Boy George and Marilyn are sitting in the basement of a London hotel to talk about their breakup, makeup, make-up, and a most unexpected comeback.It is worth saying at the outset that Marilyn is in fine voice for his reggae-flavored new single, “Love or Money,” with George co-writing and producing it, as well as the album that will follow. It is Marilyn’s first new music to be released in more than two decades.George is affable and relaxed, indulging in funny and full answers to questions. Now with a clipped beard and tattoos, topped off with a red hat, George O’Dowd is instantly recognizable, though rather different to his hugely successful years with Culture Club. The early 1980s were soundtracked to “Karma Chameleon,” “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me,” and more. His band is still touring and will be heading to New Zealand for the first time, with a show at the SSE Arena in London in December.Marilyn looks good too, with a spangly jacket topped off by his dyed blonde hair. He is thoughtful, confesses that he wants to be liked, and keeps his replies shorter, sharing that he was bullied at school for his feminine look and decided to turn the nickname “Marilyn” to his advantage. While George looked like a beautiful man in drag, Marilyn pushed his androgyny further towards the look of Monroe, his idol, adding a corset, stilettoes, and dresses by those he modelled for, such as Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier. “I just didn’t care,” he says. His 1980s chart career was shorter, with the singles “Calling Your Name” and “Cry and Be Free” as the two biggest hits.The duo happily relate how they shared both a London squat, and a love for music and clubs. They were the original “Blitz Kids” — regulars at Steve Strange’s Blitz Club — and became famous as New Romantics took over the airwaves. The relationship has been long and sometimes fractious.George recalls: “We have dipped in and out of each other’s lives, as you do with real friends, people who you don’t have to explain where you have been or to catch up — to me, they are real friends. We have had hundreds of fallings-out — I used to get answerphone messages, I wish I had kept them, classic rants, and vice versa I am sure. We have had a few misunderstandings, frustration, jealousy. As you grow older, you just have to let people be who they are.”Marilyn went through personal problems as his career stalled, and at one stage even tried to become a late-shift shelf-stacker in Tescos. He was rejected, and was given no reason. One can imagine the tabloid newspapers would have gone nuts for a story that a former pop star was doing such a job. George points out, lightly, that they are both all but unemployable in any walk of life apart from as celebrities.He adds: “Even in the years when we haven’t seen each other, we have had some intense conversations on the phone, and I always used to get off the phone and say [jokingly surprised] ‘He is quite smart.’ We would start on something innocuous and have a wise conversation.”Recently, Marilyn was able to get some free studio time through a friend, and started working on songs, which he sent to George. So was the initiative his? George answers first: “No, I forced myself on him! He was doing something that he played me and asked my opinion, and I really loved the way his voice sounded, it [...] had a real great tone to it. I said, ‘you are a better singer now: there is more gravitas and experience.’ Then we talked about maybe doing some writing together, and we started that process and came up with ‘Love or Money’ – and then decided to do more and more. It’s an organic thing; it would be nice to get one record out of it.”Marilyn was born in Jamaica and reggae rhythms were part of his childhood. “Reggae has been a huge influence,” he says, “but I’d never thought to incorporate it into my own music before.”He admits to being apprehensive about a return to the public spotlight – he wants to be likeable and genuine. “I don’t know if that’s just fear or excitement – stepping back in front of an audience. There is a fear but a good, creative one,” Marilyn says.He thinks he is a good collaborator, “or we would never get anything done. I am very good on being shut down and by myself, but I love working with people and exchanging ideas and bouncing off them.”George adds: “Sometimes, with Marilyn, you need to convince him. We have a track that I love, called ‘He’s a Woman,’ it’s awesome. He was not sure and I said, ‘When it’s got production it is great.’ Last week, we recorded singers and stuff and now he thinks it is really good.”Marilyn’s single is out now with the album details to follow.
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