Karma Chameleon
Encyclopedia
"Karma Chameleon" is a song by British New Wave
band Culture Club
, featured on the group's 1983 album Colour by Numbers
. The song spent three weeks at #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100
in 1984, becoming the group's biggest hit and only US #1 among their many top ten hits. "Karma Chameleon" was also a huge global hit, hitting #1 in sixteen countries worldwide, and top ten in several more.
In the group's home country of the United Kingdom
, it became the second Culture Club single to reach the top of the UK Singles Chart
(after "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me"), where it stayed for six weeks in September and October 1983, and became the UK's biggest-selling single of the year 1983. It is widely regarded as Culture Club's signature song
.
In an interview, Culture Club frontman Boy George
explained: "The song is about the terrible fear of alienation that people have, the fear of standing up for one thing. It's about trying to suck up to everybody. Basically, if you aren't true, if you don't act like you feel, then you get Karma-justice, that's nature's way of paying you back."
The prominent harmonica
part was played by Judd Lander, who had been a member of Merseybeat group The Hideaways
in the 1960s. The song was originally to be called "Cameo Chameleon". The band was recorded in interviews in mid-1983 stating this was to be the title of their next single.
Likely because of the lyric "I'm a man without conviction," and the chorus, which includes the word chameleon
, "Karma Chameleon" has been used by several politicians in political ads. In 2006, Britain's Labour Party
used "Karma Chameleon" as the theme song for a series of political advertisements against Conservative party
leader David Cameron
in the 2006 UK local Elections
.
Also, during the 2010 U.S. senate race in Pennsylvania, Republican
Pat Toomey
used the song as backing music for his video "Happy Anniversary Arlen Specter!" as a way to criticize a sitting Senator from Pennsylvania and recently turned Democrat
Arlen Specter
.
The song won Best British Single at the 1984 Brit Awards
. The group performed the song as a finale when they appeared in the 1986 episode "Cowboy George" of The A-Team
.
in 1870. It depicts a large group of black and white people in late 1800s dress, including some dressed in red, gold, and green (as George sings in the song). Boy George is dressed in what would be known as his signature look; colorful costume, fingerless gloves, long braids, and a black derby. A pickpocket and jewelry thief is seen wandering through the crowd, stealing from unsuspecting folks. The band and other people board a riverboat, "The Chameleon", as Boy George continues to sing. The thief is discovered cheating at cards, and is forced to return his ill-gotten gains and walk the plank at the points of ladies' parasols. As the video ends, the party continues on the boat as it cruises down the river. "Karma Chameleon" was filmed at Desborough Island in Weybridge
during the summer of 1983. The boat used in the video belongs to Turk Launches of Kingston-upon-Thames, and it is still in use, mainly on the Kingston to Hampton Court route during the summer months.
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
band Culture Club
Culture Club
Culture Club are a British rock band who were part of the 1980s New Romantic movement. The original band consisted of Boy George , Mikey Craig , Roy Hay and Jon Moss...
, featured on the group's 1983 album Colour by Numbers
Colour by Numbers
Colour by Numbers is the second album by New Wave band Culture Club, released in 1983.-Overview:The album features several international hits such as "Church of the Poison Mind" and the worldwide hit "Karma Chameleon" which had sales of over one million in the United Kingdom alone...
. The song spent three weeks at #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in 1984, becoming the group's biggest hit and only US #1 among their many top ten hits. "Karma Chameleon" was also a huge global hit, hitting #1 in sixteen countries worldwide, and top ten in several more.
In the group's home country of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, it became the second Culture Club single to reach the top of the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
(after "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me"), where it stayed for six weeks in September and October 1983, and became the UK's biggest-selling single of the year 1983. It is widely regarded as Culture Club's signature song
Signature song
A signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with or best known for, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...
.
In an interview, Culture Club frontman Boy George
Boy George
Boy George is a British singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He helped give androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by...
explained: "The song is about the terrible fear of alienation that people have, the fear of standing up for one thing. It's about trying to suck up to everybody. Basically, if you aren't true, if you don't act like you feel, then you get Karma-justice, that's nature's way of paying you back."
The prominent harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
part was played by Judd Lander, who had been a member of Merseybeat group The Hideaways
The Hideaways (band)
The Hideaways were a pop group that flourished in the mid-1960s as part of the Merseybeat era, and played at The Cavern Club over 250 times, more frequently than The Beatles; they are also noted for their connection to the Timex Watches advertising campaign of the time...
in the 1960s. The song was originally to be called "Cameo Chameleon". The band was recorded in interviews in mid-1983 stating this was to be the title of their next single.
Likely because of the lyric "I'm a man without conviction," and the chorus, which includes the word chameleon
Chameleon
Chameleons are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, the possession by many of a...
, "Karma Chameleon" has been used by several politicians in political ads. In 2006, Britain's Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
used "Karma Chameleon" as the theme song for a series of political advertisements against Conservative party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
leader David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
in the 2006 UK local Elections
United Kingdom local elections, 2006
Local government elections took place in England on Thursday 4 May 2006. Polling stations were open between 7:00 and 22:00.All London borough council seats were up for election, as well as a third of the seats on each of the metropolitan borough councils, and a third of some unitary authorities...
.
Also, during the 2010 U.S. senate race in Pennsylvania, Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Pat Toomey
Pat Toomey
Patrick Joseph "Pat" Toomey, Sr. is the junior United States Senator for Pennsylvania and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, Toomey served as a U.S. Representative for three terms, but did not seek a fourth in compliance with a pledge he had made while running for office in 1998...
used the song as backing music for his video "Happy Anniversary Arlen Specter!" as a way to criticize a sitting Senator from Pennsylvania and recently turned Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter is a former United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter is a Democrat, but was a Republican from 1965 until switching to the Democratic Party in 2009...
.
The song won Best British Single at the 1984 Brit Awards
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
. The group performed the song as a finale when they appeared in the 1986 episode "Cowboy George" of The A-Team
The A-Team
The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...
.
Music video
The music video is set in MississippiMississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
in 1870. It depicts a large group of black and white people in late 1800s dress, including some dressed in red, gold, and green (as George sings in the song). Boy George is dressed in what would be known as his signature look; colorful costume, fingerless gloves, long braids, and a black derby. A pickpocket and jewelry thief is seen wandering through the crowd, stealing from unsuspecting folks. The band and other people board a riverboat, "The Chameleon", as Boy George continues to sing. The thief is discovered cheating at cards, and is forced to return his ill-gotten gains and walk the plank at the points of ladies' parasols. As the video ends, the party continues on the boat as it cruises down the river. "Karma Chameleon" was filmed at Desborough Island in Weybridge
Weybridge
Weybridge is a town in the Elmbridge district of Surrey in South East England. It is bounded to the north by the River Thames at the mouth of the River Wey, from which it gets its name...
during the summer of 1983. The boat used in the video belongs to Turk Launches of Kingston-upon-Thames, and it is still in use, mainly on the Kingston to Hampton Court route during the summer months.
Chart positions
| Country | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
1 |
| Austria | 3 |
| Belgium Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
1 |
| Canada Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
1 |
| Denmark Denmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark... |
1 |
| European | 1 |
| Germany Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
2 |
| Ireland Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
1 |
| Italy | 4 |
| Netherlands Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
1 |
| Japan | 1 |
| New Zealand | 1 |
| Norway | 1 |
| Sweden | 1 |
| Switzerland | 1 |
| United Kingdom UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
1 |
| United States Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
1 |
Other cover versions
- In 1998 Izam, star of the Japanese visual kei band ShaznaShaznaShazna was a Japanese visual kei rock band originally active from 1993 to 2000. The band started on the relatively harder side of rock, but upon signing to a major label switched to a softer more pop sound. They became one of the most popular visual kei bands of the 1990s, together with Malice...
, covered 'Karma Chameleon' among other Boy George songs on the album 'IZAM presents the Best Of Boy George & Culture Club'. - In 1999, the song was re-recorded by Boy George at Abbey Road studios, London, for the homeless charity 'Message Home' as part of a fundraising and awareness campaign by BT, with the help of 100 competition winners providing backing vocals. Winners were selected from 18,000 entries in the 'Kiosk Karaoke' competition, which involved wannabe singers singing down the phone in BT call boxes, some of whom were then selected for auditions nationwide and finally wittled down to the last 100. The version was never commercially released and only the 100 competition winners hold copies of the pressed 1 track picture CD, the cover of which contains all of the names of those featured in the recording.
- In 2004, WestlifeWestlifeWestlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one...
covered the song live. - In 2007, Alvin and the ChipmunksAlvin and the ChipmunksAlvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated music group created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated anthropomorphic chipmunks: Alvin, the mischievous troublemaker, who quickly became the star of the group; Simon, the tall, bespectacled intellectual;...
covered the song on their video game Alvin and the ChipmunksAlvin and the Chipmunks (video game)Alvin and the Chipmunks is a video game based on the film of the same name. The game was released on December 4, 2007 and was the first release by short-lived video game company Brash Entertainment. It follows The Chipmunks as they play their way from small venues to massive crowds at Burning Munk...
. - In 2010, The Lost FingersThe Lost FingersThe Lost Fingers is a Canadian gypsy jazz music group based in Quebec City. Its members are Alex Morissette , Dr. Christian Roberge , and Byron "Maiden" Mikaloff ....
covered the song on their album Gypsy Kameleon