ElderGays, Let's Talk George Michael & Wham!

How many fucking threads are we going to have on DL about George Michael?

I like a few of the songs, but never thought he was physically attractive.

Different times. Most of the young girls and their moms truly thought George was a hetro pussy hound who just needed to find the right woman and settle down. Ha! Especially in middle America, where most gays were closeted, women didn't have a clue, not alone teenage girls. Some men and teenage boys, who were homophobes, called him a "fag" for the earring(s). But women would deny anything about him was gay. He was like a drug to young women and girls.

I was in high school. People thought Wham and George were very, very gay. Silly disposable pop.

When Faith came out a few years later people were shocked at how good an album that fag from Wham had created.

He looks like princess Di dressed up in boy drag for Halloween in that video.

George provided the music of my youth. Will forever have a place in my ❤

The soundtrack of my youth, I should say❤💕

“His teeth are whiter-than-white, huh huh huh”

I was there. Sophisticated teens and adults knew he was most likely gay. Wham!'s primary audience was younger teen girls. It was a more naive time and a more homophobic time and most people who didn't live in major cities or mix in sophisticated circles likely did not know anyone openly gay. And certainly not most teens. Most of his fanbase believed he was straight. He had cover stories and girlfriends well into the Faith era. In those days it was impossible to be in the "heartthrob" market and be gay. For the record, Andrew was and is straight. Apparently George did genuinely sleep with women in the earlier years of Wham!

While still part of WHAM and before his first solo hit album "Faith", George Michael won his first Grammy with smash hit "I Knew You Were Waiting For Me", a duet with Aretha Franklin.

Watching video then and now it was quite clear to oneself and many others George Michael was gay as a goose.

Not that it mattered one bit, GM had a fantastic voice and was a great talent.

As mentioned in one of the other many threads on George Michael, you only have to look at him in music video for "Last Christmas" where GM pulls various gay faces but to know.

That being said people see what they look for, and or what they want.

Next to Boy George he booked very butch and Masc by comparison.

Ironically it was Boy George who was the top.

And Elton just like being a voyeur.

that was be a relief for the whores at Bel Ami.

No shock that some straight women don't want to acknowledge that an attractive man is gay. It kills their fantasy and them being a huge consumer base. It's important to please them. Men could see the obvious though.

I liked their first two singles, Wham! Rap and Young Guns (Go For It) but after that they pretty shitty.

And I've got every copy of Smash Hits from the 1980s, and there are so many gay stories about George. In one interview he says "The Sun were trying to do a gay story on me...I was too busy laughing to sue" (Sure, Jan).

And backing singer Shirley is quoted as saying "George & Andrew are both womanisers! They could, and do, have any girl they want" (Sure, Jan)

Well, it did inspire this!

R16

Oh they know and believe certain attractive gay men are exactly that. But there is everlasting hope that when gay man falls off the rails, it will on them.

R19 It explains why some straight women still obsess over and have crushes on Ricky Martin and Adam Lambert. They want to convert them to heterosexuality.

R18- if anyone is seeking a cure for their Darren Criss boners, that scene will do the trick. Watching this scene just once will guarantee you will never be aroused by him again.

Before they really hit the U.S. charts with "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go," there was "Young Guns."

I remember seeing this video and thinking, "Here are two guys who are out and proud!" This video is even more gay than "Wake Me Up."

^^ Sorry, bad link. Here's a better one:

You can see in r11 he wanted to be Princess Di.

That finger waving move GM makes at 2:54 in "I Knew You Were Waiting For Me" video gets me every time. I mean come on, if you didn't know GM was gay by then....

For record had several friends who had same dance moves as GM in that video...

Oh and I still want that leather jacket!

GM and Ms. Franklin had a genuine good time recording both song "I Knew You Were Waiting For Me", and video.

To give credit where due it takes serious talent and vocal chops to pair up with Aretha Franklin, her voice was so powerful it blew weaker singers out of the water. George Michael had no problems holding his own, which shows what a great talent the man had. Leaving Wham and going out on his own was best thing for George Michael's career.

George also did duets with Whitney Houston and Smoky Robinson. He really appreciated soul and R&B music. I love how on Wham's first album he did a cover of The Miracles' Love Machine.

Boy George was asked by a reporter why he didn't do the duet with Aretha - "Did they ring up the wrong George?"

George replied, "They banged on the wrong closet."

I just bought the Wham! Japanese Singles Collection and the DVD provides some early live performances. George is incredibly effeminate when he performs, even compared to his Wake Me Up Before You Go Go video. I think he toned it down over the years, but it was always there. I never bought that he was even bisexual, although many women still think so.

GM did so many duets with great singers. He was really at home in R&B, GM could get down for a white boy.

Boy George was consistently mean to George Michael and always referred to him as a "camp act".

This is funny.

Of course Andy Cohen had to get into the mix...

If you believe Boy George much of this so called feud with George Michael was just largely made-up.

[quote] My question is, was there talk during this group's initial fame that these were brazen homos frolicking about in plain sight?

The Aussie press confronted him in this 1988 interview.

I say let him Rest In Peace. Learn from his mistakes, and emulate things like his caring and generosity. Appreciate the musical legacy he left behind. He was a flawed human being, like all of us. Luckily we are still around to make better choices.

Wow R35! That interviewer was BRUTAL! What an asshole! It's obvious that he had rock solid proof that George was gay (and possibly an addict) and enjoyed watching him squirm and stammer over his words.

"Are you Gay?"

"If you were a parent......or is it even possible for you to become a parent?"

Sheesh!

Of course Boy George was jealous of the attractive George Michael. I wasn't around in his heyday but I cannot for the life of me imagine ANYONE being attracted to Boy George.

[quote] I say let him Rest In Peace.

R36, no one's attacking George or attempting to disrupt his peace. OP's question was simply about The 80s & 90s Public/MSM's reaction to what was right in their faces.

R2- That's because he looked SUPER QUEENY and SUPER SCENEY

I feel Boy George is less mean and more just likes to troll and get a reaction out of others. He is not attractive but he was an awesome voice. I doubt George Michael was offended at all. George was a shady queen too.

R41- No one EVER put Boy George or George Michael in the category of HOT- even in the 1980's.

George Michael was a yummy twink during Wham and was pretty sexy during Faith. Most of his looks was his awesome voluminous hair and his tight body and ass. Once he lost that hair and he gained weight, it went downhill.

R43- I never found George Michael appealing unless you think that someone who looks SCENEY, QUEENY and BITCHY is yummy.

R3- Did these same women think that Jim J. Bullock and Richard Simmons were hetero PUSSYHOUNDS too?

What a horrible time. Straight people felt entitled to ask if you were gay because it was “ok” - but the majority of the world was a pit of homophobia only slightly better than the 60s/70s. Gay was not ok in the 80s- it was a horrific time. I can’t stand the nostalgia for anything 80s.

R44 Some people like black licorice. Some people like rum raisin ice cream. Some people like hog's feet. Taste is different for different people.

It's still really not that okay to be gay. If you're a famous actor it still hurts your chances at marketability. Hollywood targets Chinese, Arab, Indian and African audiences now who are even more homophobic than The US. That's why I laugh at people who still wonder why obviously gay Hollywood actors are closeted.

OP, just watch videos of over half the pop artists of the 80s. The entire decade was gay.

What surprises me were the number of straight guys in high school c. 1979-81 who loved Queen. Many of them ignored, overlooked, or were oblivious to Freddie Mercury's sexuality. Or the straight guys throughout the 80s who were into hard rock with all those performers sashaying around the stage in spandex engaged in demonstrations of over-the-top hyper-masculinity.

R46- It was WORSE than the 1970's because not only were gays having GAY sex they were spreading AIDS around. There was MUCH more hate towards gays in the 1980's than the 70's.

Clueless fraus and young girls thought GM was straight everybody else knew he was gay from the get-go. He was an incredibly talented man.

R49- The 1970's were pretty gay( queer) too.

Elton John, David Bowie and others - Glam rock

Disco was VERY gay- ever heard of the Village People?

[quote] The entire decade was gay.

Billy Squier

I always found Andrew Ridgeley sexier than George. He had those puppy dog eyes.

From my family I've heard that the 1970s weren't a utopia, but far more progressive for gays in America than the ultra-conservative 1980s. The moral majority was in part a response to increased aceptance for gays.

George was hot AF in the Father Figure video.

The Village People in the 1970's, by the mid 1990's they would be the Chelsea People and then by 2010 the Hells Kitchen People and today the Grindr People

R55 Having been in my teens and 20s in the 80s, I can tell you that the early 80s were a better time for gays than the 70s. It was the mid-80s, when AIDS came along, that things started to become more conservative and a lot of gays retreated back into the closet.

I would imagine it depended on where you lived. My family was always in some kind of liberal city (Chicago, NYC) so it would have been really great around that time. My aunt mostly lived in NYC (though she did the rock groupie for some of the 70s, lots of travelling) and I can only imagine how fun it must have been to be gay for that brief window after Stonewall and before AIDS. Sex everywhere.

"OP, just watch videos of over half the pop artists of the 80s. The entire decade was gay."

Wham! came across as no more gayer than Duran Duran. Straight people (in my set) who did not know better just chalked up all the "make-up" wearing to the dudes being British.

I think people knew he was gay but without him making a declaration of it. It was easily shrugged off and ignored. He was a celebrity, so of course he would be seen as not having to play by society's rules. And the fact he played as straight was enough to please his audience of mostly straight women who wanted the fantasize about him. Being famous and rich, gives you more freedom to not conform and be "different." Coming out and destroying that ambiguous though would be potentially career suicide. He came out in the late 90s after that bathroom scandal which was fortunately a far more accepting time but in the 80s it would have killed his career since he was heartthrob singing love songs.

This is still the gayest thing I ever saw:

Ewwww r62! I swear I can smell those dudes through my screen.

R61 - He definitely fooled Brooke Shields as she wrote "dating" George Michael in one her books.

Yeah, that's a pussyboi who needs some dick to calm him down. Ahem.

Having said that.... I think the 80s were there tail-end (sic) of innocence, sorta. There was a flamboyance accepted in entertainers that was "just fun" and didn't mean that they sucked dick. Little Richard, P.J. Proby, Mick Jagger, Elton John, David Bowie (and a gazzillilon Glam artists who followed him... of course by the 70s sex and drugs were accepted ingredients in the flamboyance. By the 80s Michael (and to a different degree Boy George) availed themselves of "it's just entertainment" innocence.

Maybe AIDS ended that innocence, who knows? But now if there's flamboyance (Lil Nas X) it's assumed, yeah, he's gay. Although that time period may be changing with "gender fluidity" too... I mean what IS Tyler, the Creator??

So, the times change, and signifiers of who we are and whom we want to love change as well. Liberace's sequins just meant he was nice to his mom.

R65 - My favorite flamboyants will always be Freddie Mercury and Marc Bolan.

R60- Most straight people thought The Village People guys were just a bunch of PUSSYHOUNDS.

[quote] What a horrible time. Straight people felt entitled to ask if you were gay because it was “ok” - but the majority of the world was a pit of homophobia only slightly better than the 60s/70s. Gay was not ok in the 80s- it was a horrific time. I can’t stand the nostalgia for anything 80s.

But R46, don't you miss the sense of community, togetherness & adventure that came with Gay Culture being considered underground/counterculture? IMO, the Lows were horrible but the Highs were a hell of a lot more fun!

r68 that's what Fran Lebowitz has always said. Gay men and gay culture were better and more interesting when everything was underground.

R65 Yes, I think gay panic is why so many future male (gay and straight) entertainers rejected flamboyancy and went the butch bro-dude route in the 21st century. Sporting basic hairstyles and jeans, sneakers, hoodies and plaid shirts. Think of Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake, Usher, etc. Even flaming queen Adam Lambert tried to do butch with his middle albums hoping for hits and all of Shawn Mendes' career is trying to seem like a boring hetero. Though in the later 2010s, Lil Nas X and Harry Styles brought back some pageantry to male pop performances.

R69.... better..... for her.

R64 Brooke also talks as if she and Michael Jackson were a couple in love too. So let's take what she says with a grain of salt.

There was really good analogy someone made the other day on a thread about the loss of underground gay culture - gay culture was akin to the culture of an immigrant group, Italians, Jews, Chinese whatever you name it. These communities were often location based, having their own enclaves in the big cities much like gays did. As all these groups became more assimilated, the uniqueness of their culture was lost to the grand culture of America.

R69- So Fran Lebowitz thinks that the gay scene was better in the 1950's when it was all UNDERGROUND and a gay male could be arrested just for being in an establishment that was considered a gathering spot for HOMOSEXUALS.

R73 Analogy doesn't work. There weren't secret Italians in Centerville Iowa.

John Waters has said the exact same thing numerous times over - when there was something taboo, shocking, or unique about being gay, it resulted in a strong community and great artists. Where have all the gay geniuses gone? All we have are retards like Andy Cohen or pseudo-talents like Ryan Murphy.

R75 It's not a direct matching analogy numbskull. It's specifically about the assimilation of fringe cultural groups over time to homogenized and frankly boring American mainstream society.

R72, you beat me to it. And with Brooke's track record, can we assume that Andre Agassi was more of the same? Poor Girl. Maybe that's why their marriage only lasted 5 minutes.

Poor gays in rural areas and suburbs couldn't be a part of gay culture as much unless they ran away to a big urban enclave. It's interesting reading about what it was like in those isolated areas. Tons of male-on-male sex existed still but nobody identified as gay.

R76- and ALBINOS like Anderson Cooper

r74 she said gay CULTURE was better and gay men were MORE INTERESTING. That's different than your idiotic statement.

[quote]Poor gays in rural areas and suburbs couldn't be a part of gay culture as much unless they ran away to a big urban enclave

Back in those days cities like NY and SF were much less expensive so it was possible. I can't even imagine how a young rural gay person could move to those cities in this day and age without tons of financial support.

R82

Same way they did back in day, and how straight persons from "rural" areas manage. Shack up with one or more roommates, work your mojo on some guy in exchange for room and board, whore yourself out (far more easier today thanks to modern tech), and so it goes.

I mean really, just where do you think good number of transplants who have invaded NYC over past several years have come from? They all aren't young adults with trust funds or whatever.

Perhaps clearest picture of this is that homeless population of young LGBT is largely if not majority persons of color and or some Latino/Hispanics. White young people come here all the time from "rural" areas, but obviously are finding ways to support themselves and get housing.

Sure back in the day "runaways" and others worked Times Square or 53rd and Third gay strolls. Or maybe they performed at Adonis, Gaiety or similar places.

Most young people in NYC today have parental support.

R84

You have numbers or other proof to back up that statement do you? Or are you just parroting unsubstantiated narrative because it suits your purposes?

[quote]Shack up with one or more roommates, work your mojo on some guy in exchange for room and board, whore yourself out (far more easier today thanks to modern tech), and so it goes.

You think young gay men who come to NYC all work as prostitutes or have sugar daddies? JFC

I actually live and work in NYC and I have yet to meet anyone in their 20s who does not have parental support. Even the ones living in Queens with roommates have it.

[quote]Sure back in the day "runaways" and others worked Times Square or 53rd and Third gay strolls. Or maybe they performed at Adonis, Gaiety or similar places.

Even back in those days the majority of young gay men from the hinterlands did not work as whores or go go boys. You've been watching too much porn.

OP it gets gayer. Check out the tighty whitey speedos.

R86

Strongly suggest you broaden your circle of friends and or co-workers, as one lives and works in Manhattan yet know good number of young people who manage without parental support.

If you want to speak naivete: My mother and teenage sister thought the guys of the Village People were all totally straight. Remember they came out singing YMCA in some television show. Even then my baby-self was like, no.

Even as a youngster in the midwest I could see he was gay. I have posted this before but when the SEX video debuted on MTV one of the VJ's said it was George's girlfriend in the video and that really confused me.

It's hard to even understand today the kind of appeal he had in the Faith years. It was amazing how much he captivated. Talent but also the persona he crafted. There's nothing like that today, and hasn't been since.

MTV allowed it to happen. But MTV isn't the same anymore. This also makes it hard to explain in today's world. You have have to know and remember what MTV used to be like in the 1980's to understand how people thought of George and why they thought that way. The videos created a narrative for a character called George Michael, who was not a real person but a persona.

R93 - Excellent description.

"The videos created a narrative for a character called George Michael, who was not a real person but a persona" which lead to the album "Freedom 90".

OP- In your photo George Michael has total-

RESTING BITCH FACE

R17 Well, tecnically George Michael had gruppies during his Wham! years, he described himself as bisexual.

He and Andrew looked like a very passionate gay couple in love.

R94, there was no album named Freedom '90. That was a song, the second single from the Listen Without Prejudice Vol. I album. Dumb ass! 😆

R62 I see your gay, and I raise you even gayer.

R62 & R99.......Amateurs!

R99- You are wrong. The person on the left looks like a total PUSSYHOUND.

R62 The way the guy in front is looking down, it's like he's looking at the other guy's dick.

It was all there to see from the first album. Young Guns and this one...oy! He tells us HE WANTS TO CRUISE.

Murray explaining why the guys should not have girlfriends on Flight of the Conchords.

George described himself as gay but said he had a lot of sex with women when he was younger. He was so horny and young that it didn't matter. But when he met Anselmo, he fell so deeply in love and it made him realize he only could feel that way with other men. He basically gave up hetero sex and stuck with men and took on the gay identity. I don't think he had any reason to lie about this. This was from some interview back in the mid-2000s.

Eh. That seems like a roundabout way of justifying saying you were bi after the fact but “realized” you were gay. Many of us came out as bi to friends back then when we were young, but mostly because it wasn’t ok to come out due to homophobia. It was just a more comfortable social narrative and left the situation ambiguous. I seriously doubt George had sex with a lot of women. Obviously it’s possible he was truly bisexual and did, but I think he had more motivation as a celebrity to hedge his bets by saying he was bi.

I think he was just gay too. Obviously not a gold star and probably confused being young. He was only like 20 when Wham got big. I always got the sense he suffered from internalized homophobia too given his working-class Greek Orthodox heritage too thus was in denial. Likely forcing himself to fuck and date women for years. Believing his own lie until falling in love with Anselmo made him realize it was all just a farce. R106 I swear in that same interview, he mentioned he identified as more masculine and not into the scene that much either. So a bit of delusion too lol.

He grew up in a conservative Greek Orthodox family so of course that really fucked him up in regards to accepting his sexual orientation.

Marina Sirtis, who is around the same age GM was and also grew up in a strict Greek Orthodox home in London has talked about how stiflingly conservative her upbringing was. When she told her parents she wanted to be an actress they almost disowned her. And that was just over being an actress! You can imagine how homosexuality was viewed in that kind of environment.

Yes and he still seemed somewhat of a spiritual believer even until his death. As his music and album covers still had references to his Orthodox heritage. Even though he was critical of organized religion, constantly bashed conservatives and became vocal on gay rights. That indoctrination still has a strong impact on you.

I refuse to believe he and Andrew did not fuck once. Wham probably should have never broken up because George needed a partner to keep him working. He mishandled his solo career by taking super long breaks between albums. He was more into getting high and getting fucked than keeping at his craft. And now that he is dead, his music is getting reevaluated and people are realizing what raw talent he had. Andrew had little talent but he had an important role of keeping George happy and productive.

I also think it was somehow easier to be somewhat androgynous in the 80s and still have plausible deniability about sexual orientation. It’s hard to explain, but I think it was a combination of public naivete and how androgyny was in style with artists MJ, Prince and Annie Lennox. I think we are all a lot more savvy now, and can look back and see glaring realities, but between fashion trends and limited access to celebrities, a lot was left to speculation.

R111 I'm pretty sure Andrew let George suck his dick a time or two.

Not gay lol

Hahaha I had to rush back here to report that I was just watching “I Want My 80s”, which I DVR’d. “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” is one of the gayest things EVER. I was a freshman in high school when it came out and I knew it was gay the way I knew The Pet Shop Boys and ABC were.

Yeah—when George sings “You make the sun shine brighter than Doris Day”? all I could think about is he had the same “glow” In the music video that she did in her movies.

Poor Andrew Ridgely. He was the overlooked Art Garfunkel/ Richard Carpenter/ The Captain/ John Oates/ James Griffin (of Bread)/Jim Messina of pop music.

What exactly was GM's cause of death?

Watch out OP, some of these insolent 20-somethings certainly put you in the community to whom you pose this question. If they only knew how fast fifty comes. hahahahahahahahah

I love the 80s such good music..there was nothing like it

He died of dilated cardiomyopathy and fatty liver disease. Technically it was natural causes, but probably more from abusing his body through a life of excessive drugs and an overall unhealthy lifestyle.

Wait, ABC was/is a gay group???

ABC wasn’t gay. They were more in line with Spandau Ballet.

In the real life version of “Gay or Eurotrash” ABC and Spandau Ballet are both team Eurotrash.

R123 Oh, they were gay, all right. I tried everything I could to get at least one of them to fuck me after we made the "Poison Arrow" video, but not one of them would touch me. Can you imagine? So I had to settle for a scrawny, gay rich guy.

George Michael survived some unpleasant things in his life. I think he had a pure soul. In my view, when someone is beloved, they have to have a great big heart in there somewhere, and not just a pretty face. His voice was like silk. People were not as sophisticated (jaded?) back then. You can see it in news clips and interviews.

George was intelligent. He wrote some essays and articles in his spare time. And was an avid reader. He wrote Careless Whisper as a teenager. Even the seemingly silly Wham songs had social commentary to them.

like Liberace, Charles Nelson Riley, Paul Lynde . . .no one thought that George Michael's was straight! He had weird eyes, bad eyebrows and 0 sex appeal. Were gay men sexually attracted to him?

^ Michael was straight

Of course gay men were attracted to a healthy looking male with a nice body and ass. Clearly he was attractive enough to sleep with thousands of men

I’m working on a playlist of his music that doesn’t include all the songs that have been overplayed. There’s so much to listen to.

Great megamix and video!

Fun and sunshine, there's enough for everyone!

R131, that song is gorgeous! You have good taste and you've inspired me to dive deeper into George's catalog (beyond the hits) as well. Thank You!

R131, is there a way where you can share your playlist?

*sigh* It just makes me so sad that a talented, handsome, intelligent performer who gave millions so much happiness, couldn't find any lasting happiness for himself.

I'm currently streaming George's catalog beyond his Pop fare as well and I'm impressed. I had no idea he was so versatile.

Honey I’m older than you and everyone thought they were queers. It was excused because the music was catchy and British men always seen a little gay to Americans.

When George Michael went solo they tried to market him as a heterosexual heartthrob and that was a joke.

Wait a minute. Are you all trying to tell me that George Michael was a homosexual? How did no one notice until now?

It's freaking me out!

The surprising thing wasn't George being gay, but that Andrew was straight

R139 Andrew straight? Bitch please. More of a closet case.

Andrew could be bisexual. But he has a bigger gay face than George. Did people think Andrew and George were a couple? Their body language doesn't register as platonic best friends. I'm sure they hooked up. George denied sleeping with him but that could have been to respect Andrew's privacy.

R141 I have no doubt Andrew let George suck his cock once or twice.

R142 I think they did more than that. Probably full on gay sex.

R135 I will copy the track listing here for you. Check out this track, Heaven Help Me by Deon Estus, and GM’s live MTV Unplugged cover of Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me”.

Incredible

Great live cover of Stevie Wonder’s song. Available on the remastered version of Faith.

Clueless young me thought "Wake Me Up"-era George reminded me a lot of JM J. Bullock's Monroe Ficus.

R144 "Waltz Away Dreaming" is a beautiful song. I don't think many people even know about it. This was what George recorded after his mum died. Also, as nice as "Last Christmas" is in my view it's second to "I Dreamed of Christmas." I don't know why it doesn't get the airplay. This is the sad thing about George's music. The hits are well known but some of his best work has gone almost unnoticed.

I'm an older poster who feels so lucky that I had the best of popular music all through my younger years. I was eight years old when the Beatles came over. I got the best of the 60s, 70s and then the 80s. There were real love songs in all three decades. Music has gone down hill since. I acknowledge there are exceptions, but I remember the times when everything that came on the radio was great.

I can't for the life of me remember the song that was released after GM's death, but I liked it at the time. I think it was an old Wham song that had never been previously released.

Unfortunately GM’s estate hasn’t done much releasing of new material since his untimely death. The Listen Without Prejudice box set was already a done deal before he died, but since then they’ve only done the Last Christmas soundtrack that released the forgettable track This Is How We Want You To Get High.

I’ve really enjoyed this virtual duet of One More Try.

Another great live performance

Another obscure track

This song still gives me chills.

R151 One of the few performers who could match Marvin Gaye on this one.

R150 There was one song I could only find on YT, and now it hasn't been there in ages. It was called "This Kind of Love." It's not on any of his albums that I'm aware of.

R155 I think that’s the duet he did with Mutya Buena.

This is a beautiful cover of a song by Terence Trent D'Arby. Love the video!

Fantastic Joni Mitchell cover

R155 here is the song. Good suggestion!

I’m slightly older than you OP, 48, but as a gayling in the 80s, Wham was too gay to openly like. It was a group that only girls could openly like unless you wanted to out yourself. I loved them in secret.

I always liked Wham! as well, but not openly.. This is probably my favorite.

Older and spinning the wheel

GM was working on an album before he died. I wonder how far he got along on recording.

R158 That's a nice song too but not the one I was referring to. The title was definitely "This Kind of Love."

R156 I think "Let Her Down Easy" was the last song/video George released. It is wonderful. The more debauched George's personal life was the more beautiful the music kept getting. I only wish "Where I Hope You Are" had been recorded properly in a music studio. As far as I know it only exists in recordings people made in concert which aren't very good. By this time George was using a vocorder to alter his voice. It was totally unnecessary.

R160 Out of the WHAM catalog, "Like a Baby" is my favorite too.

R163 thanks for the heads up on that song. I was incorrect, and gratefully so! 😎👍

I posted what I hope is the right link for "This Kind of Love." Sounds like it's so hard to find due to it being recorded for a scraped "Trojan Souls" album.

Yeah it appears to be a leaked audio song. It doesn’t sound like a rough track but still a great recording.

I never understood why George Michael always seemed so unhappy.

Yeah it appears to be a leaked audio song and never officially released. Thank you for the link!

Another gorgeous non-commercial track. This was recorded by George as a gift for Prince William for his wedding. It was released for free by George—available to download in hopes fans would make a donation to the Royal Wedding Charity Fund.

R171 I haven't thought about that one in quite a while. It's really nice. Here is the link to another song George did a wonderful cover on.

It's been awhile since I've listened to GM and Wham and this thread has got me listening again. As the years go on, I only appreciate GM's music more. God, he was talented.

This is a nice remix of Blue.

My friend Laura said he is gay she said somethings you just know

Has anyone posted George and Lisa Stansfield duetting on Queen's "These Are the Days Of Our Lives?" They did an awesome job.

BTW Lisa Stansfield should've had a bigger career, she was fabulous.

Sorry, I posted the link in the wrong place.....

[quote] How many fucking threads are we going to have on DL about George Michael?

You're on a gay board with about a zillion people in their late 40s/early 50s. The answer is that there will never be enough threads about George Michael.

I'd rather have a thread about a talented but tragic gay man than the hundreds of threads on the Kardashians, Britney, Brad Pitt, Chalamet and Madonna.

I agree—I’d rather share something beautiful on at least one thread. DL is a big playground—go play somewhere else you don’t like this game.

Another interesting track. I’m not the DL Dead or Alive troll, btw.

R178 Amen to that! George had real and abundant talent. He left something of real worth in the world. I'll enjoy his music for the rest of my life.

GM background vocals

Two queens’ homage to queens

One of my absolute favorites.

GM+New Order+Auto-Tune

Siren song

R186 "Song to the Siren" is gorgeous. Beautiful song and beautiful voice.

He started to look like Satan

R188 - Why do you say that?

George's smile was very forced and toothy which honestly made him look gremlinish. You tell he was miserable in his eyes, there was no glow in his eyes.

Beautiful

As a fan I am frustrated that his estate hasn’t released anything substantial from his catalog since his death five years ago. Most of what is sold on his store are tchotchkes for frau fans. This is the latest release: a GM mug, perfect for cradling. 🙄

There was a deluxe version of Older to be released late last year, as well as a vinyl version of Symphonica, but those were all delayed due to production issues. Not sure who runs his estate, but putting out nothing but 4K versions of old music videos and GM keychains is pathetic.

I always thought the other guy was a LOT cuter in those days. Andrew Ridgely or whatever his name is.

This looked kinda devilish—his suit from the Freeek! music vid

I don't know if we've discussed this on DL, but this panel interview with George Michael and Morrissey (and some lame DJ type) is fascinating. George comes as really sweet and intelligent. Morrissey is his usual snarky cunt self.

I love Morrissey as a musician, but as a person yes he is a total cunt. Always has been.

Morrissey is a terrible person. He and Clapton should jump in a volcano. They made great music though.

R190 I think George revealed part of his misery when he said he created a character the public could love if they so chose. George Michael was never a real person. I think this persona was modeled off Andrew Ridgeley. Andrew was cute as a kid and cute through the teen years. He had the self assurance that George lacked. While they were together in WHAM it was easy for George to pull the things about Andrew he liked to build the character. I remember George saying he was happily riding into the history books then it all fell apart. It was a lot that happened over the years, but once George went solo he didn't have Andrew around anymore.

There is supposed to be a new bio coming out in June written by James Gavin. His prior work includes bios on Lena Horne and Chet Baker. I hope this guy did his homework because the bios on the market now about George are next to worthless. It takes a long time after someone dies to get a clear picture of the person's life and much work and research.

R198 can we stop with this Andrew was the cool kid and george was the dork. Andrew had less of a personality and it seems George was the charming one even while they were still a duo. There is a reason Andrew did not have much of a career after wham ended. George was the one with the confidence, charm, talent and good looks.

R198 the Chet Baker biography is excellent so that’s promising. I remember there’s a quote where they ask Chet why he takes heroin. His response: “Because real life’s a drag, man”.

As someone who suffers from depression, I have found you keep believing there will be a point when you believe you will finally achieve a sense of well being or happiness—through fame, love, success etc. I think George chased that same mirage until he finally gave up and self destructed.

R200 If the Baker bio is excellent then I'm hopeful this author did a good job with George. It's interesting that Baker took hard drugs because real life was a drag. The jazz pianist, Bill Evans, also died from heavy drug use. In his case people remarked that life was "too sharp" and beautiful for him.

I think you have it with George. He said himself that when he was young he dreamed of fame because he thought it would fix everything. He later said at the height he thought he had put himself in an untouchable place. Of course, it was after this that he met Anselmo and things went downhill from there after he died. I lost a loved one last year, and this is so understandable to me with George.

GM was never the same after the deaths of his mother and Anselmo, which I believe happened very close together. He really started to go downhill after that.

I read that George wanted to wear pantyhose with his short shorts and sweatshirt in the “Go Go” but he had to be convinced not to.

R202 I think George lost Anselmo and his mum within 5 years of each other so those two loses were close together.

I’m starting to learn how to help myself and work on my depression and to stop relying on old coping mechanisms—or believing that someone or something is going to be my savior from the ups and downs of life. Life IS a drag sometimes, but if that’s all it is, you need to do something about it.

I think George’s angst was his best muse when it came to his songwriting, but it did him in because he didn’t have enough strength or self awareness to find a life that was meaningful, and his jaded and hedonistic lifestyle led to his self-destructive.

Ultimately you have to be your own 911, bit I think George just gave up.

R205 I think you have excellent insight into George's life and how his mind worked. I'm happy for you that you're finding ways to work through your depression and help yourself. I think George definitely hit a tipping point where there was that point of no return. I watched a video of him when he launched the Symphonica tour and gave a press conference. He looked well at that time and seemed to be in a good place. I noticed he was talking about helping kids and just in general didn't seem to be on the depressive side. Obviously he could have been hiding how he truly felt. I know somewhere in those tours he suffered that nearly fatal bout with pneumonia. I believe George needed someone else to help him feel good about himself. I think his mum probably provided that throughout his life. Anselmo surely did for the time they were together. Maybe Kenny did for a time, but it just wasn't something he seemed to have within himself to rely on. This is what you're saying in your own life that you've stopped looking for someone or something to be your savior. I think George just didn't get to the place you are now. Once again, I'm very happy for you.

R206 thank you. It has taken a lot of discipline and brutal honesty, but I hope I am making progress. It’s not easy facing your demons, and George had some pretty nasty ones. I never found him attractive, but have always loved his music. Unfortunately his wealth and fame kept him from a lot of accountability. So sad to think George was discovered by a male escort who not only blabbed to the press, but squatted in his house and destroyed it until he was forcibly removed.

Beautiful

R208 This one is outstanding! It's even better than "Kissing a Fool" which is another gem. I think George was a jazz singer at heart. I'll always miss the fact that he didn't get in the studio to record some of the standards and old songs that are as good today as they were decades ago. He was in that direction with his later work. On this song is voice is just so smooth. I've got a Billie Holiday CD, and the writer in the sleeve comments that it's nice to imagine Holiday still singing in some smoky bar somewhere where it's always nighttime. I could do without the smoke, but the rest of it is enjoyable to imagine. I could make the same comment about George.

R207 It isn't easy at all to face your demons. People who don't suffer from depression or other disorders don't understand how lucky they are. I agree George's fame & wealth kept him from accountability which was a shame. The public didn't do him any favors when his most loyal fans were outside the courthouse wailing & carrying on about how horrible it was the judge gave him some jail time. A better position for fans to take would have been to tell him he deserved that sentence. He was really very lucky that he never injured someone or worse in his various driving mishaps.

I think of that comment Sting made about a month ago where he said people should have helped George more. I know many people put Elton in the doghouse for what he blabbed to the press about George. I'm not so harsh about it because what he said was the truth. George didn't want help and is where he wanted to be laying next to his mum. This is a hard thing to say and feel is true about him. I mentioned Bill Evans yesterday and he was another person who just wanted to die. At some point when a person's self destruction is so on going and dangerous you have to conclude that person does not want to be here anymore.

[quote]I'm 41 years old. I'm old enough to remember back in 1985 (I was 4 & 5 years old) when Wham!

I barely got past this sentence. How do you even remember this? You should have been watching Nickelodeon and playing with blocks.

[quote]My question is, was there talk during this group's initial fame that these were brazen homos frolicking about in plain sight?

My sister (who is older than 41) and her friends all knew he was gay but they thought he was cute and didn't care. I imagine it's the way straight guys felt about Queen. "Don't ask questions, just enjoy the music." We also didn't live in middle America.

[quote]I barely got past this sentence. How do you even remember this? You should have been watching Nickelodeon and playing with blocks.

I'm just a few years older than that poster and as a child I was very into all the pop music and pop culture of the 80s. Gay men typically are plugged into pop culture from the time we're very young children. I was watching Classic Hollywood movies by the time I was in 6th grade.

Adele isn't soulful and I didn't like her cover of Fastlove. No offense but they needed a black woman for that honestly given George's inspirations.

Agreed—Adele’s FastLove homage was awful. The track above is an early unfinished song by GM called You Slipped Away From Me. Someone added a bit of the vocals from Skyfall. It’s actually quite good.

R210 I think you are spot on about people have to be invested in saving themselves. That’s also the foundation of addiction recovery and people in their lives holding them accountable. If they refuse help, they are choosing their addiction. Mental health issues are also difficult and different than addiction, but I know some people who choose not to take their medication because they don’t like how they feel.

Unfortunately when famous people are held accountable and confronted by friends and family over concerning behavior or addiction, they usually shut them out. There’s a reason George was in a “relationship” with a drug addicted male prostitute. There’s always a waiting list of parasites and toxic people to enable their addictions, exploit their weaknesses and tell them everything is fine wren it’s not. It’s the same thing that happened to Whitney and Michael Jackson.

Ultimately there is always someone willing to do their bidding—for a price.

R215 That business with Fadi was pathetic. George used extreme promiscuity as one of the means to further himself to his end. I think in the last years George shut people out. Whitney was a sad case too. Jackson is almost beyond understanding, but I always thought what he did to his face was both a hiding and a revealing. He butchered himself to try and hide who he was, yet in doing that he showed the world through his grotesque appearance how he felt on the inside.

I'm posting the link to a video someone took of George singing "You Have Been Loved" on tour in Australia. It's hard to watch. I don't know why anyone in that audience paid money to see him because they weren't listening. This is what was so wrong on the public's part in some of these shows. People should have been respectful whenever George sang one of his songs about pain. I've seen a lot of videos where people are talking or screaming when they should have kept their mouths shut. Hence you have George's lyric in "Through" where he says "suddenly the audience is so cruel." No way did he pull that line out of thin air.

This is common these days. I don’t understand going to a concert and talking through it. So rude.

The worst thing I saw was a benefit concert at The Moody Theater in Austin where groups of fraus and their husbands would get up and stand in a group with their back to the artist on stage and take photos in front of him WHILE HE WAS PERFORMING. It’s not a high stage so it was like WTF. This went on during numerous songs. So disrespectful.

R217 I didn't realize this behavior was common place now. Years ago I went to a Rick Springfield concert where everyone was excited and enthusiastic, but Rick wrote a song about his father's death that is very moving. When he started to sing that song everyone went quiet and was respectful. What you're describing at The Moody Theater is past rude. I guess the best is just enjoy music in your own home where you can really listen to it.

I think you could go back to Elvis and see how the public played a part in his downfall too. He was so drugged at some of those later shows he could barely stand up and couldn't remember lyrics. People just continued to scream and carry on no matter how poorly he performed. He even made the comment that "these people are so dumb they don't care what I do." I may not have that as an exact quote because I read it a long time ago. However, it was clear to Elvis that people would accept anything which didn't do him any good. One thing about George is I've never read any accountings of him giving a bad show. In spite of all the drugs he seems to have held himself together at his concerts. I guess since we lost him it's nice there are no videos of him stumbling around or forgetting lyrics. His voice was good until the end.

r198

I bet Gavin does a good job with the biography. Incidentally, or not, he’s got a big dick and I ate his ass.

R219, your mother must be so proud.

R219, you ate the author's ass?

I most certainly did.

R136 I listen to that CD a lot. This is one of George's best covers. No one sings it like he does.

Another good one.

[quote]I'm just a few years older than that poster and as a child

If you're a few years older than OP then that doesn't apply to you because you are older than OP.

He went through a somewhat pathetic “straight macho guy” phase in the late 80s. Even as a ten-year old I didn’t buy it.

I can't believe this thread got this far without mentioning I'm You're Man, with the immortal line: "Baby our friends DO NOT need to know!"

I do love the song, it's fun.

R227 - Who wrote "I'm Your Man"?????

r225 still a child at the time.

Another nice one.

Wikipedia says George wrote it, while he was on an airplane, R228.

There were rumors about him being gay and making out with guys in dance clubs going back to 1987. When he got busted in the 90’s for solicitation it just confirmed the rumors.

R232, that is around the time he had sex with a friends older gay cousin in Seattle. He was hot and had no reason to lie. It made my young gay heart happy.

I love the song Precious Box. But George could get really saccharine on ballads

Thank you, r144!

Thanks for that remastered link r230. I’ve had the bootleg audio of this for a long time, but this is a vast improvement.

[quote]My sister (who is older than 41) and her friends all knew he was gay but they thought he was cute and didn't care.

Knew how?

Because they have eyes and ears r237

R144 "Waltz Away Dreaming" is so nice. Story is George had this on a track that Toby Burke was going to record. He put it on when he got in his car to leave the hospital after his mum passed. He called Burke and asked if he could do the song with him and Toby said yes. Don't know how true this is but it's what I've read.

Always have liked this one.

If I told you that

Tonight

I forget about this mashup—it’s really good!

*forgot

R157 "Edith and the Kingpin" was a real surprise to me when I came to it by accident one night. Another great cover from George that people hardly even know about.

R241 Iistening to that song I realized I kind of hate it.

Yes it’s kind of average considering the talent of both singers. I don’t hate it, but it’s not a remarkable duet.

Why was some of his upbeat songs just terrible especially the duets. The song with Mary j blige is actually good.

R246 I wasn't going to post my view on that one as I didn't want to be negative. However, since I'm not alone I'll go ahead and say it's the one song George did that I just flat out don't like.

Not sure why this doesn’t open in the thread

Until I saw that Glee video, I totally forgot about the wheelchair guy George and Andrew had to push around in their video. Hawt!

Wham's music was really well done. If You Were There, Nothing Looks the Same In the Light and Blue, to name just a few, were excellent pop songs. Wake Me Up Before You Go Go was their biggest hit, but it actually wasn't one of their best songs.

R252 I've got a new appreciation for WHAM songs. Many of them were really very good.

Fantastic performance

Brother can you spare a dime?

R255 George was made for not only singing his own songs but those written by all the great song writers over the decades. On stage he was a class act especially during the later times when he was on the Symphonica tours. How I wish I could have seen him live at the Paris Opera House.

This thread has made me re-listen to George Michael's catalog, and OMG what a remarkable talent he was. I recently listened to the full 9 minute version of I Want Your Sex for the first time in ages and this was a stunning composition.

George was way beyond his years with his natural ability to write songs with such meaningful lyrics. He had a real way with words. So many of his songs are as relevant today as they were 35 years ago. The tone of George’s voice was beautiful.

Back then many US women only assumed a guy was gay if he was very swishy - George pinged with his close-cropped beard and leather jacket and super tight jeans - but that was considered "straight" to the unsophisticated, and then because he was English that had something to do with masking it, too - the accent, and all. I know because many women I knew back then in their 20s never dreamed he was gay.

R259 - I never dreamed nor did it cross my mind he was gay in the same way I never thought Simon La Bon & the Duran Duran dudes were gay. As you said, I just chalk all the campy behavior up them ( George Michael & Duran Duran) being European.

Yeah, I don’t think people understand now how androgynous looks at the time gave singers more latitude. Plus people weren’t so attuned to gay culture or have the internet, so you only had access to so much media and information. But I can see how people look at it now and can’t understand why there was any question.

R261 - Excellent summation.

I find that Wham! songs often produce a real sense of joy. Go-Go always cheers me up, and I think that George looked gorgeous in the video.

One of my favorites.

I think he was a talented guy & it's too bad that he couldn't get his act together & go on to live some type of Elder Gay life like Elton John, hobnobbing with royals & whoever was the latest hot young thing, maybe getting married & have some stable life.

R265 I wish the same thing. I think he actually wanted kids just like Elton went on to have in his life. I say that because he helped so many children's organizations with his philanthropy. The other thing is how he was interested in helping women get pregnant through IVF treatments. You wouldn't think a single guy would have much interest in that area. There are at least two people in the world now who wouldn't be here if not for George.

R266 I listened to some of his later interview and he never mentioned wanting to have children even when the topic was mentioned. He stated he admired really good parents so what I gathered from those interviews is that he probably didn't think he would have been an effective parent. Let's be honest it is good he didn't have a kid. He had too many issues and a child needs a stable father. Not a dad with health issues that also suffers from severe depression and serious addiction issues. some people are not destined to be a parent and that is ok. Just because he helped two women financially with IVF treatment doesn't mean he wanted children. You seem to be projecting your own ideals unto him. At least I am basing my opinion on his own words.

R267 I agree with you and only take exception with your comment that I'm projecting my ideals onto him. I'm childless by choice and have never wanted children. I think it's a good thing too that George never had kids. It's true he was too messed up with drugs and all his other issues. Kenny made the comment that part of George did want kids. I think that's probably how it was but luckily he knew himself that he was not fit to be a proper parent. I give him credit for that because the world is full of people who have no business having kids but crank them out anyway. The thing about George is I take everything he said in interviews with a grain of salt. I think he was an honest person, but he didn't owe the public a detailed accounting of his private life. He is known as a gay icon, but I don't believe he was ever at peace about being gay. It's sad to say that but I believe that's how it really was. I've never believed the concoction of a story that he wrote his parents a letter after Anselmo died confessing he was gay. George also talked about his uncle who supposedly committed suicide on the day he was born. It didn't happen that way at all. I stand by what I said that I do think at least part of George did want children. I'm hoping this new bio that's due out in June will have some real depth to it because what's on the market now doesn't amount to much.

I think the mistake is thinking marriage and children are an answer to your problems. Too many fucked up people have kids to live vicariously through—or see a happy marriage as a fulfillment of their unmet wants and needs. My guess is that George was a profoundly unhappy and depressed person; a sinking boat always seeking a different port from a storm he could never get away from.

R269 Very well put. I agree. The one thing no one can ever escape from is themselves.

Another nice one.

[quote]I think he actually wanted kids just like Elton went on to have in his life. I say that because he helped so many children's organizations with his philanthropy.

Supposedly, George was the godfather of James on Vanderpump Rules, though James revealed later that George was the godfather of several children, so it didn't really mean much inheritance-wise. Whatever the case, it does show that the guy at least liked children & maybe wanted some kind of extended family, even if he didn't necessarily want his own children. So it's sad that he couldn't break away from the drugs & whores & actually live the kind of stable life he seemed to want.

R261It's easy to forget what things were like and how attitudes have changed. Nowadays it's swung the other way and everyone is assumed to be gay or bi, almost. The first thing you see teens ask on social media about a celeb is often "Is he gay?"

R272 There used to be an old video up on YT of George at a Christening of the baby whose father was that friend or cousin whom he later had a falling out with. George was the one holding the baby through the whole ceremony. I've seen a number of pictures where George is holding young kids and infants. He always looks very at ease about it. My thought for a long time was that he looks that way because his sisters probably had kids and was used to it. Later I found out that neither sister had any children., I'm childless and while I don't dislike children at all I am uncomfortable if someone wants me to hold a young baby. I'm fearful of not doing it right or the worst which would be to drop them. I think George liked kids a lot. One of the things he did was pay for families with disabled children to spend Christmas in Lapland.

It is a shame he was so far off the deep end with the random sex and drugs.

"Roxanne"

Great vocals. Sensitive soul. Miss him

You know, I always thought his music—though wonderful—might often be even better if he hadn’t produced it. He always insisted on being the producer, which I don’t think he had much aptitude for when it came to dance music. Think of “Too funky” and how clumsy it was.

No one ever mentions “Freeek!” Did anyone like it?

I'm not fond of "Too Funky" for the same reason I don't care for "I Want Your Sex." There isn't any melody in either of those songs and easily forgettable in my view. I guess "Freeek" is okay for being in this same category. I'm an older person so when it comes to songs that are supposed to be edgy and sexy not much is going to phase me. Every generation has this so while it's shock value for a time these aren't songs that are going to mean much over the long haul. It's also a mistake for any artist who has something serious to say because in George's case the sex symbol status over shadowed what he wanted people to take note of in his serious songs. Give me "Jesus to a Child" any day over something like "Too Funky."

He did not produce a good heteronormative dance song in the 80s besides faith and father figure. Freedom is a good song because it wasn't about a female.

I do like "Father Figure."

Father figure is one of my least favorite GM songs. It has always stuck me as creepy.

R281 I know you're not the only one to get that vibe from "Father Figure." I like the song but don't put it at or near the top of my list of favorite GM songs.

I love Freedom and Precious Box

"Freedom" is just so so to me although I know many people have it as a favorite. I really like "Precious Box."

George’s albums after Faith have a concept album feel to me—especially Older and Patience. Listen Without Prejudice as well, but not so much.

Waiting For The Day was a great song.

R286 "Waiting for the Day" is one of my favorites too.

"They Won't Go When I Go"

I don't like most of his slow melodic songs because it was just too sad. It is a shame he did not produce a lot of really good dance songs. I liked easy affair and freeek but that is about it in the 2000s.

Flawless (Go to the City) is a fantastic dance track from 2004.

Just beautiful...

Brits in the 80s didn't even realise that Morrissey was gay and Americans were the same with Michael Stipe.

R292 - Some people, like me, really do not care what a person's sexuality is; they just want great music!

R291 That is truly beautiful. In my young days kids grew up hearing that song sung by Roberta Flack. Shows how dated I am, but no one can match George's interpretation.

R293 Exactly. I don't care if people are gay or straight. It's the quality of their work that counts.

R292 Us old timers knew Stipe was gay in the 80’s. Take this clip from 1985. Blonde hair-check. Purple eyebrows-check. And would you call it dancing? Either way, he was kinda sexy way back when.

"Jesus to a Child"

It’s unfortunate that George was born in era that his sexuality was such an issue. I would think he would have been mentally healthier and would have been able to live his life any way he wanted to and and be accepted. Perhaps he would have found the “Freedom” he wrote about. He was intelligent and a gifted musician. He not only wrote his songs, produce his music and had a beautiful voice. I’m glad he is getting the recognition he so deserves and his personal life seems to have taken a back seat.

It’s interesting that GM on some level needed to be the more intelligent one in his relationships - he can’t have got any intellectual stimulation from being around the dreaded Fadi, who is clearly of sub-normal intelligence.

R23 I love the ending of that video, where they leave the girls behind and take off together, with Andrew removing his tie on the way out.

Could it get more gay?

When Wham first hit the airwaves with their frosted, blow-dried coifs, bouncing around in those silly "Choose Life" T-shirts (not today's connotation), I found them absurd and insipid. George Michael, even then positioned as a heartthrob, reminded me of the moronic gay clown on "Too Close for Comfort" (linked here). But over the years I developed a serious respect for George Michael; he really did create some terrific, era-defining songs, and I very much admired how he handled that LA toilet outing -- with humor and courage. I was never a particular fan, but watched the Wham documentary on Netflix and then actually sunk some dollars to procure the "George Michael: Outed" documentary from eBay. It's a UK Channel 4 thing that's not available in the US. If you're really interested in discovering the appeal/popularity/story of Wham and GM, I'd recommend watching one or both of the above.

I recently read an article regarding George Michael. He stated, “It happened so quickly and I didn’t have time to establish what kind of person I wanted to be. You know, the years between leaving school and actually becoming an adult are very important years. You make a lot of choices as to the type of life you want to lead and what type of person you want to be. There were so many people who had opinions of me, a lot of them very unflattering, that it was hard to make up my mind about who I was supposed to be.”

“My music is some of the most honest music that’s been released in the last four or five years, and I think that’s why people buy it. When I open my mouth and sing, the truth comes out. When I write, the truth comes out. I can’t lie. That, I think, is one of the strongest elements of my music. When people talk about my writing as though I’m doing it from an accountant’s perspective, it really pisses me off.”

I feel very fortunate that I am a product of the 80’s. The music was wonderful, big hair, glitter, etc. was fabulous. Not so much for anyone that was different from what the majority of people found acceptable.

George Michael: Outed. You can watch here.

I swear we do this thread every 6 months.

In the 80s, people had various reactions to effeminate male pop stars like GM.

Older people found this type as ridiculous as the music they played. They thought all pop music was silly dreck for teenagers. The pretty man in the day glo fashions was just another "laughable" aspect of an art form that they mocked occasionally but largely ignored. They didn't think too hard about any of these performers or what their sexuality actually was. It was all just dumb pop culture and beneath them.

The fans this music was intended for -- teenaged girls and boys, but mostly teenaged girls -- accepted it at face value. The pretty man in the day glo fashions was just that: an attractive adult playing to their fantasies. Any camp or gay factor to his image just went over their heads. Teen idols are always non-threatening and a bit fey so nothing was amiss with GM in that role.

Other young (under 30) people were definitely suspicious of GM. These included teenaged fans of other genres like heavy metal or rap, and older young adults who just had a more savvy view of the world. Adult gay men definitely knew GM pinged. Many others definitely saw him as a "fag." But, many people at this time would call any male pop star they found ridiculous or subversive to be a "fag" in the Matt Damon sense = a foolish man. So even calling GM a fag didn't mean that the person speaking saw him as gay.

George”S song Freeek! Had a vastly expensive video, but I never hear anyone, even huge fans, even mention the song or the video. Shoot the dog too. I have never come across the expression shoot the dog before, and I never knew what he was talking about,

I really enjoyed the Wham! Documentary on Netflix recently, but I thought as always at the group ended much too soon when GM pulled the plug in favour of a solo career. Wham! Was such a joyful group and made rapturous music, but GM was such a fucking buzzkill about wanting to be taken seriously. I wish Wham! Had had a couple of more albums.

That Wake Me Up video made it obvious to me that he was gay.

Back then, gay men could get married to a woman and, enough said, he's straight.

Not sure if George ever, point blank, denied he was gay, but people were willing to believe he was straight despite the Wake Me Up video.

R307

What was so gay about the Wake me up video? Did you think Andrew Ridgeley was gay also?

Teen girls knew.

Boy George was a total cunt to George Michael throughout his career. He was hugely jealous of George Michael and his massive success. Although Culture Club were successful it was short lived and if tore Boy George up to see GM become so mega across the world.

Boy George had a shitty reputation, he was vile to everyone and bad mouthed every other act, especially if they were gay. He had feuds with Holly Johnson, Pete Burns, Marc Almond, Jimmy Somerville. He was a nightmare to work with, he just screamed and screamed until he got his own way. He was known to hate women as he saw them as competition for the men he fancied. Of course now he is trying to pass himself off as spiritual and says it was just how everyone was in the 80’s. Nobody was as horrible as he was.

One day hopefully someone will write an unofficial biography about Boy George, now that would be worth reading. Some of the stories out there that never made it into his books deserve to be told.

Just wanted to say I really really love “Too Funky”

I’ve seen a couple of pictures of George Michael from before he blew up and he was almost unrecognizable. Did he have a lot of work done before Wham?

There were also murmurs that Morten Harket of A-ha is gay and then he went on to have like 10 kids so yeah, he probably is.

I agree r306. Wham's music was fabulous, so pop and so fun.

[quote] What was so gay about the Wake me up video? Did you think Andrew Ridgeley was gay also?

This is what George Michael was wearing in the original MTV video for Wake Me Up. I couldn't find the original video on YouTube. The Dolphin shorts made me think he was gay. Men didn't wear Dolphin shorts in the '80s; it was a girl / woman fashion.

But even the video at OP (no shorts) - the style of dance - swinging his arms - he looks gay, IMO.

Andrew Ridgeley didn't ping as much. He pinged mostly because of his chemistry with George Michael. They seemed like a couple or an ex-couple.

Here's the website where I took the screenshot at R315. Just to give them some credit: Sprinkles and Puffballs.

We were a colorful, exuberant youth in the 1980s. I understood those floored by George Michael’s homosexuality, I mean everything was out there, it was all on the table, thanks largely to the gender bending pizazz of the UK invasion of the pop charts. Trolling parks and rest stops in particular was such throwback, old school scuzz. It was the kind of sting that rounded up the old folk. Poor George. It turned out to be his groove.

R312 No he didn’t, it was a classic case of growing up and blossoming. George was overweight as a young teenager, had big curly unruly hair, pimples and glasses. Andrew was always very good looking and they were best friends at school. George lost the weight, got contact lenses and his sister Melanie started grooming his hair, which was a job in itself.

George was Greek so was always going to end up as fat and hairy again, it’s just happens with Greek men. But for a while, especially in the first few solo years, George was slim, could wear clothes well, and he looked great.

I remember George from the fashionable early 80’s clubs in London. He was about 17 or 19 years old, looked very uncool, almost nerdy and suburban. Nobody could have predicted that just two years later he would be a huge pop star and pin up with no 1 records around the world. What he achieved was amazing.

George’s ex Fadi, admittedly a drunk and a lunatic, said that George was HIV positive. I thought that he might be when he almost died of pneumonia a couple of years before he did actually die. Does anyone think he might have been? He was ridiculously promiscuous.

If he were HIV+ I would think that he would have been on retrovirals like most people (in the West, at least) are.

Put it this way. There was a whole group of straight women who named themselves the Claykins as fans of Clay Aikins who refused to believe he was gay. Some still do not believe it.

[quote]There was a whole group of straight women who named themselves the Claykins as fans of Clay Aikins who refused to believe he was gay.

As I recall some of them were talking about suing him for fraud or some such thing after he got outed.

I was right.

R319 For sure George was HIV+. He was in that hospital in Vienna with pneumonia and almost died, that is when they found out he was HIV. Remember the suicide attempt, throwing himself out of a speeding car on a motorway, an air ambulance had to take him to hospital. The police stopped his car one night and the trunk had a bag with a gimp mask, sex toys n stuff. He use to cruise on Hampstead Heath and there is an area that is very hard core.

George was a crack addict and took those chem sex drugs. I would bet that condoms and safe sex was not on his list of priorities.

Honestly what I remember most about George Michael is that Brooke Shields had a crush on him and married Andre Agassi because he looked like GM.

But was he HIV positive? Or do you think that he might have died of an accidental drug OD? I found it so bizarre that his body was held so long by the coroner. Because he died at Xmas, when everything was shut down for weeks, I always thought he didn’t get as many media tributes as he should have, He wasn’t on the cover of lots of music mags when he died, unlike Prince or Kurt Cobain,

Geroge was a heavy GHB user, not crack.

Gayest video and song ever made

The drugs are what killed him. Heart failure, the same way Elvis Presley and Carrie Fisher died.

[quote]Gayest video and song ever made

You were saying?

I was just devastated when George gave up his twink status for that shitty unshaven look of Careless Whisper.

R327 George was a crack user and he said so himself in an interview with The Guardian. His friends all knew about this as did his family. He was also a heavy GBH user. He really didn’t want to live.

I wasn’t aware that George Michael could even sing until after his death. I didn’t pay much attention to his music back in the 80’s. I do remember seeing Wham’s video of Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go on MTV non stop. When I hear the song now it makes me smile. It’s so uplifting and fun. When he covers an artist’s song he makes it his own. I think I now own almost everything he sang. I didn’t care back in the 80’s about his sexuality and I certainly don’t care today. The man was extremely talented and if you really listen to the words to his songs he reveals so much about himself. Musically he was a genius.