Karma Chameleon

"Karma Chameleon"
Single by Culture Club
from the album Colour by Numbers
B-side"That's the Way (I'm Only Trying to Help You)"
Released5 September 1983 (5 September 1983)[1]
Genre
Length
  • 4:12 (album version)
  • 3:59 (single edit)
LabelVirgin
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Steve Levine
Culture Club singles chronology
"Church of the Poison Mind"
(1983) 		"Karma Chameleon"
(1983) 		"Victims"
(1983)
Music video
"Karma Chameleon" on YouTube

"Karma Chameleon" is a song by English band Culture Club, featured on the group's 1983 album Colour by Numbers. The single was released in the United Kingdom in September 1983[7] and became the second Culture Club single to reach the top of the UK singles chart, after "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me". The record stayed at number one for six weeks and became the UK's biggest-selling single of the year 1983, selling 955,000 copies in 1983 and certificated platinum by BPI.[8] To date, it is the 38th-biggest-selling single of all time in the UK,[9] selling over 1.52 million copies.[10]

The song was a worldwide success, going number one in 20 countries. It also spent three weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in early 1984, becoming the group's biggest hit and only US number-one single among their many top-10 hits. The single sold over 5 million copies globally.[11] In 2015, the song was voted by the British public as the nation's ninth favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV.[12] The sleeve features work from the photographer David Levine.

  1. ^ "News". Record Mirror. 3 September 1983. p. 6. Retrieved 15 December 2020 – via Flickr.
  2. ^ "Boy George candid interview on coming out". 60 Minutes Australia. 12 June 2019. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  3. ^ Graff, Gary (30 August 2017). "Culture Club's 10 Best Songs: Critic's Picks". Billboard. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  4. ^ Breihan, Tom (7 August 2020). "The Number Ones: Culture Club's "Karma Chameleon". Stereogum. Retrieved 29 July 2023. Instead, "Karma Chameleon" sounds like only the most plastic version of uptempo American soul.
  5. ^ Marsh, Dave (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. Plume. p. 414. ISBN 0-452-26305-0.
  6. ^ "New Wave Music Songs". AllMusic.
  7. ^ "The Million Sellers: Culture Club's Karma Chameleon". Official Charts Company. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  8. ^ "Official Top 40 Best Selling Singles of 1983". UK Official Charts.com. The Official UK Charts Company. 19 March 2021.
  9. ^ Myers, Justin (14 December 2018). "The best-selling singles of all time on the Official UK Chart". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  10. ^ Copsey, Rob (19 September 2017). "The UK's Official Chart 'millionaires' revealed". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  11. ^ Bodrero, Eric (2005). "The Culture Club - Greatest Hits Review". antiMusic. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  12. ^ Westbrook, Caroline (25 July 2015). "The Nation's Favourite 80s Number One: 12 more classic 80s chart-toppers which didn't make the cut". Metro. Retrieved 23 May 2017.