George Michael R.I.P.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38432862

:(

RIP

Whoa, is this real?

oh man

RIP. Only 53, goddamn.

i refuse

yes, it's true. His publicist announced it.

2016 had to get more fuck-you in before the close. RIP. Been a fan as long as I can remember.

last christmas....

RIP :(

one of the best to have done it. i am heartbroken

RIP

this really fucking hurts and i don't care who knows it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTCJIrHiue4

sorry Maura, i know how much you loved him.

Hey 2016 👋🏼

mrs. joan just told me and I have to say this smarts harder than people whose music meant more to me, for some reason. there is a tragedy for me in how incredible his talent was -- fresh out of the gate, he had more hits than most people would even dare to pray for, every one of them a dense tapestry of impulses & influences; and he was underrated from early on, too. but it seemed like he was making "comebacks" from a very early age -- not a good sign. still, the list of his greatest numbers is a greatest hits that can stand next to absolutely anybody's -- even if you take out the first album stuff you get:

Careless Whisper
Freedom
Everything She Want
I'm Your Man
The Edge of Heaven
A Different Corner
I Want Your Sex
Faith
and the massively, tragically underrated "Amazing," as good a single as was released in the 2000s imo.

And 53 is so young. He started young -- "Careless Whisper" is said to have been written by a 16-year-old G.M., isn't it? -- but God. This is a hard loss, he gave much to my youth. Driving around at age 17 blasting "Freedom" in an Isuzu I-Mark, dazzled by its totality. Hope he understood how much his music meant to so many, even if he "peaked early," to use a terrible phase.

and "Father Figure," jeez, what a single

25 December 2016

Police say there were no suspicious circumstances.

I felt there was gonna be one more suckerpunch before the year was out

RIP

JCLC and others, I'd really like to hear a youtube/etc playlist of those and other of his hits, just because I've never really processed his music. As another Londoner of Greek extraction I feel like I ought to have paid him more attention. Anything, I'd be really grateful.

Ismael's recent ILX poll lead to a rediscovery of just about everything he ever did. i'm so glad we all did that here so recently.

this is killer
https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2009/jun/02/george-michael-faith

Long 2004 profile:
http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/george-michael-interview

There was always Christmas time
When Jesus came to stay
I could believe in peace on Earth
And I could watch TV all day
And so I dreamed of Christmas
Yes I dreamed like you

RIP George

Imago, read the poll thread, so much love on it for him: Hot damn! Everybody let's play the GEORGE MICHAEL TRACKS POLL results thread

fastlove
outside

some fucking great songs

cheers Dan

the poll was such a good experience and really gives a v complete idea of his music

cried reading joan's post idk what to do with myself

Prince and George Michael in the same year, what a horrible year for pop music this has been. And 53 is way too young! I guess there's some cruel irony that the writer/singer of the best known Christmas song of the last 40 years would die on Christmas. I was just listening to it a couple of hours ago and admiring what a perfectly crafted, wisttul pop tune it is, but it'll be hard to listen to it again for a long time.

it's ridiculous and unfair that Michael Jackson, George Michael, Whitney Houston, and Prince are all dead.

Fucking hell.

Precious Box, y'all. All of Patience.

could prob spend the rest of my life thinking about the way he sings "amazing"

First, David Bowie and then Prince and now George Michael. 2016 cannot end soon enough.
RIP

RIP

Just gobsmacked. Damn.

Guys I'm so sad

I was just thinking the other week about how remarkable (especially in retrospect) "Father Figure" is as a combination of the music, the arrangement, the lyrics.

Last christmas indeed.

I hadn't given his music any thought in years, but the - I think genuinely felt - tribute in the movie Keanu reminded me that, yeah, the guy had a bunch of great songs.

And one of the prettiest voices

incredibly sad. wrote so many fantastic songs - produced a ton of them himself and played most instruments on a lot of his biggest hits.

co-sign on Amazing. i heard that properly for the first time after meeting my current amazing partner a few years after coming out of an awfully painful breakup - and it captured that feeling of how incredible a connection to a new person can be so well.

will miss the hell out of him - and he always seemed mega genuine. not to mention releasing Outside so soon after the horrendous UK police and press had tried its hardest to wreck his life was such a fucking ballsy move. what a dude.

and though it wasn't an incredible track, Shoot The Dog was ballsy as hell too.

Wow. Unlike Bowie or even Prince, George Michael was ours, my generation's prodigy. His casual mastery of pop form was daunting -- just two days ago Javier Gomez and I were in awe of his 1984-1985 dominance, as we listened to "Last Christmas," the only Xmas standard of the last 40 years after Mariah Carey's.

Sorry -- the aforementioned is a friend. I'm drunk.

Any cause of death confirmed?

Careless Whisper, the world's smoothest song.

Any cause of death confirmed?

"no suspicious circumstances" usually means suicide

or a long illness

anyway this quote from 1988 sums up a lot

"If you listen to a Supremes record or a Beatles record, which were made in the days when pop was accepted as an art of sorts, how can you not realize that the elation of a good pop record is an art form? Somewhere along the way, pop lost all its respect. And I think I kind of stubbornly stick up for all of that."

Hadn't been in and out of the hospital over the last couple years?

no suspicious circumstances in UK police speak is probably actually more like "we can't see an obvious cause of death but nothing suggests murder/foul play". if there is no obvious cause they cannot give an absolute public answer on anything until an autopsy legally makes it clear. due to recent quietness i expect its just more of his recent ill health problems.

I was going down for the third time - my heart was broken, I was not open to your suggestion - had so many questions that you just kissed away. I guess that Cupid was in disguise the day you walked in & changed my life. I think it's amazing, the way that love can set you free. So now I walk in the midday sun. I never thought that my savior'd come. I think it's amazing. I think you're amazing.

standing behind a club in 2007 listening to this on headphones over and over, my lifeline, in a state of disbelief that the guy whose "Edge of Heaven" had taken me by surprise in '85 -- I was so young, music moved so fast, I'd figured Wham! was old news and I'd moved on and then BAM, there it was...but life is long and there's so much, and by '07 I'm not thinking about Wham or G.M. at all, that's stuff from my teen years right? and the iTunes says "new George Michael single" and I say "sure, let's give it a shot, he was so good once"

and then that burbly 4 a.m. muffled club synth intro into that smooth beat and that da-da-das

you were a giant, George Michael. truly a giant.

If Lou Reed made me gay, and David Bowie made me insouciant about it, then George Michael helped me realize it.

<3

I put youtube on my tv and have been shuffling through his catalog, crying and dancing and quietly thinking about George

such a friend to my ears

"As" on right now & I simultaneously wish for a dance party and rain

Oh George

I wrote this in September, when he wasn't dead.

An amazing artist with a huge heart and a wicked sense of humour. RIP George.

oh man "Somebody to Love": It's this perfect combo of techinical prowess + passion. He was the only performer that night who projected not only how much he LOVED Freddie Mercury's music, which is quite enough if you're straight, but how Queen had saved him.

Consummate artist

and I can't get past how often he sneaked gay overtones into these massive pop hits. "Different Corner," sure, but listen to "One More Try" without thinking it's a gay "Maggie May."

"One More Try" is maybe a top 5 vocal performance of the late 80s (at least)

fuck this shit. <3 and rest in peace George.

RIP
the morbid weirdness of hearing "Lazarus" and "Sometimes it Snows in April" and "You Want It Darker" and now and "Last Christmas" sums up this year all too neatly

no suspicious circumstances in UK police speak is probably actually more like "we can't see an obvious cause of death but nothing suggests murder/foul play".

true, and "unexplained" doesn't really indicate it was suicide.

thinking illness, esp since the family said he died peacefully

his spokesperson said he hadn't been ill, but tbh we're already knee-deep in not-our-business territory so

Some striking photos here:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/gallery/2016/dec/26/george-michael-life-in-pictures

lovely bittersweet listen here, George's Desert Island Discs ep from 2007

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008006s

Oh thanks!

8 years ago, I got his Twenty- FIve, which has shit from Older and Patience that I had never heard and really liked it… I knew "fastlove" referencing his recently deceased boyfriend, and "outside" which has a funny vid re: his "importuning" arrest but that was it…which is to say that in America, his work past Listen W/out P. is obscure; like, what he did in 1990-1991 was not in tune with the 90s alt-milieu, and I don't remember the MOR audience going for him.

I would be interested in English people's, or people from anywhere else, impressions of his last 20 years: like did his shit get on the radio or you heard it everywhere you went upon release? is ti true that he was huge everywhere else?

Older was massive in Australia iirc

This feels cruel and unfair.

Fuck you 2016.

Outside and its accompanying video are one of the most fearless and funny artefacts in pop. A 100% "up yours!" to the media and the establishment. I'm so sad that he's gone but so happy that he turned devastating events into something so joyous. He did not give a shit in the last 10-15 years. I think he was happy and happy being a fuck up. He was brutally honest with George and generous to others.

What a FANTASTIC man!

He was a hell of a ballad singer, and as close to a pure pop artist/auteur as the 80s had - MJ and Madonna had too much outside help to really qualify, Prince was too rock/funk/whatever and too flat out eccentric. Not a first-rate lyricist but at best he was pretty sly. What nobody ever mentions is that he was also a preternaturally gifted composer - "Freedom '90" and "Jesus to a Child" among others are as remarkable for their structure and arrangements and chord changes as they are for their by-now-obvious subtext. This is OTM:

His casual mastery of pop form was daunting

And so is this:

fresh out of the gate, he had more hits than most people would even dare to pray for, every one of them a dense tapestry of impulses & influences; and he was underrated from early on, too

RIP.

Even though Faith was massive pretty much everywhere, it is odd that he is never really quite considered part of the Bruce/Madonna/Michael/Prince/Whitney 80s pop royalty, although I'm probably coming at this from a very American (by way of Canada) perspective. I'm likely guilty of underrating him myself; between owning a cassette of Faith when I was 10 and rediscovering the album only a few years ago, I don't think I ever thought of him outside the occasional public embarrassment. Even watching the news just now, on which every song they played clips from--aside from "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go"--was from Faith, it really is astonishing how one album produced so many massive singles.

RIP

i always figured him in pop royalty, growing up in Australia may have helped that impression I guess

insane *not* to think of him as such

One of my husband's relatives, just now: "Did he leave behind a wife and kids?"

Hmm. Dare I ask what the reaction was when this person was disabused?

wow

In his defense you can be gay and leave behind a wife and kids.

But that's off topic and worthless to discuss atm. I'd rather talk about his late work:

What was the last thing he did? I think the last song I heard from him was Outside from 1998! I lost track completely. Anything you recommend from his work of the past 20 years?

I remember there were some rumors of a Disclosure/George Michael collaboration... seems it never came through but I would've loved to hear him in that 'updated' setting - not necessarily Disclosure but any sort of modern edm/disco/house context- he had a really smooth very sexual voice.

53. That came out of nowhere.
RIP George.

Anything you recommend from his work of the past 20 years?

Joan L. Chachi on "Amazing" upthread to thread

I just played "Freedom '90" and his death is going to be especially hard to come to terms with because as well as only being 53, so many of his songs are about being alive and living your life on your own terms. "Because I would really really love to stick around."

really sad news. he had a really amazing voice. agree with ned about father figure. i'd say there's always been one or two of his singles drifting into regular rotation for me, over many years, whether solo stuff or wham.

obvious choice but the vocal in this is so brilliant, it's obviously a great song but he performs it with such style:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtYOpHp-bX0

Love the guy but his post 96 output save Amazing was dismal

He seemed to be going on a whole new terrain with Older that he never properly followed up on

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdfXzUFo3_s

friend shared this on facebook, great track and a really nice video.

Heartbroken about this. The ILM poll earlier this year made me go back to his stuff and listen to it over and over, especially Precious Box.

RIP George.

This has been widely posted but just adding here as it's amazing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1ZMi3cPzUg

Also just to rep for "As", which I will listen to any day over the Stevie version

What a man

Also, Fastlove, I think in retrospect the greatest song of my teenage years. Back when pubs had pool tables and jukeboxes, always impossible not to 50p it

as a DJ in hip-hop clubs in New York City in the late 90’s, George/Wham’s “Everything She Wants” was one of maybe three or four tunes by white artists that you could follow MJ, Frankie Beverly or Roy Ayers with

nice tribute from Mark Ronson https://www.instagram.com/p/BOdfkmVArb7/

it's all so sad :'(

Amazing how patronised George is in that clip, while being the most broadly knowledgeable and open person on the panel. ugh, Morrissey.

Had never heard (or heard of) "If I Told You That" until this morning.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7EjfbyCpAxA

Love the guy but his post 96 output save Amazing was dismal

i mean i know i'm cap'n save an artist's later work but having gone through it just earlier this year this is absolutely untrue

i mean, "cars and trains"! "precious box"! "an easier affair"!

'Flawless'
'Shoot the Dog'

more sparse than dismal

Outside too.

George does come across very tasteful and intelligent in that eight days a week episode. But fucking Morrissey ... ugh! indeed, what a repulsive lil' arrogant overgrown 6th former cunt he makes out of himself.

that was the raw material he had tbf

this is gorgeous:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRAOG-BpNOw

his combination of chops and soul, passion and control was sublime

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbWJO8RMg1A

I would be interested in English people's, or people from anywhere else, impressions of his last 20 years: like did his shit get on the radio or you heard it everywhere you went upon release? is ti true that he was huge everywhere else?

― veronica moser,

Older was to England what Faith was in America: a massive hit.

t became Michael's biggest-selling album in his homeland, achieving over 1.8 million copies sold, and receiving a 6xPlatinum certification by the BPI on 5 December 1997. In the UK, it spent a total of 147 weeks inside the Top 200, 99 of them on the Top 75, and 35 of them on the Top 10 (including 23 consecutive weeks).[13] The steady sales of the album were the result of good promotion market and the release of six hit singles throughout a 2-year period. All of these singles (except for the one for the title track) were released and promoted as EP's, in two available formats, most of them containing previously unreleased material (including live tracks, alternate versions and, in the case for the Spinning the Wheel EP, two new studio recordings of brand-new George Michael compositions). Most of these singles were promoted with live performances at Top of the Pops and also music videos were recorded for the four first singles. All of this helped to push the album sales from one week to another, with the album usually returning to the Top 10 in the British charts. For example, when "Star People '97" was released in mid-1997, Older achieved a 21-14-10-7 progression on the charts. Very much the same happened when "You Have Been Loved/The Strangest Thing '97" was issued as the sixth single (fourteen months after the original release of the album), and Older showed a 24-14-7 move on the UK charts. In all, Older currently sits as the 97th best selling album of all time in the United Kingdom.

Listened to Battlestations for the first time in 25 years today. Loved it at the time then but didn't fully appreciate what a Prince-inspired classic it clearly was.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSxl3CHeI7Q

I would be interested in English people's, or people from anywhere else, impressions of his last 20 years: like did his shit get on the radio or you heard it everywhere you went upon release? is ti true that he was huge everywhere else?

― veronica moser,

Just check and his last hit in the US was 20 years ago, what were you lot thinking? In that same period, he had 10 more top 10 hits and 5 top 20 hits in the UK.

RIP George btw.

Have you listened to American radio in the last 20 years? Nuance is not one of its prized qualities.

Stunned at the level of grief and interest in his death to be honest. Obviously he was much more popular in the UK. "I Want Your Sex" is a sick fucking song, those synth stabs in the chorus. But grouping him in with Prince and Bowie (haven't read all of this thread yet but I've seen that appraisal elsewhere) seems insane to me.

Faith sold 10 million copies here but....really? George Michael??

I dunno, no need to really compare legends, but I think George Michael always came across as a musical genius in a way that's somewhat similar to Prince - a soulful perfectionist

Gtfo dickhole xpost

Faith sold 10 million copies here but....really? George Michael??

Yeah, what about it?

... and I wasn't even that much of a fan of his tbh.

Faith is as good as any of the great Prince albums

even the extended CD version doesn't contain filler

(original longer CD / cassette track listing)

listening to Faith again now. Hand To Mouth should have seen him be award a songwriting credit for Richard Marx's 'Hazard'

i dug the songs i heard on VH1 as a kid (i want your sex and wake me up before you go-go), but i always had this image of him as washed up, a has been. Faith came out before I was born, probably has something to do with it. though i saw several of my friends talk about that christmas song he did. not trying to be disrespectful, i had no idea he was so beloved.

Has the stuff Lindsay Anderson filmed of Wham ever come out?

i always had this image of him as washed up, a has been

How respectful of you to share that with us.

to many, not maintaining impressive sales and chart positions in America = outright failure

How unlike Prince and Bowie who, by contrast, had an unbroken line of commercial and critical successes from their heyday up until their deaths.

I loved this guy's songs even when I didn't know some of the songs were his. Like for years I didn't know he was behind Careless whisper and everything she wants, two of the songs that perfectly encapsulate everything great about the '80s sound. Faith is a monster of an album. even when I was ten and hearing this guy solo for the first time it was pretty clear he was something special. I think his solo career even by itself is pretty superior and if you include Wham! it puts him on a level with some of those other giants being mentioned in the same breath. Don't see it being mentioned much but damn he was a great great singer too. The voice he had.

i dug the songs i heard on VH1 as a kid (i want your sex and wake me up before you go-go), but i always had this image of him as washed up, a has been. Faith came out before I was born, probably has something to do with it.

I felt pretty much the same way of David Bowie, but I didn't come to share that on his RIP thread. Certainly GM's music meant more to me (and most likely to many others of my generation) than anything Bowie ever did, and to say that he shouldn't be remembered as being in the same league as Prince or Bowie is inexplicable rockism. He was a pop genius.

Also, America is not the world, so it shouldn't be a huge surprise that artists you don't hear about there might be beloved elsewhere?

xxxxpost

I just saw him do "Feeling Good" for the first time yesterday. <3
His covers .., man, he really knocks your socks off

https://youtu.be/WxBr_9EkmQ0

I loved this when it came out in 2000 - George & Whitney dancing together in the video is still a treat

https://youtu.be/7EjfbyCpAxA

A (surprisingly) thoughtful and poignant tribute from Armond White.

I hope everyone loves "Too Funky" as much as you should.

more!

just watched the rehearsal of "Somebody to Love" from the 1991 tribute. cotdamn. like Alfred said above, he's about the only one who approached what Freddie did on this song - most covers of this tune or live performances are always so antiseptic and he's so locked in even in the rehearsal. this is a song where melisma isn't inherently a bad thing, but both Freddie and George used it in a way that served the song, yet i like that George didn't note-for-note replicate Freddie's runs at the end.

Gtfo dickhole

― Neanderthal, Monday, December 26, 2016 5:42 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

OTM.

Best thing I've read by Armond White, easily.

as a gay guy who makes a little music i have often related to George Michael's voice in a very particular way. it created a niche for "people like me" in an industry so hard to penetrate. as embarrassing as it is that i've never listened to Prince or Bowie, i feel proud that George in many ways taught me how to sing!

Personally, I'm finding news of George Michael's passing as difficult to process as Bowie and Prince earlier on in the year. His health problems this decade were well documented, but even with that in mind I felt he was the type of guy that would live well into his 70's at the very least. 53 is ridiculously young. That '80s stars like George Michael and Prince are passing away while '60s stars like McCartney, Jagger, Richards, Townshend etc. are still active, alive and kicking is just... wut?

Nevertheless, I'm listening to Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 again for the first time in ages, and I keep forgetting how utterly fucking wonderful 'Praying For Time' is.

I've always loved George Michael's voice, and felt he was somewhat underrated as a songwriter and a producer. Maybe now, people will look at his body of work and realise that he had an amazing songwriting gift.

TMZ is saying he may have had a lot of recent weight gain and since the cause of death was heart failure, could have been related to that. it just kind of shows how random it all is - there's no equation for who lives to what age, such as the examples above.

feel like listening to "Cowboys and Angels" now.

"Praying For Time" and "Freedom '90" are kind of an amazing one-two of high profile MTV-uber-alles videos that now weirdly seem like total harbringers of the YouTube era -- a lyric video followed by a dubsmash.

'Somebody To Love' was the song I havent been able to listen to since the news. I hadn't properly cried til now & I can't stop.

It is the song that means the most to me because his performance shows how deeply he understands the song. My understanding is that Somebody was Freddie's favorite song, but the one he was most self-conscious of because of how personal it was. - I like to think that George knew that, an as an expression of solidarity & understanding - he's playing not just to the huge crowd but to the heavens.

But he inhabits the *plea*. That's where he gets me. Freddie's version can make me cry any day of the week because of that plea, that hope, that need. George captures it so perfectly. Like a great actor he not only reads the lyrics, he *listens* & answers.

He's not mimicking Freddie in any way, he feels it in his soul & pours it out the way the song demands & it defeats any argument against his right to be among the great interpreters & creators of pop music. Not that those arguments hold much water but anyway

I just feel so ;_;

so I wrote this: http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7633317/george-michael-gay-artist-sexuality-career

really nice. i saw it linked online before too.

VectorVictoria @V3ct0rv1ct0r

@richardosman he gave a stranger in a cafe £25k as she was crying over debt. Told the waitress to give her the cheque after he left.

EMILYNE MONDO @EmilyneMondo

George Michael worked anonymously at a homeless shelter I was volunteering at. I've never told anyone, he asked we didn't. That's who he was
4:43 AM - 26 Dec 2016

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/26/506998666/after-george-michaels-death-stories-emerge-of-his-quiet-generosity

There's been a lot of that stuff on the news over here too. He genuinely seems like he was a nice person.

I liked a few GM/Wham songs, but would hardly classify myself as a fan, per se. However, Queen not paying him whatever he asked to front the band after Freddie died = dumbest mistake ever. George Michael was like Freddie, with arguably even better pop/soul chops, and totally agreed w/above, regarding how deeply he clearly understood their music. Maybe he wouldn't have even been interested, but it's hard not to think about what might have been. RIP

so I wrote this: http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7633317/george-michael-gay-artist-sexuality-career🔗

Wonderful piece. Definitely gonna investigate his later work.

Although this duet has always struck me as ropey and vacant, hearing it this morning brought tears. It works better as an ode to music instead of a love song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBCWLhlJV0Y

Yeah I love it as a callback to duets like Aint No Mountain High Enough etc

It's naff but very lovable - actually a very good song for children. There's a TOTP clip with John Peel snarking on it immediately after the song - amusingly dickish but always made me like the ring even more.

it was on the radio ALL the time when it came out, i was young enough to enjoy it

it's a v posi vibe song

Song even more

Sorry, didnt mean that as a reflection on the quality of Patience

I shouldve just said 'sparse' yes

I remember seeing the video and thinking it looked like it was made in outer space, or something equally unearthly. Gradually becoming clear at that age that guy was simply awesome

i was 28 yrs old

“Hey George Michael you don’t know me but I know you very well.. They can’t take that away from you. You are the one.. "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHCVEtWKPTw

rip man this sucks so much

and your mom
and your mom
was always acting craaaazy

Per my earlier post about how "Father Figure" had been on my mind:

http://nedraggett.tumblr.com/post/155001636372/it-came-to-mind-the-other-week-i-have-no-idea

there was a Q mag interview with him in the wake of the 1998 Will Rogers park incident (my copy is in another state) in which he was not all contrite and hugely entertaining as such…it seems like he never really stopped cruising like that… good for him!

One thing I'm still curious about is how he and Ridgley might have been perceived by, say, the NME reading student cohort, like how he was dressed in that thing with Morrissey and Tony Blackburn. Like, would "naff" hit the spot? I'm sure this is perfectly obvious, but if someone could unpack the specific variety of corn/ cheese he bespoke '82-'87, I'd be interested. There can be no doubt that from the 90s on, he inhabited the most exquisite gay existence imaginable…

i once waited on him in a restaurant. he was at a table with two huge bears. they were all very nice.

:) :)

what'd they drink?

tea, iirc!

I remember reading a reprint of an NME interview with Michael from the mid-80s, iirc NME had been very positive about Wham Rap and Young Guns (Go For It), giving them single of the week etc, but had turned against them when they did Club Tropicana, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go etc and became full on Smash Hits approved pop stars, the interview was basically a debate between GM and the NME journalist, with GM accusing them of being too-cool-for school snobs who rejected them for being too popular and the NME journalist accusing Wham of going middle of the road and bland.

I mean, this is all way before my time, but that's what I inferred from this reprinted interview. I guess that Wham hit their peak just at around the time that what the NME reading students were into and what was in the top 20 was being beginning to diverge with "indie" becoming a thing?

bob stanley touches on their perception at the time here https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2016/dec/26/george-michael-wham-most-misunderstood-group-1980s-thatcherism

I still have that 1998 Q issue - GM seemed relieved and happier for it (unlike, say the early 90s for example).

He said it was possibly not the easiest way to handle it, but the fact it was now 'over' was the point.

There was nothing wrong with Smash Hits at all. In fact, looking back through the archives has made me realise just how OTM they were a lot of the time.

Neil Tennant wrote that SH interview.

Was playing around with "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" at home and realized it's got a vocal range of two full octaves.

I spun Faith a couple of hours ago - 'Hand to Mouth' stood out to me this time around for some reason.

I've always loved that one.

I never think of "I Want Your Sex" as a great single, but listening to Faith again today, I gotta say I like it a lot better in its two-part 10-minute form.

Also, knowing now about GM's generosity and charity work has enhanced 'Praying For Time' for me, particularly the second verse. The song feels much more sincere to me than it did beforehand.

xpost:

The sudden transition from Part 1 to Part 2 on IWYS is one of the best moments on the album for me, at least musically.

The first ("I Want Your Sex") and last ("Kissing a Fool") Faith were the weakest.

*Faith singles

Mark Simpson in Rolling Stone:

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/george-michael-gay-link-between-david-bowie-david-beckham-w457892

"I don't want any children; I don't want responsibility," [George Michael] told Time Out matter-of-factly in 2007. "I am gay, I smoke weed and I do exactly what I want in my life because of my talent

George Michael and Wham were huge for me as a kid, I played my tape of Faith until it wore out. I love how many smooth jazz versions exist of Careless Whisper. Just sad that he pass so young.

https://insideplaya.org/2016/12/27/a-black-thing/

Carl Wilson:
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/music_box/2016/12/george_michael_dead_at_53_leaves_a_subversive_legacy.html

From a giggly teen viewpoint, “guilty feet” was a hilariously maladroit personification, too fleshy and too cerebral all at once. But now, as an image of a humiliated and stricken queer body, of a person too ashamed to dance in a culture of dance clubs, it doesn’t seem silly at all.

I like Carl but that obit is like the annoying guy at a Q&A who makes a rambling statement instead of a question

And the feet line is great whichever way you read it

I’ve also come to love that he was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in North London, emerging from an old-fashioned kind of immigrant background and name change for a pop singer, rather like a second closet. It explains both his long-term, for-all-ages vocal approach and why he was never a punk rocker. Subsequently, that’s why, given the era, he had so little cool cred. He was suburban, not abjectly working class, yet his parents didn’t even let him buy pop records. (He was hearing mainly Tom Jones and Henry Mancini at home but Queen and Elton John on the radio.) So his threshold for rebellion was much lower than for many of his London peers. Pop would do. Plus, the punk kids weren’t the beautiful people, and—at least after he met his more stylish adolescent bandmate—he wanted to be one of those

This is so snobby and wrong

Whatever, I know for a fact the cool kids of his generation (your clubbing-with-Leigh-Bowery types) utterly adored him and saw him as a peer.

Considering he literally wrote the book on it, he still has cloth ears for pop and pop audiences (especially female ones)

Well, he's honest -- he admits he's not a pop guy.

It explains both his long-term, for-all-ages vocal approach and why he was never a punk rocker.

Too young to be a punk rocker ffs

Unless he means listening to Discharge and Crass and hanging about the town centre with 2 litre plastic bottles of cider.

check out the iTunes top 100 videos right now

http://www.apple.com/uk/itunes/charts/music-videos/

:)

Interesting to compare against the US list: http://www.apple.com/itunes/charts/music-videos/

xxp he shunned punk rock in favour of forming a two-tone inspired ska outfit called "The Executive"

http://george.michael.szm.com/Special/Tribute/Texecut.html

http://george.michael.szm.com/Special/Tribute/Texecut.html

Why is Careless Whisper twice on both lists? SD and HD versions of the video? If you combined the sales on both versions, would it top the list?

Maybe it's just the musical arrangements but 'Cowboys & Angels' gives me such a Bacharach vibe.

it's always this way with iTunes for some reason. versions of songs that may have slightly different edits/lengths on different albums and compilations get counted separately. sometimes it's just the difference between an album mix and a single mix (as with Wham!'s Freedom which has 2 different mixes) but also often it's the exact same track just classed as a different song because the edit is a few seconds longer or whatever. with videos I guess it's a smilar thing; slight variations between compiled versions. there are 2 different DVD/video compilations (Ladies And Gentlemen and Twenty Five) too, which have similar track lists but perhaps slightly different lengths on some songs. it's confusing man.

I’ve also come to love that he was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in North London, emerging from an old-fashioned kind of immigrant background and name change for a pop singer, rather like a second closet. It explains both his long-term, for-all-ages vocal approach and why he was never a punk rocker. Subsequently, that’s why, given the era, he had so little cool cred. He was suburban, not abjectly working class, yet his parents didn’t even let him buy pop records. (He was hearing mainly Tom Jones and Henry Mancini at home but Queen and Elton John on the radio.) So his threshold for rebellion was much lower than for many of his London peers. Pop would do. Plus, the punk kids weren’t the beautiful people, and—at least after he met his more stylish adolescent bandmate—he wanted to be one of those.

this feels right to me. and not snobby.

george was also just not rock-press cool cos he was working from more of a pop and soul set of influences. also, too smooth for rockists. i tuned out mostly from his music after the late 90s, but was a massive fan in the 80s. i also grew up in the burbs, son of immigrants, etc, though ofc, never knew that part of his background. he def became a bit more of a classicist (or at least thought of pop in historical terms more and more as he got older, which that quote in the slate piece hints at) IIRC and i think this maybe undid him. i should go back and relisten to his albums though. i hadnt really thought about him in a very long time.

at the peak of his charm and warmth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo4JAfGVDNE

Also, he looks great

the title track to "Older", which I just heard for the first time, is delightfully moody.

I watched the movie Keanu a few days before he died which was sort of a weird coincidence, it was as far as I remember the only time I'd heard a sincere-sounding tribute to George Michael. Listening to Faith now and yeah, this is like a good Prince album. Now I regret sleeping on the guy.

Now I regret sleeping on the guy.

sounds like a missed opportunity

xxp he shunned punk rock in favour of forming a two-tone inspired ska outfit called "The Executive"

http://george.michael.szm.com/Special/Tribute/Texecut.html

http://george.michael.szm.com/Special/Tribute/Texecut.html

― soref, Wednesday, December 28, 2016 9:07 AM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Small snippet here:

https://youtu.be/qCzjjLTTJS8?t=9m7s

I always did love the lyric "Sex is natural, sex is good, not everybody does it, but everybody should"

i dont know if he ever spoke much about prince (or vice versa) but sleep around (from prince's emancipation) has always seemed like prince paying tribute to GM (or just liking something like fast love and being inspired by it).

Fastlove is an incredible, incredible song.

So much vulnerability in something so hedonistic. So much honesty.

IN THE ABSENCE OF SECURITY

Friday night on BBC4 in the Uk

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-12-29/bbc-to-show-night-of-programmes-dedicated-to-george-michael#amph=1

I was listening to 'Fastlove' earlier and I'd love to know what the writing process for the track was like... I love how the track slides effortlessly from the main part of the song into the "outro" section, with the 'Forget Me Nots' sample... it's so seamless and the sample is integrated into the track superbly well. The "ooh ooh hey baby" and "gotta get up to get down" hooks fit as snugly alongside that sample and they do in the main body of the song. It's a far better use of the sample than that Will Smith track, too.

always just assumed that whoever produced the Will Smith song heard Fastlove and thought 'we'll have that as well'

"In the absence of security" always makes me picture him dismissing his three Russian bodyguards for the night before walking over to the boardwalk.

Jukebox mega-post:
http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=22734#more-22734

You're welcome!

A British coroner says George Michael died of natural causes as the result of heart disease and a fatty liver. Darren Salter, senior coroner for Oxfordshire, says a post-mortem has found that the singer died of "dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and fatty liver."

Dilated cardiomyopathy is a condition in which the heart's ability to pump blood is limited, while myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle.

Guy at work* today, who grew up in the same area, says he knows one of George Michael's cousins and that, according to the cousin, he'd put on an enormous amount of weight in the last year or so.

(*almost but not quite 'man in pub', I admit)

In which six of us commemorate the 30th anniversary of Faith.

this thread title is still such a heartsinker

yeah

yes

I spent late yesterday afternoon watching a bunch of clips and was in the hole again.

I said this on the Listen Without Prejudice thread, but I really wish he'd put out more music. I loved (still love) his voice, but he deserved more respect as a songwriter.

Still hurts. Am drunk, and about to watch the Ladies And Gentlmen DVD all the way through til collapse.

this is still the worst

otm ;_;

yes :(

One of my Xmas presents (thanks, sis!) was the LWP deluxe package. I spent last night watching The South Bank Show episode from 1990 included. Man, did he look hot in that period, at the peak of his musicianship.

This dude has become my big brother

you need to correct "Uet" in your subheading. This has made me want to listen to LWP again right now, so thanks!

Lovely top 5, Alfred. I haven’t gotten over his passing either.

My friend shared a very cute story today about her 3 year old.

“Important- G. asks us to play the “Save me some tears” song Friday night. We are perplexed. Saturday, we’re driving and Wham’s Last Christmas comes on. “Here it is Mom. My favorite song!” and proceeds to sing 80% correct lyrics at full volume. Also, telling me it’s her turn to sing-“not you Mom.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1kWLPGUKcs

Nailed it

https://c.files.bbci.co.uk/7314/production/_114406492_georgemic1.jpg

the hell

http://steemitimages.com/DQmW9bN7ck4wXs98aB1YdmHF1iu7f7RgcDKr5adwSR5v8EQ/parker_oliver1.jpg

What does that say on the bottom left, 'just abolishing'?

saw this the other day, and still cannot figure out the crashing helicopter thing.
was it really the only way to get 'WHAM' into the image ?!

it’s the police helicopter from the “Outside” video, innit? George was on his way to singlehandedly ‘just abolishing’ (as well as defunding) the police with the way he let that sting operation blew up in their faces.

(I think I just blew my own mind here)

never seen the video.
so ta for the insight.

don’t take it from me, I can’t even spell ‘blow’ right!

that's a brilliant interp

alternatively, it could simply be about Wham! ABSOLUTELY DESTROYING The Police and their Sting operation back in the 80s.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b7/Roy_Lichtenstein_Whaam.jpg/400px-Roy_Lichtenstein_Whaam.jpg

I'm reading the James Gavin biography. Currently up to the Faith tour and am kinda infuriated at how little he spends on, y'know, his craft. Like, Gavin spends *one sentence* on the recording of "Hard Day", never mentioning that the dude who he just a couple chapters earlier described as barely being able to play an instrument played ~everything~ on that song. Same with how he goes from having his voice go out during Wham! shows to doing the massive tour for Faith. Did that just somehow *snap* happen?

Doesn't it also sport typos?

The newe 33 1/3 on Faith is worth your time.

yeah, there have been some typos here and there, but nothing particularly egregious. cool, will check out the 33 1/3 book. thanks!

I've had enormous months-long GM 'phase' which I'm only just sort of coming out of now and in that time I didn't read one book on him. Time to change that.

Finished the biography and it mostly just struck me as a hit piece -- just going through gossip pages and looking for quotes to match up. Can't recommend it. Though I have to admit I didn't realize how badly thins went in the last few years of his life. 33 1/3 book will be up next.

Agreed. It has little or nothing to say about music creation.

You won't have this problem with the 33 1/3.

VectorVictoria @V3ct0rv1ct0r

@richardosman he gave a stranger in a cafe £25k as she was crying over debt. Told the waitress to give her the cheque after he left.

EMILYNE MONDO @EmilyneMondo

George Michael worked anonymously at a homeless shelter I was volunteering at. I've never told anyone, he asked we didn't. That's who he was
4:43 AM - 26 Dec 2016

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/26/506998666/after-george-michaels-death-stories-emerge-of-his-quiet-generosity

Ugh, that NPR article still rips my guts out.

I said this on the Listen Without Prejudice thread, but I really wish he'd put out more music. I loved (still love) his voice, but he deserved more respect as a songwriter.

I guess Elton John apparently said this on record and it infuriated him, though they patched things up. I think at that point though, it wasn't going to change anything as he was much older and had settled in on self-releasing the occasional song. But he did lose a lot of valuable time in the '90s when he scrapped an album and fought with Sony. Anyone know more about that? The idea that Sony would drop the ball on marketing Listen Without Prejudice seems bewildering to me - the market hadn't dramatically changed yet and he was still seen as the biggest-selling name on any of their labels. I'm sure he had other reasons to leave Sony, but it brings to mind Prince's fight with WB - he had good reason to leave the label, but he had a lot of grievances and they weren't all solid (i.e. WB curating his releases more carefully wasn't a bad idea in hindsight).

The new biography (execrably proofread, I must day) gets into it. I tend to stay neutral when artists fight against their labels, especially when they're as obsessed with productivity as Prince and George Michael. It is true, though, that Sony was not, uh, crazy about LWP; he even avoided playing many of its songs live on that tour, preferring a set list comprising R&B covers.

i presume his increasingly public sexuality played a big part in his lack of marketing support

Not giving a fuck about how he expressed it was a bigger part.

yeah, that's my meaning

It does seem strange seeing that Freedom '90 only managed number 28 in the UK charts, as at the time it felt somewhat bigger than that

It went top ten in the States but had a much, much larger afterlife, certainly more than the #1 "Praying for Time."

This is basically Britpop, cool that it finally made it to the Isle of Wight I guess (they can keep it)

― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Monday, 13 February 2023 12:25 (forty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I don't think I've actually listened to any Wet Leg before seeing this video and I wasn't prepared for how much it looks and sounds like Bis

sorry, wrong thread

wet my leg before you go-go

Wetting For Time

I have no idea what was going on with George's UK singles sales in this era.

Yeah that always puzzled me. I listened to Capital Radio a lot then and all of the LWP singles were played to death...possibly his audience at the time was more rigidly split between 'I'll just get the album' and 'I'll just tape it'.

For those who are interested in radio edits, there was 7" promo single edit of "Freedom '90" tailored for the UK, and it's a much better edit than what was done for the US market:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-zqlgyUkd0

There's basically two edits - a brief one somewhere about a minute in and then a larger one towards the end. I don't think it's ever been released on CD, not even as a promo, but if they ever release another hits compilation - the kind that leans on radio edits just to fit in more tracks - this would be a good one to use.

(instead of "there's basically two edits," I probably should have said "there's basically two sections edited out from the track")

Went to an 80s prom event this weekend and one of the songs that I was ecstatic to dance to with my wife was "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". Just pure joyous music.

joyous

I mentioned this on the TOTP re-runs thread a while back, but the bit at 30 seconds where George jumps into frame and then a split second later Andrew does too is exactly this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIgZ7gMze7A

Browsing through old coverage on Michael, it's stunning how a lot of people never gave him a chance, at least in the U.S. It's not limited to members of the press, here's Natalie Merchant in 1990 bringing him up when discussing her departure from 10,000 Maniacs:

She said her regard for (10,000 Maniacs) and its music is so strong that it "borders on insanty." But with so many entertainers exuding self-importance, Merchant said she almost feels embarrassed to be associated with them.

She cited George Michael as a prime example of a singer who made it to the top of the music charts by cultivating a sexy, carefree image, and now is longing to be taken seriously as an artist.

"We're talking about a man here who puts his rear end in front of a camera and shakes it around," said Merchant, 26. "When he was in that incredibly hard-to-take-seriously group (Wham!), I remember seeing a picture of him walking on the Great Wall of China and thinking something wasn't quite right.

"He's trying to change his image now because it doesn't suit him anymore. Well, you can't change your philosophy midstream and then expect people to take you seriously. It just doesn't work that way."

This is utterly ridiculous. Even if Wham! really was devoid of merit (and I think their heart was in the right place even on the least of their work) there's an abundance of great artists you could wrongfully dismiss using the same misguided logic.

Hey, we can't all aspire to the deeply mystical visionary artistic heights of (checks notes) Natalie Merchant. Some artists are just about shaking they booty.

(And I say that as a sincere fan both of Natalie and of the Maniacs)

is she quoting him or is he quoting her?

Posing for another picture
Everybody's got to sell
But when you shake your ass
They notice fast
And some mistakes were built to last
That's what you get, that's what you get
That's what you get, I said that's what you get
That's what you get, for changing your mind

cf. rockism

At the time, I was put off by someone who had made a big point of how he had taken control of his own music and image just a couple of years earlier (to the point of directing his own videos) acting as though someone else had made him stand by a jukebox or wear a leather jacket. Not that pop musicians shouldn't change or become more serious, but I thought it was seriously tacky to underline it the way he did, instead of just changing.

bird - what is that Merchant interview? I don't see it online, just curious... thx

Pulled it off NewsBank through my local library's online portal. It's from the Chicago Sun-Times, October 30, 1990.

The Sun-Times critics (mostly Don McLeese who covered him the most) were consistently dismissive, but Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune was pretty supportive. Their reviews for LWP couldn't be more different.

FWIW here's an LA Times review of a 2008 show - I wish I could've caught one:

George Michael really knows his crowd. When he gave some grief to talk-show shrink Dr. Phil McGraw midway through Wednesday's show at the Forum, it seemed like simple celebrity-on-celebrity taunting. In fact, Michael was nodding to some of his most loyal fans.

"Dr. Phil is here," said Michael. "He's here with his wife, who's having a whale of a time. And he's over there making this miserable face. He's been doing it for an hour. I think maybe you should see somebody about that," he joked.

...

Fans tried several times to sing "Happy Birthday" to Michael, who turned 45 Wednesday, before he finally let it happen during his final encore. Actress Bo Derek (of all 1980s icons) brought out what appeared to be a fake cake, and just like on "Careless Whisper" and "Freedom! '90," everybody sang.

Not that pop musicians shouldn't change or become more serious, but I thought it was seriously tacky to underline it the way he did, instead of just changing.

I feel this. At the time, I was little confused about his extreme heel-turn. Like, Faith was a huge hit... what I am supposed to not be "prejudiced" about? Should I be embarrassed for enjoying the jukebox era, now that he's blown it up? It's one thing for an artist to adopt a new style, but another to say – "That old era was silly, and (by implication) it was silly for you to like it."

Christgau:

Listen Without Prejudice: Vol. 1 [Columbia, 1990]
Who has this boy been listening to? Morrissey? Anita Baker? June Christie? Harry Connick Jr.? Whatever the sleazy details, his announced decision to hold off on the dance music till next time half-proves he doesn't know as much about stardom as he thinks, and the ruminations with which he proclaims his seriousness finish the job. As a public figure he's no Bono or Boy George--he's a good-looking, replaceable teenybop idol. So only teenyboppers, and not too damn many of those, are likely to care that he feels demeaned by false fame. It's as a musician that he's won respect, and not even a pop musician--a dance musician. Ironic, isn't it, that the danciest thing here is yoked to (and undercut by) his highly unoriginal thoughts on this matter? And though the McCartneyesque "Heal the Pain" sounds like a hit ballad, most of this cocktail music is no more interesting than the cipher who sings it so "well." I'm betting it doesn't move a quarter of Faith's units, which ought to enhance his appreciation of dance music pronto. C+

To be clear, George Michael recorded serious music in 1983. "Everything She Wants" is serious music. "A Different Corner" and "One More Try" are serious music. LWP and Older aren't without their patches of dead grass, but thirty years after his death and the publicity in 1990-1991 they stand as well-wrought albums with many showcases for that protean voice. I suppose I'll cut Natalie Merchant slack for dismissing him so rudely -- she was in the scrim.

At the time, I was put off by someone who had made a big point of how he had taken control of his own music and image just a couple of years earlier (to the point of directing his own videos) acting as though someone else had made him stand by a jukebox or wear a leather jacket. Not that pop musicians shouldn't change or become more serious, but I thought it was seriously tacky to underline it the way he did, instead of just changing.

― Halfway there but for you

especially since we knew then and especially now to what degree fame obsessed George Michael. No one else wrote and produced his songs after 1983.

Was there a similar snobbishness about, e.g. Bruce Springsteen, writing "serious" records like Nebraska, but also wearing tight jeans and goofing it up and jumping off pianos etc?

Making out with the saxophonist

I speculated on Twitter: I suppose the confidence of stardom -- the confidence of a successful pop career -- gives George Michael's "Fastlove" its spritz, but I want to know why Perfume Genius, Phoebe Bridgers, John Grant, or anyone aren't writing I'm-steppin'-out songs with the bounce of its second half.

Is the bio worth checking out, btw, proofreading notwithstanding?

Little analysis of his music.

Just saw this: Frank Sinatra's "Open Letter To George Michael" from 1990.

http://www.jazzinpopculture.com/details.php?entry_id=60

Apparently a key inspiration for Phil Hartman's Sinatra impression on SNL, with certain phrases appearing verbatim in sketches.

How generous of Sinatra to take time from his schedule to write such a compassionate letter.

In the Freedom doc I think George questions whether it was even Frank's work. He ignored it anyway.

I can kind of understand the thinking of critics at the time - the blueprint for a successful long pop career back then was Michael Jackson/Madonna who stuck firmly to the dancefloor and a young fanbase, while the record biz was littered with the smoldering husks of the careers of other teenpop stars that had tried to reposition themselves as serious artists. But George Michael was no Boy George, Bros, Cyndi Lauper, A-Ha, Adam Ant, Kim Wilde or Rick Astley.

Does a-ha belong on that list?

Michael Jackson and Madonna did (try to) get serious, their attempts were just more widely accepted than the also-ran's.

Apparently a key inspiration for Phil Hartman's Sinatra impression on SNL, with certain phrases appearing verbatim in sketches.

Disappointingly, it's not the source of "I've got chunks of guys like you in my stool!"

(I don't think Sinatra ever said that, but if he did that would be hilarious)

Also Sinatra wasn't gay, and that might have been a huge part of George's problem with celebrity.

People aren't gay enough imo

Don we now our insufficiently gay apparel

The new Wham! documentary on Netflix is really good imo, paints a good picture of their friendship & George’s struggles

Will be seeing it tomorrow or Saturday for sure.

so much excellent footage! many quality pairs of neon short shorts

Well, if you're gonna do it...

I think someone needs to write a short novel/film about Lindsay Anderson and Wham! in China in 1985

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jul/07/dead-dogs-capitalist-critique-and-only-four-songs-when-wham-squashed-lindsay-andersons-china-film

We enjoyed the documentary tremendously, especially my wife who was/is a massive Wham!/George Michael fan. It was really amazing how they made it through with their friendship relatively intact given the diverging interests the Wham! journey and Michael's solo career presented.

A genuine friendship: they understood each other's weaknesses. I can't remember a single moment in his life when Michael slagged off or condescended to Andrew.

If we take Ridgeley's word -- and why not? -- he's the most gracious junior partner in pop history. A true mensch.

thought of that as well.

Also appreciated the point that they had hard to please immigrant dads — in order to succeed in their eyes they actually had to be the best, et voila.

I reviewed this thing.

Tissue-thin it may be, but it had some great bits, like the story of Careless Whisper getting homogenized at Muscle Shoals. Or the fact that Andrew's mom saved the "wake me up before you go go" sign in a scrapbook.

I'd love to watch a deep dive on the songwriting and recording process, but the audience for that is probably significantly smaller.

The problem is, producers underestimate the intelligence of the audience. George Michael already went around this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3MZgGiIAQY

on some level the two of them had to realize that the only way to out-stud the simon lebon and john taylor of rio and seven and the ragged tiger was with a greek man

I enjoyed the documentary (and your piece, Alfred). I wonder if there's anyone else who was so big who had such a drop-off of productivity, and so young. He was still in his 20s when he released Listen Without Prejudice - and yet there were only two more albums of original material to follow before his death 26 years later.

I once heard someone describe it as, “He pulled the cord on his career too early” – which I thought was apt. Releasing an album called “Older” at age 33, etc.

i love Older

from last week's Popbitch

Netflix's new documentary on Wham! is a gorgeous snapshot of the friendship between George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. There's hundreds of stories about the bond they shared, but here's another nice one we heard.

During Robbie Williams' first coke bloat era (post-Take That; Glastonbury with the Gallaghers) he found himself at Jimmyz nightclub in Monte Carlo where he saw George Michael on the dance floor. Aware that every boy band member who went solo always said something along the lines of "I want to be the next George Michael!" Robbie thought it might be funny to turn that whole trope on its head.

So he went up to George and said: "I wanna be the next Andrew Ridgeley..."

A line which not only failed to raise a smile out of George, but caused George to look Robbie dead in the eye and snap: "DON'T take the piss out of Andrew."

Wow, love it.

he was definitely much loved in his home village of Goring. My wife and I have been walking the Thames path and found ourselves there a few weeks ago, on what would have been George's 60th birthday. In all the pubs and the village hall they were playing his music and selling T-shirts and other memorabilia bearing his image. I had been in George's local previously, for a work meeting with someone who lived there who said that George was a regular and was treated like any other customer although he was "huge now". When I raised an eyebrow at this, I was told that he now weighed 20st (127kg) and when we left, he pointed down the street to where George's house was and explained that George would always get in his Range Rover and drive the short distance to get there, barely 200 metres. That was in early December 2016. George died at Christmas that year :-(

that demo tape from the wham doc...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRi53xDDgTA

raises so many banal questions... how did andrew learn to play funk guitar? was george operating a drum machine? how'd they afford it? who's on bass? how did george learn to produce on the portastudio? where is the full tape???

The answers to your questions are found here:

https://medium.com/@paulmex/pressing-the-record-button-on-pop-history-4d62b4744410

Incredible! Thanks!

From a Neil Tennant interview:

I first met him in 1982. I interviewed him and Andrew (Ridgley) for Smash Hits and then the last time we saw him it was exactly 30 year later, at the Olympic closing ceremony. We were in these Portakabin-y dressing rooms and the person next to us is playing music unbelievably loudly. I said to our tour manager: ‘Can you go and ask him to turn that down, please?’ And suddenly the door flings open and George, who we hadn’t seen since he’d been in jail, comes in and says: ‘Did you just tell me to turn my music down?’ I said: ‘Yes, I did.’ And he says: ‘Give me a hug.’ And then he went back to his dressing room, put his stereo on and played West End Girls – loudly.”

Ridgley’s RRHOF induction speech for GM was great.

<3

Michael was a massive PSB fan. Chris Heath's first PSB book notes how in 1989 GM hung out by the sound booth pumping his fist in the air to "Left to My Own Devices" singing every word.