George Michael R.I.P.

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