Waking Up with the House on Fire is an album by New Wave band Culture Club, released in 1984. While the album did reach platinum status in the US it was considered to be a disappointment compared to the 4X platinum status of the groups last album Colour by Numbers. It sold more than 4 millions copies worldwide, being gold or platinum in many countries, and being 2 X Platinum in Canada.
Despite a strong first single, "The War Song" which became a number 2 hit in the UK and a top 20 hit in the US in the Autumn of 1984, the album didn't achieve the level of success expected. The other two singles were "The Medal Song" (#32 in UK), (with its B-side, "Don't Go Down That Street" being released as a single from a subsequent EP in Japan but only reaching #69 in the charts) and "Mistake No.3" (#33 in US). In Mexico, "Don't Talk About It" was a single.
On the VH1 program Behind the Music, the narrator states, “Today, the band admits the album was a hurried and halfhearted effort.” Many music insiders also feel that Culture Club and Boy George may have fallen victim to overexposure in both the British and American press by the end of 1984. Subsequently, Culture Club decided to change direction for the next album, From Luxury to Heartache, by choosing a new producer and moving in a dance-oriented direction.
In 2008, this album was re-released in Japan, as a special collector "mini-LP" edition. That version is a CD in a cardboard sleeve (featuring booklets) as a miniature version of the original vinyl album.
The album's cover can be seen in the 2008 film Sex and the City as part of Carrie Bradshaws collection of LPs from the 80s.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waking_Up_with_the_House_on_Fire
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