Journey To The West

In February of 1986 Boy George Stared in the Japanese classical literature masterpiece called "Journey to the West" It stars four major characters a monkey, a pig, a river bird, and a monk played by Boy George. A monk is to portray a person with a "pretty face" and a kind heart. George fits this part so well.

All Prayers Are Answered.

The first commercial starts with ( All Prayers Answered ) Boy George and the river bird who is guarding George struggle across the hot desert in find of the Buddhist Scripture. George is traveling on a horse walked by the river bird as they continue searching for the Scripture.

Fire Boy Meets His Match

Meanwhile in the second TV commercial (Fire Boy Meets His Match) George enters a Kabuki stage filled with 10 Kabuki dancers hoping to find the script, no such luck. George is then walking over to the dancers were a female dancer reveals her face from under the fan and is a pig who winks at George.

Finally the commercial ends & they find the scripture and and the kabuki dancers dance for George. 

The day after shooting Move Away I was on my way back to L.A taking Michael with me.  I spent the first part of the trip recording jingles, quirky ditties in Japanese, written by an expiate Brit who thought he was Bowie.  He kept telling me how he wanted me to sing. After several bouts of artistic temperament Michael and I slipped out of the exit and bent for a Chinese meal leaving "Bowie" and the twenty-five Japanese executives in the control room.  When we returned to the hotel the Japanese were flapping.  I agreed to go back the following day and complete the work my way. 

Shooting started on February 10 at Laird Studios on the old Samuel Goldwyn lot. I felt like Gloria Swanson: I had my own luxury trailer and a Japanese makeup artist cum masseur.  Every morning he gave me a shoulder and head massage. It was a heavenly kick start.  I needed to be relaxed just to face putting on the costumes- wedged platform slippers, a layered ornate kimono, scarves, jewelry, and a heavy gold jeweled crown.  The makeup was equally complex, thick as a brick with stick-on plastic eyebrow and facial gems. I hated the way I looked and kept running into the bathroom to touch up my face.

The set, based on an ancient Japanese myth, were a million dollar kabuki-Berkeley extravaganza complete with Oriental chorus line. I was a monk traveling with a pig, a bird, and a monkey.  Their makeup and costumes were incredible. I never got to see their real faces because there were being painted from 6am. You couldn't't fail to be impressed by the skill and efficiency of the Japanese. It was in diametric contrast to my Western decay.

Once in makeup and costume I become a six-foot-seven bucket-mouthed royal bully.  I'd swagger onto the set and shout obscenities in Japanese taught to me by the makeup artist: "Show me your cock" or "I am a prostitute". They'd cover their faces with their hands and humor me with giggles.

While they were shooting, Prince was on the neighboring sound stage shooting the video for Kiss.  I desperately wanted to meet him but was told it was a closed set.  I saw him walking around the lot and gave him a wolf whistle.  He sneered over his shoulder and minced on and said to his friend ."Oh dear , George is playing SANZO-HOUSI of " The Westward Odyssey".  

Pixieish Leslie Jordan  did a sake commercial with Boy George in the Mojave desert.

Jordan says he was outfitted with all kinds of suffocating prosthetics, lenses, and wigs in order to play a monkey who accompanies the pop singer (riding on a white horse) through the desert.

Jordan grew tired of waiting for George to emerge out of his air conditoned trailer, The singer finally came out and ended up getting into a snit fight with the director because he didn't want to get on the horse.

The director advised George to be a good star. "I am a good fairy," countered George. "Poof. You're a pile of shit!"

Jordan, meanwhile, was going nuts from the sand blowing at him and landing under his lenses and prosthetics.

He told George he could only do one more take, so the singer instructed him of the Japanese phrase to shout at the crew to inform them of that.

Jordan obediently did so, and it turned out he had actually shouted "How big is your dick?"

Bang That Gong Of Love, Bang That Gong Of Life, Fire Boy!

A very old recording from the recording session that produced two songs for the Suntory Jun Gin ad campaign "Fire Boy Meets His Match" and "All Prayers Answered". "Fire Boy Meets His Match" was a recording jingle with a quirky dittie in Japanese. It's about a Gong of Life with a plastic soul, George thought the lyrics were really silly and the person who wrote the song was actually from England who thought he wrote like David Bowie, so George named him Bowie. The producer keep telling George on how he wanted him to sing the song so George refused and left t the recording studio and went out for Chinese food with Michael at the time, when he got back the Japaneses reps weren't to please and aloud George to record the jingles his way or no way. This was just release in Japan on Nov 11, 2009. Available on the CD 80's CM. Click the link to order this CD from CD JAPAN for US and UK and the rest of the world.  http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=SICP-2444

Below is three TV commercials that Boy George did back in 1986 and 1982 . We have the three videos to view in better quality and also we added the MP3 files. Just click to download them.Enjoy

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