Boy George is most certainly one of the most colourful characters around to date, and he hasn't done too badly on the music scene either.

The controversial singer- turned DJ has been in the public eye since he hit the charts in the 80s with top pop band Culture Club.

But what many people don't realise is that Boy George began his DJ-ing career when he was just 17 years old, playing to a crowd of trendy Londoners at Planet's night-club alongside pal, and then housemate, Jeremy Healy.

With the success of Culture Club the DJ-ing had to go on the back burner for quite some time - but despite this, George never lost his passion or touch for it.

If you read his interviews you will know that these days he often mentions that DJ-ing is a real love for him and he enjoys it much more sometimes than playing to a stadium audience of thousands.

George's time behind the decks was resurrected back in the days of Nottingham's legendary Venus Club, where promoter James Ballie trusted George to run a More Protein night - named after George's respected label - in one of the rooms.

George turned up with his motley crew of Jeremy Healy, MC Kinky and Amos, together with his collection of 7" singles in carrier bags and a broken box.

The rest, as they say, is history.

The box may have been broken but the night was enough to give George the DJ-ing bug again and offers came flooding in from far and wide. At first, people were cynical and said that booking Boy George was just a novelty factor.

Top DJs slagged him off and laughed, saying he would be off to pastures new once the novelty wore off.

Despite this, clubs were soon booking Boy George on the back of the fact that he could hold his own, mix a mean set and fill a club with up-front punters and not star-struck fans from the 80s.

Regular appearances at clubs like Progress, Cream, Gatecrasher, The Manor, Sugarshack and God's Kitchen, to name but a few, plus a bi-monthly residency at Maidstone's mental Club Class, certainly helped put George's DJ'ing career into flourishing mode and the dance floors were packed.

He's also responsible for bringing out successful CDs Dance Nation and The Annual, both through Ministry of Sound Recordings.

He's also brought out a series of albums called The Galaxy Weekender, the first of which was a collaboration between George and Allistair Whitehead.

George's DJ-ing gigs have taken him from Austria to Australia, Bolton to Bulgaria and even onto the catwalks of the fashion hierarchy worldwide.

In 1999 and 2000 George completed stints on the infamous Golden Red Parrot tours alongside all his other parrot stablemates.

He has also completed a successful series of one-off dates back in 80s mode, on Culture Club's worldwide's reunion tour.

George has still managed to successfully run his cult label More Protein and written an autobiography aptly titled Take it Like a Man. Catch him at Escape Into The Park 2002 on Saturday, July 27, in Singleton Park, Swansea.