My career in journalism began in the dying days of punk, which gave way to the dawn of the New Romantics. I played my part in the latter, being the first music journalist to persuade the then achingly cool Spandau Ballet to do an interview for Sounds which, along with Melody Maker and NME, was one of the three highly influential music weeklies of that era.
The headline on my interview was The New Romantics. And lo, a movement was born. After that I became an unofficial biographer of the New Romantic scene that blossomed throughout the UK in the early Eighties.
One face-around-town who encapsulated the glorious peacock drama of the New Romantics was George O’Dowd, aka Boy George. He was the undisputed king/queen of the burgeoning London club scene whom I admired from a safe distance after hearing reports of his acid tongue.
When every other Blitz Kid was carving a career for themselves as a creative, George bided his time and eventually launched his band Culture Club in 1982 with the single White Boy.
I – or rather my alter ego Betty Page – was dispatched to interview this legend in his own dressing-up box. And boy, was I nervous. But Boy was a joy, churning out hilarious sound bites by the dozen – all worthy of becoming headlines.
You can read my interview here as it has just been published on the Guardian website as part of the Rock’s Backpages archive.
This is the Boy George everyone knows and loves but back then he was a well-kept secret because until then he had only appeared in photographs. If only all of my interviewees had been that quotable. Here are 10 things George taught me about PR:
1. If you speak your mind you’ll stand out.
2. Honesty is not only the best policy – it’s the only policy.
3. Don’t be afraid to offend – especially if you can do it with humour.
4. Be yourself, warts and all. People will love you for it.
5. Create your own myth – don’t let journalists do it for you.
6. Wield the power of the meaningful sound bite or quotable quote.
7. Know who you are and what you stand for.
8. Be anything but bland – being vanilla will get you nowhere.
9. Don’t put on an act – be authentic.
10. Don’t plan interviews – stay present and trust you’ll have an answer.
We’re not all Boy George, but we are all unique in our own way. And the best way to promote yourself is by sharing your story – because no one else has lived your life.
LATEST UPDATE
I wrote this blog before the inaugural Trailblazing PR workshop in 2014. Since then my partner Nicky and I have been hard at work coming up with fresh ideas to help creative types promote themselves in a way that doesn’t make them feel as if they’re selling out.
We’ve come up with a model that we call the Trailblazing Archetypes and you can take a quiz to find out which archetype you lead with. This gives you a great head start in figuring out where to start with your PR and marketing. Click here to take the quiz.
I’m pretty sure Boy George would come out as a Maverick or a Quirk of Art. But he was definitely a Trailblazer.
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