First of all, I must say that George Michael has long been on the list of artists I wanted to pay tribute to in my blog, but it was a conversation at my Christmas table that prompted me to write this post, and also because it is sadly close to the anniversary of his death.
George Michael passed me by a bit when I was younger. If you read about some of the groups and artists I have featured on my blog, you'll notice that my "wave" at the time of Wham and even at the beginning of his solo career were The Cure, U2, David Bowie, Siouxie and the Banshees, The Smith, The talking Heads,... Were, very different styles of "Wake me up before you go go". They did not seduce me, they were very moving, dancing, very good-humored, but for me, they were mainly for "girls" the age of my younger sisters. They were the ones who brought home the group and especially this man, "this gorgeous man"... If I had known that years later he, George Michael, would be a permanent part of my adult life, I would have called me crazy! This adoration still continues TODAY! If I remember correctly, there was even a poster of him hanging in their room.
Wake Me Up Before You Go Go
And even if "Hotel Tropicana" remains an invitation to party and George Michael's look an invitation to do (very) naughty things, they have not convinced me. Today I am able to dance.
Hotel Tropicana
One thing is for sure, Wham was huge in terms of record sales, and they only released 3 albums of originals - they sold 40 million copies worldwide! Many of those songs are classics today like "Last Christmas"; "I am you Man"; "The Edge Of Heaven"; "Freedom" "Everything She Wants" and many more... George Michael already wrote all the songs and gradually became the main figure of the group. His unmistakable voice developed into one of the best male voices ever.
Everything She Wants
And amid these dancing, cheerful and funny songs appeared the first and last, most emblematic for Wham, and the first, most emblematic for George Michael, "Careless Whisper". It is breathtakingly beautiful - it's beginning, the saxophone, the guitar, the arrangements, the voice, everything about it is perfect. He wrote this song when he was just 17!? A song about a betrayal that went down very well and I, even dressed in black, ignoring all the past, felt the atmosphere that emanated from this "Slow", there was something that touched me in this song
Careless Whispers
"A Different Corner" by George Michael from 1986 was a turning point for the group, which had just released the album "The Edge Of Heaven". This song, another pearl in George Michael's extensive body of work, is extraordinary and, quite unlike "Careless Whisper," moved me much more. My younger sister had the record and when it was played, it was this song that I secretly sang (I knew the letter by heart and sow).
A Different Corner
George Michael had this amazing quality of starting his songs - you'll see in other songs that his intros are masterful. In this song, it's the man who sings, who cries, who pleads, he gives a picture of vulnerability like a few others.
After "A Different Corner" he released his 1st album called "Faith" and released the song of the same name as his 1st "single", creating a master move. He took the plunge and single-handedly created what would turn out to be a massive solo career. The beginning of the video is breathtaking!!! We stand there looking at the attributes of George Michael that we are not prepared for - the glasses, the 3-day beard, the ripped clothes, and how he dances with the guitar during the 3 minutes and makes sure that whoever liked him, like even more with so much hinting. But the album has much more to confuse us.
Faith
He composed and produced the entire album, which became a worldwide success - it sold over 20 million copies and was #1 in the US for 1 year. AMAZING!
I Want Your Sex
With "I Want Your Sex" George Michael entered the adult realm, his whole association as a singer for girls ended with this song. I think that's what it was meant for. He wanted to get rid of the image he carried with the Whams, even though it was the Whams who did him. After that, nothing and no one could stop him from doing and writing whatever he wanted.
On the album "Faith" there are more extraordinary songs, the first one is "Father Figure" and it is once again wonderful.
Father Figure
The second is "One More Try." "One More Try" is once again a song about divided and confused feelings and once again he has opened his heart. This image of the wounded man is a very beautiful quality of George Michael. Many of the women who listened to him saw him as a man who could talk about feelings directly for them, something that is rare because men are often raised not to cry. This man does, he takes the right to say what he thinks and show what he feels. Many iconic songs by other artists did and do justice to the emotions, but with him, the portrayal of a sensitive man was the inspiration that was missing, especially after the jumps and the easy life that the Whams exuded. George Michael opened many doors... and for him the door of eternity.
One More Try
"Kissing a Fool" is very different from "Faith", it is more jazz, soul, but still, it has reached the first places of the international "Tops", a versatility associated with an incredible voice.
Kissing a Fool
"Hard Day" is inspired by R&B and funk and is another beautiful song!
Hard Day
He won everything there was to win in the U.S., including the award for best R&B album in the category that Michael Jackson was in, which made him jubilated
And we arrive at one of my favorites... There's nothing to add to the "Faith" that put him in the stratosphere, but "Listen Without Prejudice" is for me something from another universe. You can even say I'm crazy, but excuse me there and let's hear this masterpiece in detail!
I can start with the first song "Praying for Time" - I have to say he didn't promote the album for personal reasons - he was sick of being in front of the camera. These issues would become legal with his lawsuit against his record company Sony Music. Maybe it was much better, (we could just focus on the music). "Praying for Time" is a social critique of poverty that remains very current. The intro of the song, the tempo, the guitar, the intoxicating sound of the synthesizers is perfect!
Praying For TimeNo estúdio
"Waiting for The Day" is another example of what it's like to be played by a genius. The rhythm, the drums, the guitar, it's all there once again.
Waiting for That Day
George Michael did not promote the album, he was fed up with celebrity, so he decided, and it was the best decision ever, to invite 5 female supermodels with 2 male models and have them sing in playback. The video is still considered one of the best of all time. The music is danceable, the pop-funk rhythm is incredible and the lyrics are liberating, full of meaning because he wanted to free himself from Sony. A feat that has gone down in history!
Freedom! `90
"Heal the Pain" and off we go with an extraordinary song. The guitars, the rhythm, George Michael's voice, and the lyrics are perfect.
Heal the Pain
Cowboys and Angels" is for me the masterpiece of this masterpiece. The beginning is just phenomenal - the piano and then the synthesizer, strings, drums, and saxophone. The whole album has this spatial sound that surrounds us, that engages us, that transports us. It sings to us, it whispers in our ears and it rocks us with this infernal rhythm. The lyrics about a love triangle are the culmination of this astonishment. Who has not experienced that? Love that you can not have? If this situation has left us this song, it's because it was worth it (for us, for me) but for him, after all, I think it must not have been easy.
Cowboys and Angels
"Mother's Pride" is great. A very, very emotional song... The lyrics say it all. It manages to move me to tears.
Mother´s Pride
And the album ends with Waiting (reprise) and these 2mn are pure pleasure. I chose the concert version because it is beautiful, there is no other way. It was the entrance to his 25th-anniversary celebration concert! And I close here with "listen without prejudice" and that's it!
Waiting (Reprise)
Well, "Listen Without Prejudice" is a masterpiece and "Older" is another masterpiece. After all, there is more than one. This message is going to be very long because "Older" is my baby!
Between "Listen without Prejudice" and "Older" there were 6 years in which he lost to Sony Music, but he is active in terms of collaborations for charities against hunger and AIDS.
Don´t Let the Sun go Down on Me
He participates in a compilation of a large association against the AIDS Red Hot Organization. Who has not heard Red Hot & Blue or has it on the shelf, I have! He appears on two albums, Red Hot & Dance and Red Hot & Rio. He even composed 3 original songs and on one of them he collaborated again with supermodels, "Too Funky", and he is also behind the camera to shoot the video.
Too Funky
He makes an album of songs by other artists called "Five Live" with several tributes to Freddie Mercury with Queen and classics by other musicians. All of them were recorded live at Wembley Stadium. The album was created to raise money for an AIDS charity.
However, he founded an independent record label and made several more collaborations, other tributes that have become classics.
Somebody To Love com Queen
Killer (Papa Was a Rolling Stone)
Calling You
Desafinado com Astrud Gilberto
"Older" as I said above is my baby, you can not even explain it, it's beautiful from the first song. I bought it because back then we still bought records, and on my little stereo, it was on repeat all day. "Jesus to a Child" is just fantastic. Once again, the beginning is phenomenal. The lyrics are perfect, a story about unconditional, timeless love. The video is mysterious, but very well described. What I did not know at the time, and although I got goosebumps listening to the song, is that he wrote the song in honor of his first love Anselmo, who died of complications related to AIDS two years after they met at a concert in Brazil. It takes a lot of love to deserve a song, an album of this caliber.
Jesus to a Child
"Jesus To A Child" is followed by the most danceable and peppy song on the album. "FastLove" is accompanied by a very raunchy video, as are the lyrics. It was a worldwide success. The ease with which George was able to make commercial music was incredible. The song cuts a bit the atmosphere of the record, which was once again made in honor of his boyfriend.
Fast Love
Then came "Spinning the Wheel", a lot of jazz, soul, very interesting for me, I loved it! A song about the carelessness of some people towards AIDS.
Spinning The Wheel
"Older" is one of those songs that touch us deep inside... A very well done song, the beginning is exceptional once again, the voice is perfect, the trumpet, the lyrics, everything... And yes, he is older, more soulful, more true. He sings about growing old and I grow old with him.
Older
"I Can´t Make You Love Me" is a George Michael cover of the song by Bonnie Raitt and is part of the album released as the B-side of "Older". I'll share the "Unplugged" live version because the way he sings it is extraordinary.
I Can´t Make You Love Me
I do not know if you understand how much I love writing about George Michael. Unbelievable!
Then "Star People" comes on and we are back to a dance song, let´s go!
Star People
The album contains other songs that were not selected as singles, but they are all very good: "It Does not matter"; "The Strangers Things"; "To Be Forgiven", "Move On" and "Free". I will present some of these songs.
"To Be Forgiven" is a ballad, very jazzy, and again, I love everything about it, even though it's about losing faith and feeling out of control. I used to sing and dance in my parents' kitchen and that's it. Now it's your turn to sing.
To Be Forgiven
Another jazz song is "Move on" because life is too short.
Move On
"You Have Been Loved" is a declaration of love for her boyfriend Anselmo, who died of AIDS shortly after they met. The trumpet plays again to the heavens. I will share the lyrics, which are of great beauty. I chose the "unplugged" version because it is so well sung that goosebumps always run down my spine.
You Have Been Loved
She takes the back road and the lane
Past the school that has not changed in all this time
She thinks of when the boy was young
All the battles she had won just to give him life
That man, she loved that man
For all his life
But now we meet to take him flowers
And only God knows why
For what's the use in pressing palms
When children fade in mother's arms?
It's a cruel world, we've so much to loose
And what we have to learn we rarely choose
So if it's God who took her son
He cannot be the one living in her mind
"Take care my love", she said
Don't think that God is dead
"Take care my love", she said
You have been loved
If I was weak, forgive me
But I was terrified
You brushed my eyes with angels wings, full of love
The kind that makes devils cry
So these days my life has changed
And I'll be fine (and I'll be fine)
But she just sits and counts the hours
Searching for her crime
So what's the use of pressing palms
If you won't keep such love from harm?
It's a cruel world, you've so much to prove
And Heaven helps the ones who wait for you
I've no daughters, I've no sons
Guess I'm the only one
Living in my life
"Take care my love", he said
Don't think that God is dead
"Take care my love", he said
You have been loved
In 1996 George Michael wins awards for his album "Older" and gives the wonderful concert "Unplugged", of which I have shared some videos.
And because I feel like it, because they are always there!!!
"Praying For Time"
In 1998, while our lives went on listening to Madonna's "Frozen," watching the Spice Girls, Natalie Imbruglia, Armageddon, and Titanic at the movies, George Michael was arrested for a lewd act in a Beverly Hills bathroom. No one can explain what happened on the Letterman Show better than him, and with a great sense of humor! One of the greatest "coming outs" in history!
Letterman ShowParkinson Show
In the interview with the Parkinson Show, he talks about everything, including the bathroom episode, but what caught my attention is what he says about his identity, his sexuality in the 30mn. We can recognize ourselves in his words because they make a lot of sense: - "I had a lot of options, I did not have love, I did not fall in love with anyone in school, ...., at the beginning of my career I thought I was bisexual, I had a lot of experiences but I did not have any emotional attachment and the day I found out I was gay was when I fell in love with a man. From then on it was not a problem, I knew what I had been missing all this time..., it has nothing to do with who you can "enjoy" but mainly who you can "enjoy" and love." This is very beautiful and explains very well what some people go through in terms of their personal confusion before they come to themselves.
In 1998 George Michael releases the compilation "Ladies & Gentlemen" with two new songs and one of them is the answer to his detention with the song "Outside". At that time I thought that this man is great, funny and indestructible and if he wanted us to dance and laugh at the whole situation, we should obey him! The song was a worldwide success!
Outside
"As" is the other single from the album and is a cover version of the song by Stevie Wonder. He sings with Mary J Blige
As
Well, if this message is already an enjoyment, just listen to George Michael's songs again, they will continue to amaze you.
At that time, George Michael could not write, he did not feel inspired, so he made a cover album of songs that he called "Songs From The Last Century". The album was a commercial success. The only video he made was for the song "Roxane" by "The Police".
Roxane
In concert "Pavarotti and friends". Note that this live version is breathtaking...
Brother, Can you Spare A Dime
The last song I want to share with you is a song I love, "Miss Saravejo" by U2 and Brian Eno. George Michael's version is once again perfect.
Miss Sarajevo
The whole album is worth listening to.
"Patience" is the fifth album and has returned to Sony Music. The first song released was "Freeek". The beat is extraordinary, very funky, danceable and the video that accompanies the song is very, very provocative and very sexual.
Freeek
Regarding the Iraq war, which he opposed, he made a very entertaining video, for me then as now, criticizing the position of Tony Blair, who sided with the United States. Let´s Dance?
Shoot The Dog
"Amazing" is another very moving and extraordinary song that contains a lot of emotion - he wrote it for his then-boyfriend Kenny. The lyrics, despite everything, speak of the love he lost and that he had a hard time forgetting. For 10 years George did not perform in the USA. He chose Oprah to do it. The best choice ever. The video in which he sings is once again fantastic!
Amazing on Oprah
And then came one of the songs that directly address the LGBT community, "Flawless (Go To The City)." One of my favorite songs! And again, it's an invitation to dance…
Flawless (Go To The City)
After releasing another single "Round Here" he released a great song "Jhon and Elvis are Dead". A great song that makes us think about our destiny. Many think that he could have written the song under the influence of drugs, but I believe the opposite, he was very clear when he wrote it. I chose the live version in Paris in 2012 because it's perfect...
JhonJohn And Elvis are Dead
"My mother had a brother" is just beautiful. It's not on here, but check out the live version on Facebook, it's worth it. Do not hold back your tears... I cried the whole time I was listening to it and I have to say that I discovered it only recently because I love and see the 25th-anniversary concert in London.
My Mother Had a Brother
He even released an album, a compilation of his hits called "Twenty Five" in 2006. One of the singles is "An Easy Affair" and the video is amazing. The song is an invitation to dance and the message is clearly an anthem to freedom with an LGBT Pride background. Well done!
An Easy Affair
And I come to the end of this message, which took longer than I thought it would. It was so nice to rediscover George Michael. There is still much to be said, documentaries have been made about his life exposing his drug, alcohol, and sex addictions and the resulting arrests. He even had a terrible bout of pneumonia in 2011 during his Symphonica concert tour and was treated in Vienna - he was very close to death. He died on Christmas Day 2015 and many still remember the feeling they had that day.
It could not end without his concert for his 25th birthday and his performance at the 2012 Olympics. He recorded only a few records, but he was a worldwide success
Concert 25 years London 2008
Freedom! 90 - J O 2012White LigthLight - J O 2012
"White Light" is about the experience he had in the hospital and thanking the doctors and nurses who saved him.
All I can say is, we miss him so much! This message, this tribute to the young man I found irritating, but who over the courthroughoutse of my life has become a man with whom I often share my days - from the bottom of my heart. I hope that the revival of George Michael can give new impetus to our lives. Experience him once again, hear him once again and look at him dancing and cry and dance and cry with him. He was and will forever be a great artist!
