George Michael R.I.P.

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.