Do You Really Want to Hurt Me

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"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me"
Do You Really Want To Hurt Me.jpg
Single by Culture Club
from the album Kissing to Be Clever
B-side
  • "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me (Dub version)" (7")
  • "Love Is Cold (You Were Never No Good)" (12")
Released6 September 1982 November 1982 (US)
Recorded1982
Genre
Length4:22
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Steve Levine
Culture Club singles chronology
"Mystery Boy"
(1982) 		"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me"
(1982) 		"Time (Clock of the Heart)"
(1982)
Music video
"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" on YouTube

"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" is a song written and recorded by the British new wave band Culture Club. Released as a single in September 1982 from the group's platinum-selling debut album Kissing to Be Clever, it was the band's first UK No. 1 hit. In the United States the single was released in November 1982 and also became a huge hit, reaching No. 2 for three weeks.

History[]

"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" was the third single released in Europe by Culture Club and their debut release in the United States and Canada. The song was picked up by BBC Radio 2 and became a UK No. 1 single for three weeks in October 1982. It entered the American Pop chart the week ending 4 December 1982, hit No. 1 in Cash Box magazine, and held at No. 2 for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March and April 1983 (kept from the No. 1 spot by the massive success of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean"). The single hit No. 1 in Canada.[1] It was also number one in Australia.

This was Culture Club's first major success, after their first two releases, "White Boy" and "I'm Afraid of Me", charted lower in the UK at No. 114 and No. 100 respectively. According to Boy George, it was their last chance to get an album deal.

The song rose rapidly in the UK charts after the group's first appearance on Top of the Pops, which resulted in George's androgynous style of dress and sexual ambiguity making newspaper headlines. The group were only asked to appear on Top of the Pops the night before the show, after Shakin' Stevens pulled out.[2]

In a retrospective review, Allmusic journalist Jose F. Promis described "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" as "a simple masterpiece, resonating with an ache that harked back to the classic torch songs of yesteryear."[3]

In 2007, Boy George said that the song was "not just about Culture Club's drummer Jon Moss, my boyfriend at the time. It was about all the guys I dated at that time in my life."[2]

The B-side was a dub version featuring Pappa Weasel in many countries and "You Know I'm Not Crazy" on the US release. On the 12" version of the record, the track "Love Is Cold (You Were Never No Good)" was also included.

Remixes[]

The song was remixed by DJs Quivver and Kinky Roland in 1998 for a Culture Club compilation called Greatest Moments and the single "I Just Wanna Be Loved". It was also remixed and presented on Culture Club's 2002 box set along with the original demo version.

Re-released as a reggaeton remix in France, it was again a top 20 hit in the summer of 2005.

Music video[]

The video for the song, directed by Julien Temple, featured lead singer Boy George on trial in a courtroom (filmed in Islington Town Hall Council Chamber), with flashbacks to the Gargoyle Club, Soho in 1936 and the Dolphin Square Health Club, Pimlico in 1957 (actually filmed at the now disused Hornsey Road swimming baths in Islington). The jury was in blackface making jazz hands gestures. One band member, Mikey Craig, was not in the video, and was replaced by his brother Greg.[citation needed]

Boy George wears a shirt with the Hebrew writing "Tarbut Agudda" (תַּרְבּוּת אֲגֻדָּה), a literal translation of the individual words "culture" and "association" in a grammatically incorrect order.

Track listings[]

Chart history and certifications[]

Sales and certifications[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[36] Platinum 100,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[37] Gold 4,000^
France (SNEP)[39] Gold 1,040,000[38]
Germany (BVMI)[40] Gold 500,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[41] Gold 100,000^
Sweden (GLF)[37] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[43] Gold 882,440[42]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Blue Lagoon version[]

"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me"
Do you really want to hurt me (Blue Lagoon version).jpg
Single by Blue Lagoon
from the album Club Lagoon
B-side"Extended version"
Released13 February 2005
Length3:29
LabelKon$um, SME
Songwriter(s)Michael Craig
Roy Hay
Jon Moss
George O'Dowd
Producer(s)Felix J. Gauder
Blue Lagoon singles chronology
"Break My Stride"
(2004) 		"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me"
(2005) 		"Heartbreaker"
(2005)

The song was covered in 2005 by German band Blue Lagoon on its album Club Lagoon and became a hit in Europe.

Track listings[]

CD single

  1. "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" (radio edit) – 3:29
  2. "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" (extended version) – 4:59

Charts[]

Chart (2005) Peak
position
Austrian Singles Chart[44] 21
Danish Singles Chart[45] 11
Germany (Official German Charts)[46] 13
Swedish Singles Chart[47] 29
Swiss Singles Chart[48] 32

References[]

  1. ^ "RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Flashback: October 1982". Guardian. 14 October 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  3. ^ Promis, Jose F. "Kissing to Be Clever – Culture Club : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  4. ^ "Culture Club – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved June, and 2017.
  5. ^ "Culture Club – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved June, and 2017.
  6. ^ "Culture Club – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved June, and 2017.
  7. ^ "Culture Club – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved June, and 2017.
  8. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6205." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June, and 2017.
  9. ^ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 16 April 1983. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  10. ^ "Danish Charts Archive?".
  11. ^ "Culture Club – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved June, and 2017.
  12. ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie Archived 9 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved 17 July 2008)
  13. ^ "Culture Club – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me". Top Digital Download. Retrieved June, and 2017.
  14. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Culture Club" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved June, and 2017.
  15. ^ "Culture Club – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved June, and 2017.
  16. ^ "Culture Club – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me". VG-lista. Retrieved June, and 2017.
  17. ^ "Notowanie nr 43" (in Polish). 12 February 1983. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  18. ^ "SA Charts 1965 – March 1989". Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  19. ^ "Culture Club – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved June, and 2017.
  20. ^ "Culture Club – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me". Singles Top 100. Retrieved June, and 2017.
  21. ^ "Culture Club – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved June, and 2017.
  22. ^ "Culture Club: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June, and 2017.
  23. ^ "Culture Club Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June, and 2017.
  24. ^ "Culture Club Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved June, and 2017.
  25. ^ "Culture Club Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved June, and 2017.
  26. ^ "Culture Club Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved June, and 2017.
  27. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Culture Club – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me". GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  28. ^ "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved 17 July 2008)
  29. ^ "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", French Singles Chart Lescharts.com (Retrieved 17 July 2008)
  30. ^ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1982".
  31. ^ Top Selling Singles of 1982 | The Official New Zealand Music Chart
  32. ^ "Top 100 1982 - UK Music Charts".
  33. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (doc) |format= requires |url= (help). Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  34. ^ "Top 100 Singles of 1983 – Volume 39, No. 17, December 24 1983". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  35. ^ Musicoutfitters.com
  36. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Culture Club – Do You Really Want to Hurt Me". Music Canada.
  37. ^ a b "Golden Culture" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 44 no. 50. 14 May 1983. p. 34. Retrieved 20 February 2020 – via American Radio History.
  38. ^ "Les Singles en Or" (in French). Infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  39. ^ "French single certifications – Culture Club – Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" (in French). InfoDisc. Select CULTURE CLUB and click OK. 
  40. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Culture Club; 'Do You Really Want to Hurt Me')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  41. ^ "Dutch single certifications – Culture Club – Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 20 February 2020. Enter Do You Really Want to Hurt Me in the "Artiest of titel" box.
  42. ^ Rob Copsey (12 March 2021). "The Official Top 50 best-selling songs of 1982". Official Charts. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  43. ^ "British single certifications – Boy George & Culture Club – Karma Chameleon". British Phonographic Industry.
  44. ^ "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", by Blue Lagoon, Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at Archived 8 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved 17 July 2008)
  45. ^ "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", by Blue Lagoon, Danish Singles Chart danishcharts.dk (Retrieved 17 July 2008)
  46. ^ "Blue Lagoon – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  47. ^ "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", by Blue Lagoon, Swedish Singles Chart Swedishcharts.com (Retrieved 17 July 2008)
  48. ^ "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", by Blue Lagoon, Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch Archived 8 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved 17 July 2008)
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