2,000 POSTS DONE!, so I am posting less frequently, but will still be adding news, comments and photos.. As archived, its a ramble through my movie watching, music and old magazine store and discussing People We Like [Loren, Monroe, Vitti, Romy Schneider, Lee Remick, Kay Kendall, Anouk & Dirk Bogarde, Delon, Belmondo, Jean Sorel, Belinda Lee; + Antonioni, Hitchcock, Wilder, Minnelli, Cukor, Joni Mitchell, David Hockney etc]. As Pauline Kael wrote: "Art, Trash and the Movies"!
Dedications: My four late friends Rory, Stan, Bryan, Jeff - shine on you crazy diamonds, they would have blogged too. Then theres Garry from Brisbane, Franco in Milan, Mike now in S.F. / my '60s-'80s gang: Ned & Joseph in Ireland; in England: Frank, Des, Guy, Clive, Joe & Joe, Ian, Ivan, Nick, David, Les, Stewart, the 3 Michaels / Catriona, Sally, Monica, Jean, Ella, Anne, Candie / and now: Daryl in N.Y., Jerry, John, Colin, Martin and Donal.
Monday 26 December 2016
George Michael, RIP
2016 (not over yet!) continues to be the year of living dangerously for music legends, starting with Bowie back in January. It seems cruelly ironic and shocking to hear, late on Christmas Day, that George Michael (1963-2016) has also departed, at the early age of 53.
George of course was one of the major stars of the Eighties and forged a fascinating solo career. I love his OLDER album, and those songs like "You Have Been Loved", his lovely vocal on "Jesus To A Child" ("you have always been my love") and that title track which speaks to all older gays. Then there were the stunning videos, like "Outside", and those duets. I love the one with Mary J Blige for their take on Stevie Wonder's "As" where they play all the people in the club - very clever. There were the duets with Aretha and Whitney, and I like his one with Astrud Gilberto, where George perfects his admiration of Antonio Carlos Jobim. Its a fascinating collection of music and videos over albums (PATIENCE is terrific too) and singles (including that controversial "Shoot The Dog") and a lasting legacy. We had worries about his health in recent years and some erratic behaviour and headlines (It was brave coming out when he did (unlike today) plus his fights with Sony over artistic control, and then there was his unapolagetic stance over cruising) and his reclusiveness in recent years, but now its all about the music and the man He had a droll sense of humour too, as shown on his appearance on The Catherine Tate TV Show. RIP indeed. It reminds me of one of those crazy nights back in 1985 - when I was in Brighton a lot with my disk jockey friend Rory - we were walking along the seafront late on a Sunday night when a car pulled up and to my surprise there was Andrew Ridgeley in the passenger seat, they knew Rory and wanted to know where to go for some late night after hours drinks, so he was able to point them towards The Beacon Royal, a late night gay hotel, so off they went.
A very nice piece on George. I was never a huge fan but then I watched that concert screened the night after he died and was hooked. Of course, A DIFFERENT CORNER is an all-time favourite, both for the song and for a warm, if painful memory, of someone I knew. Oh, was Mary Boland said "L'Amour, L'Amour".
A very nice piece on George. I was never a huge fan but then I watched that concert screened the night after he died and was hooked. Of course, A DIFFERENT CORNER is an all-time favourite, both for the song and for a warm, if painful memory, of someone I knew. Oh, was Mary Boland said "L'Amour, L'Amour".
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