George Michael R.I.P.

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.