famous stars. Oh, and did I mention he won a Grammy?

I hope you enjoy the interview as much as we enjoyed doing it.

When did you first hear the term punk? What attracted you to it? Did you consider yourself a punk?

Of course, people called themselves Punks but the reaction towards us changed over night once the media made the term public. Before that point, most people thought we were going to a fancy dress party or involved in some student event for charity. Once it was in the gutter press people wanted to punch us because we were deemed anti-social. Philip Sallon, my guru back then, would always say "don't call yourself a Punk, don't adopt a label" and I obviously ignored him!

Is punk still relevant today?

I still joke that I'm a punk, I guess it's an attitude thing really. Lot's of the original punks became normal mums and dads, bankers and social workers, so maybe for them it was a fad? A teenage rite of passage experience that they grew out of. Maybe they still have a safety pin in their hearts? I was always being told I would "grow out of it" but clearly some of us never do!

Punk, to me, is just anything uncompromising but more in the way people think then how they dress. Anyone can look weird these days but how you think is what really sets you apart. Authentic style is very easy to spot. I can always spot a style rat! I love seeing anyone dressed up though, it brightens up the horizon.

For me, Philip Sallon is most definitely the last punk standing. I was at Jewish new year at his sisters house and he was wearing a snakes and ladders table cloth as a dress. His sister was pleading with him to put something sensible on but he wore that table cloth till it split. He is genius! I remember him inviting me for lunch at The London College Of Fashion the week the Sex Pistols released Never Mind The Bollocks. He arrived in a dress made entirely out of album sleeves and they tried to throw him out of the canteen. Philip jumped onto a table and started screaming. I was so impressed!

How important is fashion to you?

Fashion, as Morrissey once famously said, is so odious it has to be changed every six months. I agree with him, most fashion is about wearing money so I'm not that drawn to it. I'd grab anything vintage or designer in a thrift store or if the designer gave it to me for free. I still love a bargain! I think some designer stuff is great, you know, you can't beat good quality Italian suits. I wish designers would make girls shoes in men's sizes because I get fashion envy when I see a good pair of wedges. I love women's shoes.

How would you describe your make up and style, then and now?

Punk style was all about throwing a look together for as little as possible. I was influenced by the likes of early Bowie, Marc Bolan, Siouxsie Sioux, Elizabeth Taylor and Carmen Miranda. Anything that could be worn was worn whether it was a plastic parrot, a Chinese shawl or an umbrella! We used to scour the charity shops and markets for the most random and cheap trinkets and form fashion statements out of them. The make up was all done with my fingers as brushes were too expensive and I achieved this air-brushed effect by just going over and over each colour until I was happy with what I had accidentally created.

I'm planning a bit of a glam reboot for the next big tour I do with Culture Club. It has to be done! I have a few years of drag left in me! Obviously I won't be putting on the dreadlocks or any of that stuff but I will be taking the style elevator right up to the penthouse. I can't let Gaga get away with it for much longer! Lol!

What were some of the early punk shows you went to in London?

Bands like The Slits, Generation X with the drop dead gorgeous Billy Idol. OMG he took my breath away the first time I saw him. I loved this band Penetration who had a song called Don't Dictate. X-Ray Specs of course and Siouxsie & The Banshees. I saw Wayne County & The Electric Chairs before she became Jayne! Never got to see the Sex Pistols sadly but saw The Clash! Oh and I loved the Buzzcocks! The Ramones, Blondie, Gang Of Four. Songs like Blank Generation, Sheena Is A Punk Rocker and Roadrunner. Brilliant! I should have been a rocker like you Guy and joined The Toilet Boys!

Tell me about your first trip to New York? Was it for a Culture Club show? If so, what venue did you play?

Was it The Ritz? I think it was and I don't think I was too happy with my performance but people seemed to like us. I hated doing live shows for most of my career. It's only now that I actually enjoy the live experience because I understand it's not about perfection and I've grown into performing live. I try to connect emotionally these days where as back then I just wanted to be perfect. The 80s was all about slick dance routines and it just wasn't my thing at all. The likes of Michael Jackson and Madonna made it hard for those of us who just didn't want to jump around and do dance moves! My dancing is very organic! LOL!

What was you first trip to Los Angeles like? Was it for your show at the Hollywood Palladium?

Yeah, I remember walking into my dressing room and Rod Stewart was in there with one of his wives. It was completely overwhelming and I might have been a bit off with him. L.A was very glitzy and I remember meeting tons of famous people and feeling quite dizzy. I love Rod Stewart so much and I had sneaked into see Rod Stewart & The Faces at Lewisham Odeon in the 70s so it was quite weird that he had come to see us play. I'd probably appreciate it more now! When you're young you just take it all for granted really! Rod is an amazing soul singer!

How did you feel after playing your first Culture Club gig?

I sang with my back to the crowd at our first ever gig and I swore like a fishwife. "Fuck this and fuck that". As I said I was always quite uncomfortable on stage in the early days so I probably would have thought it was a terrible gig and that everyone hated it! Typical singer! Lol! It's only nowadays that I actually come off stage and say "that was great" and thank the band!

Kissing To Be Clever is 30 years old now, does it feel like it's been that long? Any possibility of a new Culture Club record and tour?

Oh God, it feels like someone else's life. The old Boy George is like a character off The Simpsons. I'm not really that person anymore but I'm more like the old me before I created Boy George. I guess I got lost in the wig and the make-up and became what I thought people wanted me to be? I was trapped in this idea of myself that I had created and in the idea people had of me. Now I only wear make-up when I feel like it or when I'm working. I'm nowhere near as insecure or uptight as I was back in the early days. I may have oozed confidence but it was just on the surface, a protective layer. I'm confident now. I can look people in the eye, I can hear what other people are saying and I actually give a shit! Amazing!

The only way I would even consider doing Culture Club would be with a new album and we have been writing stuff on and off for about a year. There have been a few business issues and personal politics to deal with but I think we are finally over that and can now start concentrating on the music which is the most important thing. We have been writing with Youth from Killing Joke who produced The Verve and James and I'm pretty excited. I have high expectations! I couldn't even consider a tour that was just about nostalgia, I mean, a bit of nostalgia is great but too much would be purgatory! Being a House DJ keeps me progressive and I like that. I'm all about now so Culture Club now has to be about something new too!

Was your brilliant acceptance speech with Joan Rivers at the Grammys planned at all or was it spontaneous? I remember it being quite the scandal.

I was completely bored and had been hanging around all day so it was a mix of boredom and impertinence. I think the term "drag queen" has an entirely different slant in America and to America calling myself a drag queen was conformation that I was a homosexual. I really did not even think about it. I'm very glad I said it now because it struck a chord with so many fey queens all over the planet. How many queens have thanked me over the years for helping them to be who they are. I'm now very proud of that statement! Sometimes you are at your most political when you are just being yourself! My press agent, the legendary Susan Blonde, apparently fell off her chair! I hear that a number of major country stars needed therapy! LOL!

Has your approach to songwriting changed at all? If so, in what ways?

My writing in Culture Club was more ambiguous but I was very influenced by the likes of Bowie and Marc Bolan, especially Bolan who always had nutty song titles like Salamanda Pallaganda or She Was Born To Be My Unicorn. Hence Church Of The Poison Mind or Karma Chameleon. I don't think songs always have to make sense or have to be bombastic or over produced. I saw Liz Fraser recently and was blown away by how much space she has in her music. The 80s sound was everything and the kitchen sink and that had a big influence on my writing but I try to be more emotional these days and as honest as I can. I'm even starting to accept my flaws as a vocalist because so much of today's music is seriously tampered with and has no rawness. I love loose stuff like Beast Of Burden by The Rolling Stones. It's much sexier than most of today's pop music. We live in a very generic age.

I love your cover of "Video Games" by Lana Del Rey, do you know if she has heard it? Why did you decide not to be in the video?

Well, I love the song and her too, the 50s styling, the voice is very Monroe meets Roy Orbison. I have met Lana and she was absolutely adorable and she liked my version. I wanted a video that evoked a kind of feeling and let the song stand up on it's own. People have often said that my image gets in the way of what I do musically but I might do another version of the video where I do a brief cameo.

What was your first TV appearance like? Were you nervous? Do you ever get nervous before a live show or TV appearance?

My first TV interview was about fashion and I was super nervous but spoke very softly and I looked so fem! I had a job running a clothes shop called The Foundry where we sold all the Sue Clowe's stuff that Culture Club wore in the early days. I was flown to Newcastle to represent the shop. You should post the video of it! Now I rarely get nervous before doing interviews, I try to focus on what I'm there to promote because they will have you talking about shit in a heartbeat! Some people are only interested in me in past context! Fuck that.

What do you think of the current state of pop music?

Well technology, rather like Punk Rock, has changed the rules and now almost anyone has the freedom to create music. Sadly, most people are just churning out the same generic stuff but I think lot's of pop music has always had that side to it. Most of the stuff we loved in the 70s was created by song writing teams who put together perfect pop hits for the artists of the time. We knew less about how things were done back then so it all seemed marvelous and magical. Artists like Marc Bolan and David Bowie were the exception and I've always preferred artists who write their own songs. Having said that, I love some really poppy music and I don't apologize for it. The Right Stuff by NKOTB. Some things just strike a chord and it's all very subjective and generational. For kids right now, Lady Gaga is a musical and style revolution and that's how it should be.

Out of all the stars that you've met over the years, who were you most excited to meet?

Having dinner with David Bowie was amazing. I took my friend and fellow Bowie freak Michael Cavadias and we were just awestruck but played it very cool. I called Michael and said "are you busy tonight, do you want to have dinner with Bowie" and he was on the floor. I called him about an hour later and said "don't dress up as Bowie or anything" and he said "thank god you called I was about to do Ziggy". Yeah, Bowie was my biggest influence and I love him. Also meeting Sammy Davis Jr was super cool. And Pam Greer.

Everyone knows how much you love Bowie. Ironically, the effect he had on you, you actually had on a generation as well, how does it feel when people compare you to him?

Well, it's a honour to be seen in a similar light as Bowie. Again, everything is generational and I would say we are all part of a daisy chain of people who have altered the landscape and people's attitudes to sexuality. People say Bowie used the "bisexual" tag to sell records but I think it was a huge social gesture because it put the idea of alternative sexual identities on the map. Bowie has affected so many people's lives and each period of his musical journey has been spot on!

Before Bowie, there was Oscar Wilde and Quentin Crisp and a whole host of others who blazed a trail in their time. Sadly, there is still work to be done because the world takes a huge leap forward and then takes ten steps backwards. I think music can and should affect people socially and politically and I still believe the best music does. Have you seen I've Only Just Began by E? It's so inspiring and beautifully camp.

Tell me about the first time you saw Bowie in concert.

It was 1973 at Lewisham Odeon where I saw many great bands but seeing Ziggy at eleven years old was life changing. I had no idea that Bowie will kill off Ziggy the following night and it was a heartbreaking moment. I was devastated like so many fans. It felt like the end of everything. I watched that final Ziggy concert from Hammersmith Odeon recently and I felt the same excitement. Bowie never gets old for me. It was always my dream to sing with Bowie and I think it will remain a dream! Damn! The British press recently printed some pictures of Bowie in New York and he looked great. They called him a "recluse" and said he will never perform again. It's sad but he was always going to do something radical like retire. It's very Garbo really!

What's your favorite Bowie record and song?

An almost impossible question. Word On a wing is right up there with Rock n' Roll With Me. Quicksand, Space Oddity. I love the Low album especially. I love it all even Little Wonder! I guess Hunky Dory is my all time most favourite Bowie album! I played Quicksand all the time in prison. Somehow it was perfect!

What does success mean to you?

These days I'm more concerned with being a successful human being. Happiness is such an important thing for me and it comes from really mundane things. Career is important too because I have finally realized how blessed I am to do what I love and get paid for it. I try to look at being Boy George as a job and keep my private life separate and I treat my work with much more respect and gratitude. The days of going on stage with a long face are in the past. I have found my off button and I can control my emotions in a way I never could as a young starlet! Mind you, I wasn't very Zen this morning when we couldn't get into the business lounge in Lima. OM!!!

What does fame mean to you? Was it more important to you before you were actually famous?

Fame changes you because people start treating you differently so you can never be the same again. Fame seems to follow a predictable pattern for most people. You crave fame until you get it and then you fuck it up by getting wasted and disrespecting yourself and what you have achieved. If you are lucky you get two or three chances to sort your shit out and realize it's a blessing and grow the fuck up! I've done a whole lot of growing up in the past five years. I've been on quite a journey but it has lead me back to my real self. The person I really am and not the figment of other people's imaginations.

Are fame and success the same? Describe the differences.

Well, fame relies on the approval of others and success is relative, subjective and often illusional. You can be a successful mother, pop star, spiritual devotee or a successful arms dealer so success is a many splendored thing. Success is pointless if you have no real self worth and so many people in the public eye are riddled with self-loathing. As I said earlier, I want to be a successful human being and that in return affects every aspect of your life. All the clichés apply, you really can't be loved if you can't love yourself. It's so obvious and yet even the brightest of us don't see it until we are hit over the head! When I was young I wanted to be loved so much and I perhaps thought of fame as a kind of mass love. I realize now that not everyone will love or like you no matter how perfect you are, or how well you do. Some people despise you based on the way you enter a room or how you cock your fedora!

When and how did you come up with your stage name?

Everyone who saw early photos of the band would ask "what's the girl singers name"? I went out of my way to look as fem as possible so it was a bit of fun to add Boy to my name. I wanted to blur the gender lines and for a while I really pulled it off. The big joke is I'm a total bloke. Mind you, once I put on those invisible heel I can still do a mean sashay!

What's your favorite punk anthem?

Identity by X-Ray Specs. Poly Styrene was a punk visionary!

Describe the Blitz in one word.

Three words, sorry! Steve is Strange!

Did you know and/or ever see the Sex Pistols?

Never saw them live sadly (probably lied like most people) but I'm godfather to Paul Cook's daughter Hollie who made her first album last year which is brilliant. Get it if you like reggae. Paul and his wife Jeni are very good friends of mine. I've known Jeni since I was a teenager. She was one of Culture Club's backing singers on our first Top Of The Pops appearance. Of course I have met John Lydon over the years and I am fond of him. He's a great British eccentric like me! He was the archetypal punk for sure.

Do you know Vivienne Westwood?

We are not close friends. I wouldn't ring her if I was stuck in a lift but I am a great admirer of her work and I have lots of her brilliant clothes! She's our greatest designer! Especially the punk period because those clothes sent people into a panic. I worshipped at the church of Westwood like many a fellow freak!

Do you think Malcolm McClaren was a genius?

Oh, for sure, Malcolm was a genius or had some genius ideas. Malcolm looked at the world from a peculiar angle and wanted to turn it on it's head which I admired very much. He was adept at spotting exciting new trends and jumping right on them. Rather like Madonna! He exploited people and made stars of them. The artist Jamie Reid was one of Malcolm's greatest gifts to popular culture. I was very sad when Malcolm passed away because he was such a huge part of my youth. We fell out, of course, everyone fell out with Malcolm but I was always fond of him.

Who are some of your favorite designers?

Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano and Jean Paul Gaultier!

Bow Wow Wow was my favorite band until my friend Lauren gave me your first record, did you like them?

I hated them when they threw me out after only three weeks but it was the start of something much bigger! I said in my book that Mathew Ashman was the only one in the band who actually liked me and that Dave and Lee were a bit homophobic. I recently met Lee and he said I had got it all wrong. Silly defensive queen! Malcolm brought me in to BWW to wind up Annabella who was being difficult and once I had served my purpose I was fired. Fuckers! Of course I loved them, they were the coolest band at the time. Mikey Craig saw a picture of me in NME with Annabella saying I had been sacked and that's how Culture Club was formed. He came to a club called Planets where I was the DJ and said "can you sing, you look great"!

Do you still do your own make up? Have you ever done anybody else's make? Would you ever consider doing a make up line?

No, yes and yes! Lol! I don't do my face much these days. I can but Christine Bateman does it better and it's one less thing to fuss about. I did my sisters make up twice, once she looked exactly like me and said "get it off now". Then I did a very subtle bronzed look on her which she loved. I would love my own make-up line and I rightly should have one! Boylesque!

How did you meet Pinkietessa? I met her at a Culture Club concert in Los Angeles in '83 and I asked her how she knew you and she said she was your babysitter. She was, and still is, such a beauty. I was thrilled to see her at your party in London last summer.

God, Pinkie has been around on the scene as long as I have and she still flies the flag for British eccentrics. It's amazing bumping into her on the street dressed in all her finery. You need to include a picture because we simply cannot describe her without visuals. She is always dressed perfectly in that twisted vintage style of hers and she just does it very well. God bless Pinkietessa! She's a vision. A mix of Lucille Ball and Busby Berserkly!

Pinkie and Marilyn lived in LA at around the same time, did you ever think of joining them or were you already touring with Culture Club?

No, I hated Marilyn for leaving London, it was a traitors act when she dumped me for the sun and palm trees. Of course he soon hopped on a flight home when I started to get famous. Then it was a full on war for attention!

How is Marilyn these days?

He's at college right now doing "drama" which he hardly needs to practice and he can be found on Twitter as @thamrmarilyn. Yeah, he seems amazing at the moment and we speak quite often. Over the years we have had our feuds but obviously I love and adore the queen. You know us Gemini's, we can love and hate with equal passion but we are also very loyal and forgiving. We get on better now that I've grown up a bit.

Have you always been kind to your fans? You were always so nice to Lauren and me when we'd meet you in the early days.

Everyone you meet who wants a photo will say "I'm a fan" so I'm not sure it means very much. I treat people as I find them which is an old fashioned concept but it generally works. I don't have a public face and I can be very moody. I don't ever think I better be nice because they won't buy my records. I joke that I have a photo life and a real life and if I stopped for every photo I would have a zero life. If people are nice I'm generally nice back but these days people just want to have a photo so they can post it on Facebook. They are not actually meeting me half the time, they don't talk to me or ask me how I am, it's seriously impersonal. Like standing next to Donald Duck at Disneyland or a monument! If you were to ask most of these people what my last record was, they would probably say Karma Chameleon.

How has the music industry changed?

The music industry has changed beyond all recognition. I would say that people are more indifferent towards music because it is literally everywhere. You lift up your shoe and there's a gig happening. The death of vinyl signaled the end of the sensory relationship we had with music. To have and to hold made records special but that's over and everyone is a paparazzi or amateur video director. People know everything about everything. We believed there was a wizard behind the curtain. I don't get the modern attitude to music or live shows at all. People seem to be watching from the sidelines and having a third party relationship via their smart phones. It's even started to happen at my DJ gigs and it is horrendous to see people snapping pictures when they should be lost in the music. It's called dance music, the clue is in the title!

What about social networking, love it or hate it?

I love the direct contact thing like Twitter provides. I like chatting with people and sharing information and ideas, music, pictures. The internet is a cesspit at times and it's quite shocking how hateful people can be. Still, you have the "block" option which is great and I use it often. I wish life came with a block button.

What's your favorite Culture Club song?

I feel it has yet to be written! I suppose from the past it would be Victims. I feel I sing it much better now. I have lived that song! I'm more excited about what we might do next.

My favorite Boy George solo song has to be I Specialize In Loneliness, what's yours?

Yeah, that's a good choice or If I could Fly, Unfinished Business or Stranger In This World.

Do you have any regrets?

I have many regrets. I used to say "NO" but that was youthful arrogance. I mean, you can't change the past but having regrets gives you some boundaries with yourself and that is a good thing.

How long have you been sober now?

I got sober on March 2nd 2008 and will be five years sober in March 2013. I am very proud of my recovery and wish I had done it years ago. There's a regret for ya!

What's your idea of perfect happiness?

Love is a big one for me and intimacy and great sex. Any relationship has to include passion. I'm not one for headaches, being a typical Gemini, and I always need some applause because I'm a performer. I'm much less crazy around relationships these days and I know that no one else will ever complete me. The mistake I made was always trying to change my lovers and refusing to look at what I needed to change in myself. You have to love people as they are or just let them go.

I chant "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo" every morning and every night like Tina Turner and Sandie Shaw and it helps keep me sane. I'm always open to love but I can happily be by myself and I won't settle for a rubbish relationships. My ex's have shown me what I don't want from a relationship and I thank them all! I have a private life now and I finally understand that some things are sacred and not for global consumption.

Bowie or Elvis?

Bowie

The Beatles or The Ramones?

The Ramones with John Lennon on guitar.

Lady Kier or Lady Gaga?

Elvis with Kier and Gaga on backing vocals!

What about the future?

Right now I'm DJ'ing all over the world and I can't wait to spin in America again. It's been twenty years on the decks and I'm loving it more than ever. Some people have no idea that I've been DJ'ing since the late seventies. I was a DJ before Culture Club and returned to the decks in 1989.

I'm doing lots of interesting dance projects under the moniker A Boy Called George, remixing other artists with my long time collaborator Kinky Roland. We have just remixed Daytona Lights and Mauro Dirago. I'm travelling right now with Marc Vedo my DJ manager and fellow DJ. We are about to finish off a tour that has taken us from Korea to Hong Kong, Thailand, Australia, Argentina and now Costa Rica.

I run VG Records with Marc Vedo and we write lots of cool dance tracks together. Listen out for our project Funky Sober and check out my latest tune Happy with DJ Yoda. Yeah, I'm pretty happy these days. I'm excited to be putting Culture Club back together and looking forward to making a great new album.

Finally, Miss Goth, can I tell you that you are gorgeous and I loved the questions!

Thanks Miss Glitter! You're the bee's knees!