"Kissing to Be Clever" is the debut album by the English band Culture Club, released on 8 October 1982 in the United Kingdom. It features Culture Club's international breakthrough hit single, "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me," which reached number one in the UK and made the top 10 in many other countries. The album has reportedly sold over 4 million copies worldwide, including over 1 million in the US, where it has been certified Platinum by the RIAA.
The album's first two singles were "White Boy" and "I'm Afraid of Me," neither of which charted well. However, the release of "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" propelled the band to success, achieving number one in over a dozen countries and reaching the top 10 in several others, including number two in the U.S. The album spent 88 weeks on the US Billboard chart, peaking at number 14 in March 1983. The follow-up single, "Time (Clock of the Heart)," became a number two hit in the US and a top three hit in the UK. This song appeared on the US version of the album but not initially on the UK version. Another single, "I'll Tumble 4 Ya," became the group's third consecutive top 10 single in the US, marking Culture Club as the first band since The Beatles to achieve this from a debut album.
Kissing to Be Clever was remastered and re-released on CD in 2003. This edition includes "Romance Beyond the Alphabet," the orchestral instrumental version of "Time (Clock of the Heart)." The 2003 release restored the original color cover, which had been replaced by a black-and-white image of lead singer Boy George on previous versions.
