george michael

"I'd service the community...but i already have"
-"Outside"
1963-2016
When all is said (and too soon done), was george the most honest pop star since john lennon?*
On the surface, it seems a contradictory claim, as he spent the early part of his career "in the closet", and playing the fame game to the hilt. But really, he was never THAT far in the closet, and he came out with unapologetic aplomb...almost startling forthrightness in fact, yet couched in such musical shimmer that the message never weighed the material down. It was easy to see how chagrined he was knowing his bubblegum beginnings meant he might never shake the mantle of "lightweight", yet had he not gone chasing his tail, would he have burned so beautifully? At first, he distanced himself more than he ought - a great pop song is a great song, and only pretension cries otherwise, so he never needed apologize...but too, will probably never get full credit for his often stark self-revelations, like unmistakably admitting to plastic surgery in order to make it big ("Freedom '90"). Is there a more satisfying statement of personal growth and acceptance than "An Easier Affair"? A more joyous, artistically sublime response to "scandal" than the song (and video) "Outside"? A more winkingly in-your-face title than LADIES AND GENTLEMEN? At the very least, george channeled his personal life more nakedly than any rock star since the walrus. And the fact that he celebrated sexuality itself, above any label or preference, is perhaps his most enduring gift. In a world still chained by religious self-loathing, there are few messages so direly needed.
Nor was he simply about fucking...his romantic love-bonding essentials were unimpeachable.
It leaves one a little hollow to know that george was more or less on-target with "Through", his farewell to the music business and the last song on PATIENCE. Upon first hearing, it came off as indulgent self-pity...yet that was just the selfish desire to not lose him. He did have more artistic output to come, but never again would he release a studio album. Yet his subsequent brush with death ("White Light") apparently left him determined to do so much more with his musical life.
Will he ever get full credit for how fantastic a composer/arranger he became? Has there ever been an artist more consummately deft at both ballad and burner? How many more inventive or audacious video artists can you name? Did any artist ever sample classic songs more unobtrusively and perfectly? You may not have noticed how often he did that...which is exactly the point. And has any artist ever combined protest song and club music as well as "Shoot the Dog" (or even tried, for that matter)? Has any artist of any pigmentation ever released a more seamless, exquisite union of soul and funk than "Spinning the Wheel"?
Were there clunkers? Damn few (though "Monkey" has a distinctly refractory effect on my turgidity). And there was the occasional seeming contradiction, such as the monogamy ethos of "I Want Your Sex", contrasted with "Fastlove" or the one-fuck fantasy of "Freeek!" But i think it's possible to reconcile those messages (scientists call it "social monogamy"). Failing that, go with latter george over earlier. Given the persecutions and losses he faced, a tragic end or drug habit can hardly be surprising...but the same can be said for just about anyone, of course. In george's case, his journey from straight to bi to gay was played out, however little or much we realized it, right before our eyes, and something in that lent him an artistic strength and vision unique in pop history.
His first anthology is missing his final (and perhaps greatest) album, and 25 is too inclusive. So here then, a humble suggestion for the posthumous collection almost certain to be released.
Thank you, george. In a lost world, you nudged us a little closer to sanity.
YOU WANT HIS SEX(y BEST)
Freedom! '90
Faith
Careless Whisper
Everything She Wants (radio edit)
The Edge of Heaven
I Knew You Were Waiting (with aretha franklin)
Fastlove
Praying for Time
Spinning the Wheel
Older
Star People '97
Outside
Roxanne
Shoot the Dog
Freeek!
Amazing
American Angel
Please Send Me Someone (Anselmo's Song)
White Light
I Want Your Sex (parts 1-3)

MOST BRILLIANT VIDEOS
Freedom '90
Fastlove**
Outside
Freeek!
Shoot the Dog
Flawless (Go to the City)

*Okay, we'll call it a shared title with randy newman.
**The least overtly brilliant, but no other so perfectly captures the man and his message.