George Michael RIP (53)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Vaughan, Dec 25, 2016.

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  1. bob60

    bob60 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London UK
    Much of the George speaking segments are from previous archive interviews.
    Surprising really as we have been told that the film was almost finished when he died.
     
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  2. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    I've joined this halfway through and it's fantastic. The account of his lover dying of AIDS was moving. I didn't know anything about that. So sad.

    I'll definitely watch it from the start later.

    I've never been a George Michael fan, but I do respect him, and has been said so many times, what a great voice. I just can't believe he's not with us anymore.
     
  3. dunkrag

    dunkrag Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Gryodec isn't it? Been hovering on the 'buy' button on one of those for about 6 months now..
     
  4. Almost Simon

    Almost Simon Forum Resident

    Older is such a wonderful album. How i would love to see a double vinyl reissue. Love it.
     
  5. coffeetime

    coffeetime Senior Member

    Location:
    Lancs, UK
    Be sure to check out the 2006 Live In London concert after the documentary, from the Live 25 tour. If the doc has you respecting him for his voice, the concert will blow you away from a musical point of view. Blew me away when my then 8 1/2 months pregnant wife dragged me along - so glad she did. I’m still not his biggest fan but that concert utterly changed my mind about George as a musician.
     
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  6. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    I was a heavy metal fan as a kid and then an indie teenager. In my snobbery and ignorance I dismissed George Michael as music for girls, bland rubbish etc etc as well as hating the image, his Lady Di hair etc.

    What a dick I was! It goes with being a teenager and student I suppose, but I'm glad that you grow out of these things. I've only just started listening to Prince!

    I've already recognised George's talent, integrity and intelligence more recently, but this documentary really highlights his humanity and talent, and of course, what a voice!
     
  7. GeoffC

    GeoffC Forum Resident

    Yes, I think so, as Michell were credited at the end. The whole documentary was really well done and reminded me of how much great music he gave us.
     
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  8. coffeetime

    coffeetime Senior Member

    Location:
    Lancs, UK
    Right there with you with the metal inspired dismissal back in the day! Also distinctly remember my third year high school English teacher reciting the lyrics to I’m Your Man, her voice dripping with contempt, as evidence of the vapidity of then contemporary pop lyrics. She didn’t win any friends amongst the teenage girls of the class that afternoon.
     
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  9. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    The interview at the end where he said that he couldn't see the current generation producing stars like him, Madonna and Prince saddened me.

    It isn't progress at all if music can't produce talented and charismatic big stars that seem larger than life. The likes of Bowie and Freddie Mercury were almost heroic to me growing up (who am I trying to kid? They still are!). Love them or not, the music scene is duller and feels a lot less important without those one off superstars. I know Adele and Ed Sheeran are talented and sell tons of albums but they are mundane characters.
     
  10. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    I think pop is supposed to be vapid escapism and is all the better for it.
     
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  11. BLUESJAZZMAN

    BLUESJAZZMAN I Love Blues, Jazz, Rock, My Son & Honest People

    Location:
    Essex , England.
    I hear you. I'm pretty much in the same camp as you. I used to think I was too cool for GM but what a talent he was. I found the documentary very sad but enjoyable.
     
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  12. Django

    Django Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    He definitely did escapism early on, but he got deeper as he went on.
     
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  13. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    Totally, but he did escapism very well. A great run of pop singles. It's good he got more meaningful later though, as his singing has more soul then. I like the way when he got deeper he sang personal lyrics from the heart and straight to the point, rather than singing pretentious cack in an attempt to be more meaningful.

    The lyrics about enjoying being unemployed in Wham Rap were not the average pop lyric either.
     
    Last edited: Oct 16, 2017
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  14. Orthogonian Blues

    Orthogonian Blues A man with a fork in a world full of soup.

    Location:
    London, UK
    I hope this documentary helps people remember George for his great music, rather than all the scandal.
     
  15. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Even his earlier "vapid" material wasn't quite as shallow as it came across at the time. Oh sure they were delightful pop confections, but cuts like "Bad Boys" and especially "Everything She Wants" were really pretty insightful bits of lower middle class social commentary, very accurately reflecting the attitudes of the times. A bunch of that material went way beyond the simple stupid lovesongs that characterized most of the pop charts.
     
  16. bob60

    bob60 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London UK
    The documentary was good but not brilliant, much of it covered the same ground as the previous documentary A Different Life.
    There was no mention of his last studio album Patience, whole sections of his troubled past were mentioned either. What was the point of having Naomi Campbell in there, just to mention that she was a Culture Club fan? Far too much of James Corden and Ricky Gervais. Where was Andrew Ridgley?
    This documentary and the Listen Without Prejudice Deluxe release was postponed from last year as George apparently found rare new footage that he wanted to include in this documentary (he had called out to fans for any archive material). Not sure what happened to that as there was no footage on here that I have never seen before.
    It was great to see George again, and I am glad that LWP got most of the attention, but to a long term fan there was nothing new here.
     
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  17. carrolls

    carrolls Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin
    I watched the GM documentary last night. It was ok, not great. I would have liked to see some of the ex Wham guys and gals. Like Andrew Ridgeley, Pepsi and Shirley.
    The one thing that struck out for me about the doc was how petty minded and shallow Gladys Knight was. :confused:
    I always liked Gladys Knight. I never realized she had this aspect to her personality.
    Her reaction to George Michael winning the best Soul performance award at AMA 1988 is nothing short of shameful.
     
  18. BlueGangsta

    BlueGangsta Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    The first half was great! The second half just became a repeat of every other George Michael documentary. It seemed like there was one direction for the first half (album focused) then another for the second.

    So you've seen the Faith Tour MSG concert?

    The only fan-sourced material in the documentary was the Pensacola footage.
     
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  19. Beaneydave

    Beaneydave Forum Resident

    It made me feel quite sad watching the program.
    Such a shame the guy seemed so funny and down to earth and yet so troubled.
    I rarely like talking heads on these type of programs and Mr Gallagher best serves himself by not talking in my view while I've never understood what , if anything, James Cordens talent is!


    peace and love✌Dave
     
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  20. Orthogonian Blues

    Orthogonian Blues A man with a fork in a world full of soup.

    Location:
    London, UK
    I reckon the record company diluted the final documentary from George's original intention, to better serve as a promo for the Listen Without Prejudice reissue. Damn Sony, still opposing GM's artistic vision!
     
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  21. BLUESJAZZMAN

    BLUESJAZZMAN I Love Blues, Jazz, Rock, My Son & Honest People

    Location:
    Essex , England.
    One thing James Corden is very very very good at.......................Laughing at his own jokes!!! Have you ever seen anyone laugh at their own jokes as much as he does?? I'm with you! He made a pretty decent series in Gavin & Stacey and has sort of lived of that. No real talent to me. Just a half funny chubby bloke!
     
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  22. qJulia

    qJulia Forum Resident

    Here we have to wait to watch it this coming Saturday. But I thought that his document is about his LWP era with a bit Wham! and Sony court case, but not about his entire career. Since I am a relatively new GM fan, I really look forward to watching the document.
     
  23. Maddy5

    Maddy5 Forum Resident

    Fair points, but the documentary is probably aimed more at casual fans who didn't keep up on everything George Michael did when he was alive.
    Some of the previous documentaries on him have not aired widely in the US so people in the US aren't as familiar with this information.
    Wonderful it is airing here on Showtime on Saturday, since George Michael particularly in his later years did not get the coverage and praise here that he deserved.
     
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  24. Dhreview16

    Dhreview16 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London UK
    I thought the documentary was very good, though it seemed to end fairly abruptly. Interesting that George considered Older his best work, rather than Listen Without Prejudice. I didn't mind the cameos by others as much as some posters.
    It was nice to see the tribute to Freddie Mercury again. And nice to see so many plugs for the Michell Gyro SE table !
     
  25. Binni

    Binni Forum Resident

    Location:
    Iceland
    For us who do not have Channel 4, when will it be possible to see it?
     
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