You will recall back in October George went somewhat Unplugged.
Thanks to various
sources, most of us saw a 45 minute version,
BUT someone in our midst saw it all, and we have the full story
in today's
issue...
AND AWAY WE GO...
***************************
lchemists-at-msn.com (Beverely) writes:
---------------------------------------------------------
Hi
Amanda and everyone!
I know that this is not exactly breaking news, but I would like to
take up Amanda's kind invitation and
share a few precious
memories of a special and magical evening last October when
my husband and I were in the audience for
George's "MTV
Unplugged" concert.
There was extremely tight security at Three Mills Island
Studios, a
"secret" and not at all easy to find venue in East
London, and our tickets were examined closely before we were
allowed
anywhere near the studio complex. We all had to queue
up before being taken to "hospitality". Looking around the rest
of
the people present, it was obvious that there was a great mix of
fans, and people from all aspects of the music industry,
including
some of the DJs from Capital Radio. We were led to our seats
around 7.45pm. The atmosphere was really electric,
people were
just so excited at the prospect of George singing live again! We
had been instructed previously not to wear white
(for the cameras)
and not to attempt to take food, drink, drugs(!) or any type of
camera or recording equipment in with us!
We
were seated about halfway back in the studio, right in the
centre of our row, and about four seats away from the VIP area,
where
we saw George's parents, other family members, Andros,
Dick Leahy (George's publisher) and David Austin. I must say that
George's
parents looked so proud that evening. It's wonderful to
be able to remember Mrs Panayiotou that way. In total I would
guess
that there were around 400 people in the audience, and we
were all quite squeezed in...I think that it could be termed an
"intimate"
venue!! It must be said that the camera angles on the
telecast made the studio look much larger than it actually was.
The band
members, backing vocalists and orchestra took their
places......
Suddenly, at around 8.15, there was George, dressed all in
black
- a beautiful suit, shirt and tie - and with a huge smile on
his face! He looked so relaxed and so genuinely pleased to be
there!
As he made his way on to the stage the audience began
clapping and cheering - several people called out "Welcome
back!".
Once seated on his stool, George began a series of
vocal warm-up exercises with his backing singers, much to
our (and their)
amusement! Then it was into one of the most
impressive live sets that I have ever witnessed....George
managed to make it both
highly professional and huge fun for
everyone present.
Along with the songs that made it to the final telecast, George
also
sang such classics as Hand To Mouth, One More Try and
a wonderful version of Waiting For That Day! His voice was just
so
incredibly beautiful; he showed great control when it was
needed, and also real strength. His version of Fastlove was, of
course,
close to the "Summer Mix", and Father Figure (one of
my all-time favourites) was simply wonderful. He decided to
retake
that one (and a couple of others) at the end, so I was
blissed out all over again!! One of the most moving moments
was when
George sang You Have Been Loved. I'm not ashamed
to admit that I was in tears, and so were several other members
of the
audience - the emotion that he imparts to his lyrics never
ceases to amaze me!
Now there were a few hitches...during one
hold-up George joked
with us that we would all probably have preferred to stay at home
and watch Brookside (an English soap) -
to which one wit
shouted the reply "No - Friends!", much to George's amusement.
So what went wrong? Well, the
backing tape between songs to blot his face with a
Kleenex (from a box that had been painted black, on the table
beside
him)...that had to be THE best job!! Throughout, George
encouraged us all to clap and sing along to the songs - as long
(joke!)
as we were "in time"!
But the funniest thing occurred shortly after George and the
band took a short break around
halfway through the evening. He
came back on stage and started to sing, but there was a lot of
hand-waving from the side of
the stage....George's shirt was not
tucked in at the front! There was nothing else to do but to turn
his back on the audience,
unzip his trousers and tuck his shirt
back in....but the band started to play "The Stripper" and we
were all
clapping along and laughing! And you know, George
was highly amused too!!
By now the audience had really warmed up, and people
began
to shout out requests. I think that George was genuinely quite
taken aback, but apologised to us, saying "We can
only play
what we've rehearsed". One person persisted, calling out again
for Spinning The Wheel. George's reply was
remarkable for its
candour - he wouldn't be singing that one because "we tried it
and it sounded shit"!
There
were a few retakes of songs (mainly the slower ones)
towards the end of the evening, but of course that was to be
expected
because we all know what a perfectionist George is,
and he wanted this to be just right. Then in an extraordinary
act of
generosity, George declared that he wanted to thank us
all for our "patience" during the retakes, and he asked for all
the
cameras to be switched off, even those overhead, one of
which was directly above us. He invited us to get up on our
feet....and
then HE got up and danced on stage for the first
time that entire evening, while treating us to a second rendition
of Star
People. This was, for me, the high point of an already
incredible evening...and believe me, there was nothing "edited"
about
the lyrical content that evening!!
The audience went absolutely wild, and then before we knew
it, it was all over. George left
the stage just after 11pm with
smiles and waves, acknowledging the applause...and we were
left, on a definite high, to go
home. That was one evening that
really could have gone on forever!! I just feel so privileged to
have been a part of such a
special occasion. For once, this
girl really had got Everything She Wants!! And in case anyone
out there still doubts
it.....even without a sound system to blow
your ear-drums, or heavy production.....even in a semi-acoustic,
live
setting.....YES, GEORGE MICHAEL REALLY CAN SING!!
"...You brushed my eyes
with angels wings, full of love..."
THANK
YOU, GEORGE!
Love always, Beverley.
(Thank YOU Beverely! Much appreciated by all! AG)
***************************
cworkman-at-cbis.ece.drexel.edu
(Carla Workman) writes:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Dear Amanda:
Hello
whammies, I have played the artful lurker for these past (No, cash. AG) All
kidding aside, I have missed contributing. I've read every Thanks to Yogmaelers for continuing share their insites, I missed the 1st Annual (
i hope) major Yogmael Meeting in (Ottawa is 10 hours away, I hope you have long arms... AG) I
have to thank Martine, for that well written "trip down memory --- Probably
been asked before, but not in my Yogmael lifetime: - 1. By the very nature of the album title 'Listen Without Prejudice (Rifle through the b
sides and EP's between Vol. I and Older, 2. I know that at the time of
LWP Vol 1 he was rather camera (I don't think there ever was. Anyone know
something about this On another note, I placed an order online for 5 Cd's from KTS in Thanks Amanda! Best wishes to all. JONATHAN
FLOWER It's been a long time without posting, but Chile is back again. (Will there be a test? AG) I have a terrible MALA PATA. What the hell
is that? you say. The good thing is
that we finally have the STAR PEOPLE single OK yoggers, time to say good bye. I hope any
one of you Paola his fans. So as fans lets mind our OWN business. "Hmm."
months due to an extremely full schedule..<
Yogmael :-P watcha wanna cookie, canuckie?>>
delivery, its always at the top of my stack of email. <
scoops, and souvenirs.
London, Ontario. I will be in Ottawa on the 28 June 1997..if
you haven't already left for
Disneyland I hope at least shake
your overworked hands :>
lane" (Issue#151) when she described that poster Hanging
on
the wall in Hard Rock Cafe-Cancun, ...I caught myself th bless you, my Yoggies and GM & Fam as always.
Carla
***************************
Jonty.Fiorano-at-btinternet.com
(Jonathan Flower) writes:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Amanda
Volume
One' it would be ridiculous not to have at least a volume
two, yes? Could you or Elliot throw some light on this. Perhaps
GM's
next album, other than of course the Greatest Hits one later
this year, must or should be LWP Vol 2?
and you will find what should have been of Volume II. Half
studio tracks and have
live from the Cover to Cover Tour. It was
scrapped totally when things when sour at Fony. AG)
shy (no videos etc) but is there an official reason given for the use
of that old black and
white album photo of all those people on a
beach? Am I missing something?
I don't? AG)
San Marino, Italy and
had an email back saying that the order
had been accepted. Nothing through the post yet though so I
think they are unlikely to
fulfill their promise now, especially
after reading a note from another Yogger who had a similar
problem. Who then can help me
with KTS 627 'Acoustic' and
KTS 638 'Free For Love'? All expenses (and more) paid of
course. I know I shouldn't really endorse
such non-official
merchandise, but if George's record label will not release
Unplugged as an album and not just snippets here
and there to
fill singles, what are the die-hard fans expected to do? Elliot?
***************************
pcontrro-at-puc.cl (Paola Contreras R.) writes:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Hi
YOGERS
Today I will teach you something about my little
country, Chile,
the last country of the world.
Here it is. The other day a radio of Santiago (my city, the
capital of Chile, the last...) play the whole
MTV Unplugged of
the wonderful George, which is by far, far, far, my favourite one.
Great. But then it happened. A national,
one-hour-long
blackout!!!!!! Can you believe this?? It was my chance to record
the show and to listen to it once, twice and
again...but I have
TAN MALA PATA that I couldn't. There I was, just listening the
show in my walkman. What a mala pata!!! So
now, you can
understand very well what the mala pata is. I use to have mala
pata with this things.
here, so if anybody needs it, it is US$13, certificated post
included. By the way,
I will like to know if the girl I sent some
WHAM! cassettes ever got them. I have to wait a long time for
my tapes, but
wonderful Amanda sent them anyway. If you
haven't got the tapes, let me know.
tenga mala pata and I will be very happy if somebody can help
me to get that Unplugged.
ICH
AW!
***************************
SNAPPING-at-aol.com
(Carolyn) writes:
--------------------------------------------------------
Hi Amanda and Camera Crew: Just read #157 and I
love it
when others get on the soap box and rant. I am very sensitive
to criticism or negative comments about George because
he is
precious! No - I don't know him but everything about him and
his music shouts out to me - this is a precious human being
who
shoul (Yvonne) writes:
--------------------------------------------------
in backing up tilly's response to george's
sexuality, i say
RIGHT ON. his PRIVATE LIFE IS HIS BUSINESS. ENOUGH
ALREADY. being a public person is tough enough. it is his
music,
his lyrics, his personality that draws us and keeps us
***************************
To
Wrap it UP: