Yes to many good musicians dying and nothing to replace them.

 

2016 is a year to forget... with many more to come.

 

Sure - Another great loss.

Adieu George

 

Last edited: Dec 26, 2016

Even though you agree with me?

He didn't "come out" until '98 when he was 'caught' in public and it was already out of his hands.

Today, the British Independent newspaper writes:

And the point about the 80s is debatable - Prince had already openly asked "Am I Straight or Gay", there was Frankie Goes to Hollywood (hardly shy about the gay), Marc Almond, Bronski Beat, disco had come and gone.......it wasn't that hostile a public atmosphere towards homosexuality. I was there, I know.

The Indy goes on to quote him saying

So, he had his own good reasons for his 'fraudulence'. But let's not pretend otherwise.

 

Last edited: Dec 26, 2016

Unfortunately in AS's R.I.P stories, no one cares properly for the electronic music world. Just Pop and Rock! Is it fair? Why don't you sincerely tell us that you despise the electronic term?

Anyway R.I.P poor George!

 

Rest in peace, Mr. Michael.

 

I remember my dj years in Santorini-Greece back in '87 like it is now. Too much good music back then but some of the constant names on the turntables were Prince, Bowie, George Michael/Wham... To think they 're all gone within the same fraction of time... The loss is immeasurable, almost unbearable. RIP George
PS:@foster911: Electronic music can be pop or rock or neither as can acoustic/electric music be the same too. By default as an artist you 're considered pop(ular) when your art becomes recognizable by a lot of peeps. If you thought Daft Punk isn't pop think again. But then again most of Daft Punk sounds nothing like what is conceived as pop music by most ppl and so does Metallica and so many others. So considering artists that play catchy contemporary sounds pop is just labeling. Because if this was true it should bring the whole EDM scene to be considered as pop as there is nothing deep about it except perhaps intense programming for some. The following track and its radio mix counterpart were considered pop but a careful listen reveals its a fully electronic track. So what's pop really ehehe...

 

Last edited: Dec 26, 2016

R.I.P. George

Best Remix ever:

 

No, I most certainly don't agree with you, partly because I detect a distinct undertone of homophobia and there was a huge difference between a band like FGTH coming out/being openly gay and George. Frankie were all about shock value, but George was a true pop star. I grew up in the 80's in the UK and I know it was far from easy to 'come out' for the average person on the street and much more difficult for someone who's career depended on zero 'controversy' surrounding their sexuality at that time. He would have been routinely attacked/doorstepped by the tabloid press if he had come out and I expect as he was someone who massively valued his privacy he didn't want that level of attention on his personal life.

Just what is it you're attempting to 'prove' exactly?

In your previous post, you said his output couldn't be considered as 'serious'. I disagree with you there as well, as he could contain a social message within a pop song without it sounding trite. I'll admit I couldn't sing any of his songs post about 1990, but his 80's songs are classics and definitely up there with the best songs of that period. I'd have said the same if he hadn't died yesterday as well.

 

What a shocker.
What a voice, a legend.Man, we are/were so fortunate to have lived in an era of giants(artists and bands) if you look at the music scene today its really pathetic.
Thank you for your music George.
Also, his music, prouduction wise, was always top notch even in the 2000s.
RIP.

 

Off-topic
And also R.I.P this guy:

 

So, have you ever been on the receiving end of that hostility. Yes or no?
Also George wasn't English. He was Greek, so different thinking.
I have a friend about the same age as George, good looking, always had hot girlfriends. Was In my older sister's/brother's group of friends.
He didn't come out as being gay until later.
You mention 'Bronski Beat''. You do know what this song is about, don't you?

Contempt in your eyes when I turned to kiss his lips
Broken I lie all my feelings denied - blood on your fist.
Can you tell me why? Can you tell me why?
Can you tell me why? Can you tell me why?

You in your false securities tear up my life condemning me.
Name me an illness
You call me a sin - never feel guilty
Never give in.
Tell me why? Tell me why? Tell me why? Tell me why? Yeah!
You and me together fighting for our love.
You and me together fighting for our love.

 

One of the best singers ever.

One of the best musicians of the 20th century.

Gave the world one of the most beautiful Christmas songs.

And some of the most difficult singing performances, regardless of musical genre.

A talented and soulful man, who shared his light, earned his immortality, and left.

The rest is, now, history...

 

As if.

I criticise his hiding his sexuality, not his sexuality.

GM himself said he felt "fraudulent" about it. But I'm not allowed to mention it?

Sure. I used to look pretty swanky in my brown lipstick, eyeliner and paisleys..... always risky in the Welsh valleys. I took up karate but never needed it, because it gave me assured confidence I suspect.

I didn't say there was no prejudice. I only said it wasn't so very bad it justified lying about it. The reasons for GM hiding his sexuality was very likely more for commercial reasons ($$$) than for personal safety. That speaks of a compromised art, not an uncompromising one. Hence GM's comment about his feeling "fraudulent"......as NastyBobby says, GM was "someone whose career depended on zero 'controversy' surrounding their sexuality". Well, there we go.

The fact anyone felt or still feels they must do that is sad and disgusting, and I blame everyone else for it more than GM or anyone else in that position. That's the real story, but let's not leave out GM's real place in it - nor those who were *not* so compromised, whatever the climate. If GM is to be exonerated on charges of "fraudulence" (his word) then what of those that did come out? They were brave to the exact extent GM was not? Fair enough.

 

So it wasn't about the money then, was it? But at the end of the day, how does this make him less of an artist. It's not like he was miming his concerts or using autotune, like many others do.

 

@Roger8176 Nice ass!

 

Not *just* the money, no. Hell, it's a lot of money, no doubt, so I can't blame him in that sense. I've never even been offered such money so I don't know what would I do to compromise to get it. Maybe I'd compromise a whole lot more? But it would be compromise.

I should have just kept quiet about my qualms about GM's straight public persona. My view hardly matters, is of no consequence, and just intrudes on folks' grief. I don't intend any malice, so absent anything much to say positively, I'll just shut up. Forgive me.

 

Rest In Peace. God bless his soul.

 

Sorry, but I still struggle to fully understand why GM not fully coming out as soon as Wham hit the big time is so problematic? I think I've read somewhere that he wasn't fully sure himself about his sexuality when he was younger and thought he may be bisexual and it was only when he'd entered his twenties that he knew he was homosexual. I know he has a Greek dad and an English mum. I also know that Greek culture is quite 'macho' and perhaps he was afraid of what his father would think of him?

Surely someone like yourself that dressed in a way that could be construed as being effeminate within an environment like the Welsh valleys can empathise with the likelihood that such behaviour/appearance would signal someone out as being different from the mainstream and would attract a lot of attention and possibly even violence? Some people are just very private and don't want to see their sexuality splashed across the front page of the tabloid press. I don't think that makes them a 'fraud' or a phoney, it just indicates that they aren't massively confident people outside of the limelight and they'd rather that what they do with their genitalia remains private. Homosexuality doesn't automatically mean people have to go around dressing and behaving like 'The Only Gay In The Village' does it?

 

I think I do understand at least something of his considerations. My milieu wasn't so different, perhaps - he's about 5 years older than me and British. In fact, I know Welsh valleys were far less cosmopolitan and forgiving than London was. And not just of being gay, but of being anything different. Every nail that stood out was hammered down, with purpose. London is infinitely more ...of everything.

Personally I found Birmingham in the mid-late80s to be a very liberal playground as compared to Wales. The wilder you dressed the better: the "coolest" folk were the most outrageous, the most outstanding. It was a complete eye-opener to me, the complete inverse of life in the province where "fitting in" was the only available strategy.

I experienced the 80s in a very positive way in that sense - the very obvious boundaries were there to be pushed at and you had to be on the side pushing. I loved Prince (and The Dead Kennedys) because it was out there, and pushing, pushing, pushing. Without malice, I have to say I didn't ever sense anything of that from Wham. Plus, I experienced the 80s as socially progressive, despite everything that was going on, so to claim it was "tough for gays" just doesn't ring wholly true for me. When was it better? The end of the 80s bled into the 90s, after all, right? And for a while there it felt like the world was really changing and anything was possible. That didn't come from nowhere. I don't say it with any malice, but George Michael simply wasn't leading the charge. Especially in retrospect - as, in fact, he was not what he had purported to be. Kind of.

I realised too late that any criticism of GM would likely be inappropriate. I did say I'd shutup, but you kindly replied. I think my point is fair, for history's sake. lol. Me and the Eternal Goddess of the Court of History are real close. :D

My complaint about GM is really perhaps just a typical provincial one. He thinks he had it tough? ;)