Jesus Loves You (band)

Jesus Loves You were a British band, founded by singer Boy George. The band's music is a mixture of electronic dance music, Indian classical music and western pop music. Their lyrics are about love, spirituality and the equality of all human beings.

Jesus Loves You
OriginUnited Kingdom
GenresAcid house, Balearic beat, deep house, electronic dance, house, Indian classical, pop, soul
Years active1989–1992
LabelsMore Protein, Virgin Records
Past membersBoy George, Richard Cottle, Tony Spiker, Colin Eliot, Jon Quarmby, John Themis

History

After the band Culture Club broke up, Boy George started a solo career. He succeeded with the singles taken from his debut album Sold in 1987. For the next two albums, Tense Nervous Headache (1988) and Boyfriend (1989), he wanted to break out in a new direction, by dabbling in electronic dance music. The singles taken from the two albums did not attain much commercial success, but they were often played at clubs.

Boy George founded the band Jesus Loves You, as a collective project with other musicians, under his own label More Protein, which aimed to be an underground label and not meant to release music for the charts. George adopted the pseudonym "Angela Dust". "After the Love", the first song by Jesus Loves You that was released as a single, is about the separation from his ex-bandmate Jon Moss, drummer of Culture Club, and the two artists wrote it together.[1]

The first three singles by the band only had modest success in the UK Singles Chart. On a journey across India, Boy George got to know better the Hare Krishna movement. He was impressed with the Hare Krishna philosophy, and as a result he wrote the song "Bow Down Mister". This was a crucial turning point for the band, because it was their first religious song. It was released as a single in 1991 and it became a hit in the United Kingdom – with a peak of #27, their highest position, France, Switzerland, Germany and most notably in Austria – where it peaked at #2 in the Ö3 Austria Top 40, the official singles chart.

Because of this success, the band's debut album, The Martyr Mantras, was released in the same year. Meanwhile, Boy George felt more and more grateful to Hare Krishna. The religion helped him to conquer his heroin addiction, he said.[2]

In late 1991, remixes of "Generations of Love" and "After the Love" were released as singles.

In July 1992, the band performed before 35,000 people at the Luzhniki Stadium, in Moscow, Russia, during a Hare Krishna festival (the festival also took place in Saint Petersburg, Russia; Riga, Latvia; and Kyiv, Ukraine, but the band only participated in the Moscow event).[3]

In December 1992, the release of the second album, Popularity Breeds Contempt, was planned.[4] The single "Sweet Toxic Love" (with "Am I Losing Control" as B-side) was pre-released, but the record company Virgin Records was so disappointed in the chart positions of the single that the album was not released. The remaining songs that were recorded for the album have since been released. The band dissolved a short time later.

In 2005, a white label 12" and a one-sided promo 12" were released in the summer, using the Jesus Loves You pseudonym. The track was called "Love Your Brother". On the information sheet included with the white label, it suggested to "expect an album in September", but that never materialised.

Discography

Albums
Year Album Chart positions
UK
[5]		 AUS
[6]		 AUT
[7]		 GER
[8]
1990 The Martyr Mantras 60 136 13 44

Singles
Year Single Chart positions Version (A-side)
UK
[5][9]		 AUS
[10][6]		 AUT
[7]		 BEL
(FLA)
[11]		 FRA
[12]		 GER
[8]		 NED
[13]		 SWI
[14]
1989 "After the Love" 68 160 – – – – – – 10 Glorious Years Mix
1990 "Generations of Love" 80 145 – – – – – – Land of Oz Mix[15]
"One on One" 83 – – – – – – – Fon Force Mix
1991 "Bow Down Mister" 27 142 2 44 29 6 – 15 A Small Portion 2 B Polite Mix
"Generations of Love" 35 – 30 27 – – 12 – La La Gone Gaga Mix[16]
"After the Love" – – – – – – – – Naughty Norman Normal's Nightie Edit
1992 "Sweet Toxic Love" 65 – 14 – – 51 – – Deliverance Mix

Note: No single was released in the United States. The album The Martyr Mantras was released as a Boy George album in the United States, and not as Jesus Loves You.[17]

See also

References
  1. "Jesus Loves You - After The Love". Swisscharts.com. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  2. "ISKCON: International Society for Krishna Consciousness". Apologeticsindex.org. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  3. "CRI Journal - CRJ0122A". Christian.net. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  4. "Allaboutboygeorge.com". 5 June 2008. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  5. "Official Charts > Jesus Loves You". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  6. "Bubbling Down Under Week Commencing 20 May 1991". Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  7. "austriancharts.at > Jesus Loves You in der Österreichischen Hitparade" (in German). Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 12 March 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  8. German chart peaks:
  9. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 282. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  10. "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 12 July 2016". Imgur.com. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  11. "Ultratop Vlaanderen > Zoeken naar: Jesus Loves You" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  12. "lescharts.com > Jesus Loves You dans les Charts Français" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  13. "dutchcharts.nl > Zoeken naar: Jesus Loves You" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  14. "hitparade.ch > Suchergebnisse in der Schweizer Hitparade" (in German). Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  15. "Jesus Loves You - Generations of Love". Discogs. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  16. "Boy George - Generations of Love". Discogs. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  17. "The Martyr Mantras". 15 May 2008. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
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