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1.05.2017

George Michael

This morning, George Michael's "Praying for Time" was running through my head.  Then, when I got to work, I saw that a friend of mine had posted a link to "Freedom" so I was thinking today's a good day to write a few words about George Michael.  We were in NYC for Christmas when we learned of his passing--I was so shocked and saddened.  I told my family that we'd listen to George on the way back home to Maryland, which we did.   My dad pointed out that he had forgotten how many songs he had.

My sister Debbie and I shared our experience of seeing him in concert a few years ago, where a really nice usher moved us from nosebleed seats down to near the floor.  I'm so glad we had that opportunity--it was a great show.

We also talked about how Debbie first heard "One More Try" during Debbie Thomas' exhibition performance at the 1988 Winter Olympics.  I'd forgotten about that, but enjoyed watching the video this evening.  George sounds so young on the recording. (Update 1/30/20: Unfortunately, the video is no longer available.)

And then as tends to happen when I watch one thing on YouTube, I started going down the rabbit hole and came across this great video from James Corden.  Who knew that George Michael was part of his first Carpool Karaoke?!


And finally, I've been trying to pick my favorite George Michael song--there's Careless Whisper, Praying for Time, Freedom, Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me....but the one I always come back to is Kissing a Fool from the Faith album.  Any time I listen to George and get to this song, I always replay it two or three times in a row before moving to the next song.  (As I type this, I've listened to it three times...) I just love it.  And I loved George Michael.  May he rest in peace.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Loved Debi Thomas' performance! I think that ice skating dress is at the African American Museum. One of her outfits is, but I think it's this one. I recall thinking "holy moly, it's so freakin' small!"

It's too hard for me to pick one fave George Michael song. I'll have to go with 3: One Last Try, Freedom, Last Christmas. And love that first car karaoke. I saw James Corden talking about that a couple of weeks ago. Makes me think George Michael should have dipped his toe into acting. He was really good!

Kerri said...

oh wow! today i've been listening to george michael b/c there were about 5 of his songs during my morning yoga class this morning. our class ended with "one last try", which seemed really sad, hearing him say goodbye. :(
i can NOT believe he's gone. him and prince. for me, the two biggest losses of the year. and there were many...

i can't wait to watch the videos you posted.
for me, it's probably 1. wake me up before you go-go (b/c it's hilarious and so 80s, and i fondly remember watching that video as we were one of the first to have MTV b/c of my dad's line of work) 2. freedom 3. one more try

i'm so, so glad that even tho both of those artists are gone, they left behind songs that we still hear today, and songs that we can dig out and listen to again and again. (as i have done all day today) i'm just said, especially with prince, there won't be any MORE.

i can't wait to watch the thing with james corden!!!

i can't believe this was your post i read today. love the coincidence.

Valerie said...

I wish there was a like button for comments. Deb, you're right that George should've gone into acting. And I also think you're right about Debi's outfit at the African American museum.

Kerri, that was a good coincidence. I feel the same way about the loss of Prince and George Michael this year. So many of my memories are associated with both of them.