Culture Club: Church Of The Poison Mind - On Solid Gold – 1983 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit)

Culture Club: Church Of The Poison Mind - On Solid Gold – 1983 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit)

"Church of the Poison Mind" is a 1983 hit single by the British new wave band Culture Club. It was released as the lead single from their second, and most successful, album Color by Numbers.

The song reached #2 in the United Kingdom, being kept out of the top spot by David Bowie's "Let's Dance". It was also the band's fourth Top 10 hit in Canada and the United States. In America, it was still climbing the charts when "Karma Chameleon" was released as a single. This prompted Epic Records to release "Karma" ahead of schedule.

"Church of the Poison Mind" actually reached its peak position the same week "Karma Chameleon" debuted on the US charts. In many countries its B-side was the heavily percussive street song "Man Shake" and in some others, such as the United States, it was the song "Mystery Boy". Both songs were on the 12-inch single in many countries, except Canada, where it was issued with an extended version of previous hit "I'll Tumble 4 Ya".

Helen Terry sang backing vocals on the song. AllMusic critic Stewart Mason stated that her "fiery performance of the chorus is a pop-song masterstroke."[3] Fellow Allmusic critic Jose J. Promis agreed that her performance "really brought the house down." Mason regarded the song as a tribute to the songs written by Holland–Dozier–Holland for Motown in the 1960s. It was ranked at number 8 among the top ten "Tracks of the Year" for 1983 by NME. In 2017, it was ranked as the number one Culture Club song by Billboard.

In an interview with Rolling Stone in June 1984, Bob Dylan, when asked if he belonged to any church, joked that he adhered to the "Church of the Poison Mind".