George Michael R.I.P.

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.