The real tragedy, IMHO, was that because the music biz was in such a rotten, marketing-driven state during his youthful, energetic, not-yet-bitter-and-reclusive prime, that he arguably only ever showed glimpses of his true potential. That his pristine pipes have been silenced with his potential still far from fulfilled is a true pity.
At least the sounds up in heaven just got a bit sweeter.
RIP, George, and thanks for being one of the first to do right by your community and come out. That alone redeems all of George's erratic recording career and then some, IMHO.
I was just thinking at what a huge impact the Faith album made at the time.
He had a couple of strong singles before it, but as a debut album it forced people to completely change their perception of him as part of Wham, into a mature and extremely capable solo artist.
Not only that, a solo artist that went head on and dealt with issues of identity, sexuality, image, relationship roles among may other things.
It really was something special, and the number of hits from it shows how consistently good it was.
Thoughts and sympathy for his family, friends, colleagues and fans.
"...not having to believe in a thing to be interested in it and not having to explain a thing to appreciate the wonder of it."
Um...how do I put this? My best friend Val was a much bigger George fan that me. She'd probably agree with you on "Faith," Thoth. I...well...I don't. But just as I wouldn't want somebody ripping up a favorite of mine even though I could take it because I don't believe anyone, including my own faves, is above criticism, I shall refrain from doing so.
At the time, I did consider "Monkey" a tremendously catchy guilty pleasure.
There. I found something nice to say about "Faith." Yay!
While listening to Casey Kasem's "American Top 40" in the '80s, I got to witness the rise of several performers' careers, including George Michael's. I could never call myself a fan, but I appreciated some of the risky songs he recorded, such as "I Want Your Sex" and "Faith" (at a time when the word "faith" was considered old-fashioned and downright vulgar). I also loved the catchy-ness of "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" and "Careless Whisper."
Michael was exactly three months older than I am. That alone is a sobering thought.
"Monkey" is much better than I remembered. This isn't a mere guilty pleasure, it's as good as "rhythm-pop" got in 1987:
And, FTR, Val & I did eventually discuss George's passing, I was as gentle as I could be RE: "Faith," and there were no hard feelings either way. But I never truly feared there would be. She's a true friend.
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