George Michael (1963-2016)

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MichaelB · #1 Post by **MichaelB** » Sun Dec 25, 2016 11:11 pm

George Michael.

#2 Post by **swo17** » Mon Dec 26, 2016 12:26 am

2016 wrote:Merry Christmas!

jbeall · #3 Post by **jbeall** » Mon Dec 26, 2016 1:06 am

MichaelB wrote:George Michael.

[With a note of weary resignation] Fuck you, 2016.

At least there's this; a better send-off I cannot imagine.

knives · #4 Post by **knives** » Mon Dec 26, 2016 4:14 am

A mention of him during La La Land went over rather awkwardly tonight in a way that suggests people are going to be respectful.

flyonthewall2983 · #5 Post by **flyonthewall2983** » Mon Dec 26, 2016 9:48 pm

Not really a fan of his music (although some of his videos were a much-early exposure to the opposite sex for me, take that for what it's worth), but his performance of "Somebody to Love" with the surviving members of Queen at the Freddie Mercury tribute show is the standout performance from that show.

hearthesilence · #6 Post by **hearthesilence** » Tue Dec 27, 2016 12:26 am

"I told them specifically that it was supposed to be butt shot, shot of the hair, back to the butt, hand, butt, hand, butt, hand, butt, belt, butt, beard, butt, belt, butt, earring, face, butt, butt, earring, hold on the butt, hold on the butt...it's a formula but it bloody works!"

Black Hat · #7 Post by **Black Hat** » Tue Dec 27, 2016 2:27 am

What can be said? This one hurts more than expected not sure why exactly, perhaps because he came across as supremely genuine or you can sense he struggled as he was an individual who always wore his heart on his sleeve.

There's not many artists I can think of who evolved from a teen popstar punchline to a talent who transcended all musical tastes. Unlike today this was not easy to do at that time. During George Michael's peak people who listened to one genre of music only listened to that genre and wouldn't bother to socialize with someone who listened to something different. If anything you would be deemed less cool or a fake if you did. George Michael tho? He was cool with the hip hop heads, club kids, grunge crowd, metal heads and your parents house.

Freedom 90 was also the music video who revolutionized the mind of countless boys my age.

George Michael will be missed.

Rest in power.

flyonthewall2983 wrote:but his performance of "Somebody to Love" with the surviving members of Queen at the Freddie Mercury tribute show is the standout performance from that show.

Annie Lennox & David Bowie would like a word.

artfilmfan · #8 Post by **artfilmfan** » Tue Dec 27, 2016 2:52 am

I listened to the Make It Big and Faith CDs again today. They are still great after these years. They can still be listened to from the beginning to the end without having to skip a single song. What a talented artist. What a loss. RIP, George Michael.

#9 Post by **mfunk9786** » Tue Dec 27, 2016 3:10 am

Yusuf/Cat Stevens shared this touching paragraph:

"It's so sad to hear that we have another death in our musical family, this time my Cypriot brother and compatriot, George Michael. No one was quite as close in terms of background, having been brought up son of a cafe owner from Muswell Hill, we both shared that exclusively unique Greek cultural experience. As well as that, we both tasted fame and glory on our own terms, though in slightly different eras and musical genres. We will miss him and pray God will have mercy on him and grant his family space and peace at this difficult time."

hearthesilence · #10 Post by **hearthesilence** » Tue Dec 27, 2016 3:45 am

The philanthropic acts of George Michael: from £5k tips to nurses' gigs

jlnight · #11 Post by **jlnight** » Tue Dec 27, 2016 3:03 pm

Could this lead to an opportunity to see Lindsay Anderson's version of the Wham! tour film Foreign Skies / If You Were There? An unlikely collaboration if ever there was one.

flyonthewall2983 · Tue Dec 27, 2016 3:13 pm

Black Hat wrote:
flyonthewall2983 wrote:but his performance of "Somebody to Love" with the surviving members of Queen at the Freddie Mercury tribute show is the standout performance from that show.
Annie Lennox & David Bowie would like a word.

It was a pretty stacked show, but that's the consensus. There's footage of the rehearsal that's pretty viral now, and Bowie looks on very impressed at it.

hearthesilence · #13 Post by **hearthesilence** » Tue Dec 27, 2016 5:58 pm

I can't agree about Make It Big at all ("Careless Whisper" alone is everything I dislike about '80s-style balladry), but Faith is a nice Prince-lite album.

L.A. · #14 Post by **L.A.** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 4:19 pm

Little Britain meets George Michael

L.A. · #15 Post by **L.A.** » Wed Sep 06, 2017 10:18 pm

A new song premieres this Thursday.

beamish14 · #16 Post by **beamish14** » Wed Jul 02, 2025 10:48 pm

I didn’t realize that Lindsay Anderson’s completely different version of what was released as Foreign Skies, entitled If You Were There, was finally publicly screened by the BFI in 2024. One user on Letterboxd posted an extremely detailed description
of it.

MichaelB · #17 Post by **MichaelB** » Thu Jul 03, 2025 9:05 am

Bizarrely, at pretty much the same time that Lindsay Anderson was making his Wham! documentary, Miklós Jancsó was doing something similar with well-established Hungarian prog-rockers Omega. The mid-80s was a tough time for politically radical auteurs - as further demonstrated by Ken Loach's filmography noticeably thinning out that decade compared with what came before and after, and it absolutely wasn't through choice on his part. Although he didn't go down the Anderson/Jancsó route.

(Rather a shame; I'd love to have seen what he'd have done with, say, The Smiths.)

hearthesilence · #18 Post by **hearthesilence** » Thu Jul 03, 2025 5:19 pm

beamish14 wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 10:48 pm I didn’t realize that Lindsay Anderson’s completely different version of what was released as Foreign Skies, entitled If You Were There, was finally publicly screened by the BFI in 2024. One user on Letterboxd posted an extremely detailed description
of it.

Too bad this isn't more widely available, it sounds like a far more interesting film.

beamish14 · #19 Post by **beamish14** » Thu Jul 03, 2025 5:45 pm

hearthesilence wrote: Thu Jul 03, 2025 5:19 pm
beamish14 wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 10:48 pm I didn’t realize that Lindsay Anderson’s completely different version of what was released as Foreign Skies, entitled If You Were There, was finally publicly screened by the BFI in 2024. One user on Letterboxd posted an extremely detailed description
of it.
Too bad this isn't more widely available, it sounds like a far more interesting film.

Absolutely. A somewhat comic exploration of China taking tentative steps to allowing Western influences, with Wham! in more of a supporting role.

thirtyframesasecond · Thu Jul 03, 2025 7:51 pm

MichaelB wrote: Thu Jul 03, 2025 9:05 am Bizarrely, at pretty much the same time that Lindsay Anderson was making his Wham! documentary, Miklós Jancsó was doing something similar with well-established Hungarian prog-rockers Omega. The mid-80s was a tough time for politically radical auteurs - as further demonstrated by Ken Loach's filmography noticeably thinning out that decade compared with what came before and after, and it absolutely wasn't through choice on his part. Although he didn't go down the Anderson/Jancsó route.

(Rather a shame; I'd love to have seen what he'd have done with, say, The Smiths.)

Well, Derek Jarman did some music videos for the Smiths. Loach made ads for McDonalds. Omega were sampled in Kanye West's 'New Slaves', so more people might know Hungarian prog-rock than they think.

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