Colour by Numbers

Colour by Numbers has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide,{{cite web|url=https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/4754118/culture-club-are-coming-to-newcastle/send-us-your-news/|title=Boy George is bringing the original Culture Club line-up to Newcastle |work=The Newcastle Herald|date=26 June 2017|accessdate=12 February 2020|first=Lisa|last=Rockman}} and like its predecessor, Kissing to Be Clever, contains several hit singles. In the United States, all the album tracks peaked at number three on the US Dance Club Songs chart.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/dance-club-songs/1984-01-14|title=Dance Club Songs – January 14, 1984|magazine=Billboard|date=7 January 1984|accessdate=10 July 2018}} "Karma Chameleon" was the signature track from the album and when released as single reached number one in many countries. "Church of the Poison Mind" reached number two in the UK, and went top 10 in the US, Canada, Australia and many European countries. "Miss Me Blind" was released in North America, South America, Japan, and Australia to great success (top five in the US and Canada), "It's A Miracle" became a top 10 or top 20 hit in several markets. "Victims" was released in Europe and Oceania, it was also a top five hit in the UK and Australia, but was not released as a single in the US. "Mister Man" was also released as a single in South Africa.

The album was certified triple Platinum in the UK, Diamond in Canada, and 4× Platinum in the United States where it peaked at number two for six consecutive weeks behind Michael Jackson's Thriller. In an interview in 1998, the four members of Culture Club agreed that Colour by Numbers was their best work. It was remastered in 2002 and 2003, for the Culture Club box set and for a re-release of the album. In 2005, the album was also released in Japan in a cardboard sleeve, similar to the original vinyl artwork, also featuring the remastered tracks and five bonus songs that were on the 2003 version. In 2014 Boy George curated a live performance of Colour by Numbers in Manchester{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p027s5tg/p027s57y | title=BBC - BBC Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic Presents... Culture Club's Colour by Numbers - BBC Philharmonic Presents... Culture Club's Colour by Numbers }} in collaboration with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Songs were performed by Boy George and guest artists Jimmy Somerville, Eve Gallagher, John Grant, Zee Asha, Hollie Cooke and the Melodico Ensemble.

Recording the album, Culture Club used the same producer, Steve Levine, and the same studio (Red Bus, London) as on their debut album but this time worked with several session musicians, most notably keyboardist Phil Pickett, who also co-wrote two songs, and backing vocalist Helen Terry. The songs took influence from earlier pop history, the melody of "It's a Miracle" was inspired by a Gilbert O'Sullivan song and "Church of the Poison Mind" by Stevie Wonder's "Uptight".

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/colour-by-numbers-mw0000189686 |title=Colour by Numbers – Culture Club |website=AllMusic |access-date=28 July 2011 |last=Promis |first=Jose F.}}

| rev2 = The Baltimore Sun

| rev2score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite news |title=Two soulful voices prove fickleness of British trends |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |date=23 October 1983 |last=Considine |first=J. D. |author-link=J. D. Considine}}

| rev3 = Number One

| rev3score = 5/5{{cite magazine |title=Brilliant Boy |magazine=Number One |issue=24 |date=15 October 1983 |last=Voller |first=Debbi |page=32}}

| rev4 = Record Mirror

| rev4score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine |title=Away from the numbers |magazine=Record Mirror |date=15 October 1983 |last=Smith |first=Graham K. |page=16}}

| rev5 = Rolling Stone

| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/cultureclub/albums/album/304512/review/5943492/colour_by_numbers |title=Culture Club: this Boy's the real thing |magazine=Rolling Stone |issue=407 |date=27 October 1983 |access-date=28 July 2011 |last=Holden |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Holden |pages=77–79 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080807143426/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/cultureclub/albums/album/304512/review/5943492/colour_by_numbers |archive-date=7 August 2008 |url-status=dead}}

| rev6 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev6score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite book |chapter=Culture Club |last=Considine |first=J. D. |author-link=J. D. Considine |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor1-link=Nathan Brackett |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |editor2-link=Christian Hoard |publisher=Simon & Schuster |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/204 204–205]}}

| rev7 = Slant Magazine

| rev7score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web |url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/culture-club-colour-by-numbers/ |title=Review: Culture Club, Colour By Numbers |website=Slant Magazine |date=3 April 2005 |access-date=28 July 2011 |last=Shetler |first=Scott}}

| rev8 = Smash Hits

| rev8score = 10/10{{cite magazine |title=Culture Club: Colour by Numbers |magazine=Smash Hits |volume=5 |issue=21 |date=13–26 October 1983 |last=Martin |first=Peter |page=44}}

| rev9 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

| rev9score = 8/10{{cite book |chapter=Culture Club |last=Sheffield |first=Rob |author-link=Rob Sheffield |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide |editor1-last=Weisbard |editor1-first=Eric |editor1-link=Eric Weisbard |editor2-last=Marks |editor2-first=Craig |publisher=Vintage Books |year=1995 |isbn=0-679-75574-8 |pages=99–100}}

| rev10 = The Village Voice

| rev10score = B+{{cite news |url=https://robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv12-83.php |title=Christgau's Consumer Guide |newspaper=The Village Voice |date=27 December 1983 |access-date=28 July 2011 |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau}}

}}

Reviews for Colour by Numbers have been generally positive. Smash Hits reviewer Peter Martin called it "simply one of the most enjoyable records I've ever heard." Stephen Holden of Rolling Stone said that the album "secures lead singer Boy George's place as a blue-eyed soul balladeer in the first rank." Holden found that it "is by no means a weighty album", but nonetheless "has gobs of emotion plastered as thickly as Boy George's makeup, and ten tunes that stick", and concluded: "Whether you like the band or not, Culture Club is one pop group that matters." Robert Christgau of The Village Voice wrote that "George's warm, well-meaning, slightly clumsy croon signifies most effectively when it has the least to say – when it's most purely a medium for his warm, well-meaning, slightly clumsy self", and that "his real aim in life is to reenact the story of the ugly duckling – and to radiate the kind of extreme tolerance that's so often engendered by extreme sexual ambiguity." Colour by Numbers was ranked at number seven among the "Albums of the Year" for 1983 by NME.{{cite web |url=https://www.nme.com/features/1983-2-1045394 |title=NME's best albums and tracks of 1983 |website=NME |date=10 October 2016 |access-date=13 March 2018}}

In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Jose F. Promis wrote: "The songs were infectious, the videos were all over MTV, and the band was a media magnet." He deemed the album "flamboyant, fun, sexy, soulful, colorful, androgynous, and carefree" like other 1980s music, and concluded by calling it "the artistic and commercial pinnacle of a band that still attracted new fans years later." Scott Shetler of Slant Magazine stated that "Culture Club hit their stride, and the influence of its 10 colorful songs can still be felt today." He said that "its greatness can be measured by the fact that its album tracks are just as good as its singles", and that "in the end, Colour by Numbers is an album that needs no tinkering." In 1989, Colour by Numbers was ranked at number 96 on Rolling Stone{{'}}s list of the 100 best albums of the 1980s.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-best-albums-of-the-eighties-150477/culture-club-colour-by-numbers-55659/ |title=The 100 Best Albums of the 1980's |magazine=Rolling Stone |issue=565 |date=16 November 1989 |access-date=2 December 2021}} The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.{{cite book |chapter=Culture Club: Colour by Numbers |last=Kato |first=Yoshi |title=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die |title-link=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die |editor-last=Dimery |editor-first=Robert |publisher=Universe Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7893-1371-3 |page=515}}

{{Track listing

|all_writing = Culture Club, except as noted

|headline = Side one

|title1 = Karma Chameleon

|writer1 = O'Dowd/Moss/Craig/Hay/Pickett

|length1 = 4:11

|title2 = It's a Miracle

|writer2 = O'Dowd/Moss/Craig/Hay/Pickett

|length2 = 3:25

|title3 = Black Money

|length3 = 5:19

|title4 = Changing Every Day

|length4 = 3:17

|title5 = That's the Way (I'm Only Trying to Help You)

|length5 = 2:45

}}

{{Track listing

|headline = Side two

|title6 = Church of the Poison Mind

|length6 = 3:30

|title7 = Miss Me Blind

|length7 = 4:30

|title8 = Mister Man

|length8 = 3:36

|title9 = Stormkeeper

|length9 = 2:46

|title10 = Victims

|length10 = 4:55

|total_length = 38:14

}}

{{Track listing

|headline = 2003 reissue bonus tracks

|title11 = Man-Shake

|length11 = 2:34

|title12 = Mystery Boy

|note12 = Suntori Hot Whiskey Song

|length12 = 3:33

|title13 = Melting Pot

|note13 = live

|length13 = 4:31

|title14 = Colour by Numbers

|length14 = 3:57

|title15 = Romance Revisited

|length15 = 5:00

|total_length = 57:50

}}

"Time (Clock of the Heart)" was included in Japanese vinyl pressings.{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/1673152-%E3%82%AB%E3%83%AB%E3%83%81%E3%83%A3%E3%83%BC%E3%82%AF%E3%83%A9%E3%83%96-Colour-By-Numbers-%E3%82%AB%E3%83%A9%E3%83%BC%E3%83%90%E3%82%A4%E3%83%8A%E3%83%B3%E3%83%90%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BA|title=カルチャー・クラブ* – Colour By Numbers = カラー・バイ・ナンバーズ|website=Discogs|date=1983}}

;Culture Club

• Boy George – lead and backing vocals
• Roy Hay – guitars, piano, electric sitar, backing vocals
• Mike Craig – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Jon Moss – drums, backing vocals

;Additional musicians

• Judd Lander – harmonica
• Phil Pickett – Hammond organ, synthesizers
• Steve Grainger – saxophone
• Patrick Seymour – flute
• Graham Broad – percussion
• Jermaine Stewart – backing vocals
• Terry Bailey – trumpet
• Helen Terry – backing vocals{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/371984-Culture-Club-Colour-By-Numbers|title=Culture Club – Colour By Numbers (1983, Vinyl)|accessdate=20 December 2021|website=Discogs.com}}

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{{certification Table Entry|title=Colour by Numbers|artist=Culture Club|type=album|relyear=1983|region=Hong Kong|certyear=1990|award=Platinum|access-date=2012-03-03}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Japan (Oricon Charts)|nocert=yes|salesamount=481,790|salesref=}}

{{certification Table Entry|title=Colour by Numbers|artist=Culture Club|type=album|relyear=1983|region=Netherlands|award=Platinum|access-date=2020-02-12}}

{{certification Table Entry|title=Colour by Numbers|artist=Culture Club|type=album|relyear=1983|id=1983-12-16|source=newchart|access-date=2024-11-20| region=New Zealand|award=Platinum}}

{{certification Table Entry|title=Colour by Numbers|artist=Culture Club|type=album|relyear=1983|region=Spain|award=Gold|access-date=2012-03-03|certref={{cite web|url=http://www.mediafire.com/?x263f6daopkswo8|title=Solo Exitos 1959–2002 Ano A Ano: Certificados 1979–1990|publisher=Solo Exitos 1959–2002 Ano A Ano}}}}

{{certification Table Entry|title=Colour by Numbers|artist=Culture Club|type=album|relyear=1983|region=United Kingdom|award=Platinum|number=3|access-date=2012-03-03|id=1449-1733-2}}

{{certification Table Entry|title=Colour by Numbers|artist=Culture Club|type=album|relyear=1983|region=United States|award=Platinum|number=4|access-date=2012-03-03}}

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{{Certification Table Entry|region=Worldwide|title=Savage Garden|artist=Savage Garden|type=album|nocert=yes|salesamount=10,000,000|salesref=}}

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Category:1983 albums

Category:Culture Club albums

Category:Virgin Records albums

Category:Epic Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Steve Levine