The little joke that eventually grew up to become the monster
YOGMAEL is one year
old today. So many things I'd like to
say... How 'bout I just settle for: It is a genuine honour and
priviledge to serve you,
thank you.
That said, there is one man who is very directly responsible
for YM that has yet to get his full credit, and
that man is Tim
AlHatu. Just over a year ago, he got an e mail from me
asking for help in setting up a George mailing list.
Very
quickly he responded he would be happy to, what did I need?
In under 2 weeks, the list that Tim suggested we call Yogmail
was
alive and kicking and spreading tales of Yog via e mail to
a whole 33 people, hoping one day to catch George'e eye.
Well,
Yogmail is now YOGMÆL, with 750 people in the family,
and an handwritten note of thanks from George sits in lucite on
top of
the hardrive. And without Tim, I guarantee you, it never
would have happened. Tim, thanks for believing in me. WE did it.
AND AWAY WE GO...
chitra-at-asmo.astra.co.id (Chitrawati) writes:
Dearest
Amanda and all Yogmaelers!!
In Yogmael#220, Sherry asked about a song called "Desafinado"
and you gave her the
translation. I'm just curious. Is the song
related to George? Is it his favourite song or his next song or
something like
that?
(It must be a fave since he decided to record it for the recent
Red Hot + Rio album, and then ended up using it as a
track
on the Older EP. AG)
Thanks and keep on the good work!!
Aegeansea-at-aol.com
writes:
Hi All,
A quick note giving my two cents re: the Wham! Greatest hits
album
cover. I would love to see a collage of four years worth
of ticket stubs; t-shirts; tourbooks; photos...something like the
Beatles
Anthology rather than a cheesy pic of George & Andrew.
(I for one would like to see the Fantastic and Make it Big cover
art
re-shot, same pose, same wardrobe. AG)
kristopher
JackMSW-at-aol.com writes:
<<
Why in the hell can't I get a hold of a copy of WAD in the U.S. >>
I finally found it at Virgin Megastore, not with the
regular
imports but with the CD Singles!!!
<< there is speculation that George will release an EP of 6 new songs the
SAME week as the GH / Sony album >>
Any way to discourage abbreviations that us newbies aren't as
familiar with?
Sacrilege maybe, but I'm just trying to catch up!
What is GH???
(GH = Greatest Hits. AG)
Jack
egroeg-at-bigpond.com
(George Bielinski) writes:
Hello Amanda and fellow
Yogmaelers,
Firstly, Happy Birthday to Yogmael! (At least I have a birthday
to cheer about - mine is on Sunday, and it only
reminds me that
I am getting old) Thanks Amanda for all the hard work. I am sure
that George and every other Yogmaeler really
appreciates your
effort. Every new Yogmael really makes my day.
(Well "George B", thanks to you, I know George
appreciates it.
But more important than that is the fact that everyone else does.
AG)
Secondly:
In Yogmael #219,
Amanda wrote:
<< Lastly, YM seem a little short today? Not my fault, you need to post. You've got the weekend or else I've
got Monday off. >>
Well, OK. Let's stir up a bit...
I have noticed how people (especially Yogmaelers) love to hate
FONY,
aka SONY, for everything that SONY has done to George.
To me it seems to me a little unfair. We shouldn't forget what
SONY's
primary objectives are: maximise returns and profitability.
It is just like any other business (except for maybe George's
ÆGEAN,
which he created after experiences with SONY). And
just like at any other company there are people that shouldn't be
there:
they don't necessarily love music, they just want to develop
their business career or whatever else. They don't really care
about
a musician who, don't forget, signed a contract. It is just
like a supplier (musician)signing a contract with the
"manufacturer"
(SONY). And if the supplier doesn't suddenly like
it, too bad - out of business. I perfectly understand that SONY
treated
George unfairly, but it was only because he signed that
his first shitty contract (I guess everyone learns something
everyday).
And I really don't think that SONY as an organisation
suddenly "collectively" turned against George; I am sure there
were
only few powerful people at the management level who
suddenly saw George as a liability. So please, let's get the facts
straight,
and don't blame the whole company for some "funky's"
stupidity. And no, I don't work for SONY or anything like that; I
just
have SONY TV, 2 VCRs, camcoder, telephone, walkman
and a number of SONY releases. And I am very happy with
them. And please
be gentle with all the forthcoming flame mail.
Thanks. ;-)
(People have been known to leave YM when flamed...anyway, I
can
see your point of view, but when the company COO doesn't
like you, life can get difficult... AG)
George
skylark-at-openmail.irex.ru
(Lady Bright) writes:
> Here we have a classic example
of one party, FONY, not
> performing their part of the agreement. They did not promote
> George, his cd's, and other
agreed upon matters.
Wait a minute: it is clearly written in 'Bare', GM's most official
biography in the world, that it was
_his_ personal wish to
release LWP without any promotion at all! Didn't he state that
this time he wanted to skip all the
publicity, to stop this selftrade
in order to prove that people will buy his records even without
any advertising? He didn't
participate in LWP videos, didn't want
to play live concerts, for the first time made that awful short
haircut and even
intended to perform under his real name
Georgios Kyriacos Panayotou!
And now we all think that it was FONY who did not
promote George?
L.B.
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Stage/5312/index.html
'I just hope you'll understand
Sometimes
the clothes do not make the man'
- George Michael -
leighs-at-wam.umd.edu (Sariane E. Leigh)
writes:
In response to the question if GM's music will
be notably
influential (good topic). Unfortunatley, since the younger
generation isn't as open to all forms of music, they
won't
even recognize the distinctive sound and the lyrics of GM,
and no offense to us yoglovers, not many of us are musicians
or
have musical aspirations, whereas with other artists who
are very influential, i.e. Prince, Beatles, and even GM's idol
Stevie
Wonder have a following that are very indulged in all
the artistic facets of music, However, I recently read an article
on a
band called Cristion who's voice was reminiscent of GM.
He said that GM's voice is the kind that everyone likes, and
all
people could relate to, therefore he would like to imitate that
era and sound of Wham and GM.(it was in a Vibe article). So
obviously
GM's influence is felt just not voiced maybe?
Respond
(I think it's pretty hard to listen to the radio and NOT at least
feel
the influence of George on the industry's 18 to 25 year old
up and comers. They will admit to liking him in interviews, and
certainly
go for elements of his sound. Besides, there is a neat
little term out there called "pulling a George Michael." People
may
not quite know who's responsible for a sound, but the fact
remains, the person is still responsible, and besides, it's
always
the wannabe musicians that write the history books...AG)
Sariane
Keep it Coming Amanda :)
spyderwoman-at-mailexcite.com
(tania levin) writes:
hello, i'm a long time gm fan
in los angeles. i'm amazed at all the
information everyone in yogmael #219 had! what do i have to
read/watch to hear more? he
gets about as much publicity here
as rhubarb pie. as for his next album, i've noticed he takes a long
time between releases. i
could be wrong, but it seems like older
is too new for him to have another one ready.
(There are 2 GH's to get out yet, so
I can't see a new album 'til
about '99, or maybe XMas '98. AG)
Numama696-at-aol.com writes:
Hi
Amanda ,
I am really disgusted with record companies and radio
stations in the U.S. I think that the execs. really need a
swift
kick in the ass !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry ,
that's just
how I feel . After reading the
last Yogmael , my blood started
to boil . I am so envious of people in Europe having complete
access to George's new releases
and being able to hear his
music on the radio several times a day . I rarely her his music
on the radio and when I do pulse
races . Does George make
a lot of the decisions about where to release his newer music ?
Just wondering .
:) , Lisa
(In America, no. AG)
DarinBS-at-aol.com writes:
Happy
Anniversary YM! Your hard work is very appreciated by us all.
(Thank you. AG)
I have a fight I want to pick. I'm a bit
confused about what kind
of artist George wants to be perceived as. He says he doesn't want
to be as big as he was in '88. I
think that's not quite accurate.
Why would he be releasing another Wham! album? He's not
obligated to do this. Why all of
these calendars? I don't see an
Elton calendar. I don't see a Seal calendar. I think some of the
confusion in America stems
from his desire to be accepted as a
Stevie Wonder, a Carole King, and also as a Spice Girl.
Why release a jazz album if you're
not going to market in that
direction? Hip-hop stations were given SP '97 to play. What the
hell is that about? Is American
music more specialized? In
Europe, do you hear Snoop Daddy Puff Dogg on the same
stations as you hear "Older"?
American radio doesn't do that
(Praise Jesus).
(You know what Darin, I am inclined to agree with you. He's a
complex
man, and regrettably, his music often gets a little lost
in the shuffle. AG)
I would also love to argue why he left Sony.
The details.
(I see a mock trial in YM's future... AG)
Yogette-at-aol.com (Melanie) writes:
Dearest
Amanda:
I just wanted to say congratulations on the one-year anniversary
of Yogmael!!!! :) :) :) That's an incredible
accomplishment. I've
been with Yogmael since a few days after the beginning, and I
can't thank you enough for all the effort
you have put into Yogmael.
I can't thank you enough for giving me my almost daily dose of
George information for the last
year!
Thank you!!! Thank you!!! Thank you!!! Thank you!!!
Melanie
http://members.aol.com/YOGfanclub/index.htm
(You
are most welcome. Every second has been absolutely
worth it, even if it didn't seem like it at the time... AG)
Twevr-at-aol.com
(Trevor) writes:
Hey Amanda, just wanted to say HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
YOGMÆL!!
Although I've only been a member for a few weeks
now, I think you've done a spectacular job. I've been reading the
archives
(I'm a little more that halfway through). It's been very
interesting, everything from pot smoking to wonderful new
releases.
Congratulations on a fabulous year.
Serenity,
Trevor
(Thank you. And you're right, it sure has been interesting,
and
it just keeps getting more so... AG)
P.S. Is anyone taking pre-orders for "The Strangest Thing" E.P.??
stefank-at-hildesheim.sgh-net.de
(Stefan Kirchfeld) writes:
HI all!
......I
know Amanda that i haven´t written for QUITE a
while.....sorry....I just had nothing _really_ interesting to
contribute I
guess but I hope you know that I always enjoy
reading YogmÆl ! :-)
Anyway....I really look forward to the new releases and
there
are so many rumors going round - one better than the other -
that I just hope all will come true ! :) Except the fact
that two
of the Spice Girls are men !!! This is quite funny...I mean has
anyone seen George and the Spice Girls together
SIMULTANIOUSLY
!????? Who knows...maybe George IS
one of the Spice Girls !!!!! (sorry, but it´s as stupid as the
rumour itself !!!)
Considering
the Greatest Hits Album I just made one myself.
For a school project we have a CD-burner (??? I don´t know if
that´s right
in english) with that you can make your own CD´s !
I so got a personal Best of ! I titled it " Æ - The very best of
George
Michael". I always imagined that it would be pretty cool
if the real GH album would also be calles " Æ " .
Apart
from that I just bought Stevie Wonder´s " Songs in the
key of life " - the album of which George has covered most !!!
IT`S
BRILLIANT!!!! ABSOLUTE FANTASTIC !!!!! George should
cover the whole album......no, OK, but it´s just a masterpiece !
Apart
from that if you listen to that album one can understand
why George admires Stevie so much, Stevie is a genius !!!
George is
one too of course !! I love double albums because
that´s the absolute overkill for every fan !!! George next album
should be
a double album !!!!
I am really disappointed that there will be no Unplugged album.
But I think I know why: George wants to
hold the tracks back
in order to put them on EP´s as B-sides.....not a very clever
tactic if you ask me !!
(Actually
VERY clever, I don't usually buy singles, but I've
been grabbing them all religiously lately. AG)
And last but not least I
read that Yogmael turns 1 year tomorrow!!!
Well, since I am one of the people who read Yogmael right from
the beginning I can
say that it´s very cool how it developed and
grew !!! Thanks to you Amanda for having started that !!!! .......and
another 10
years !!!????? :-)
(Yeah, I remember you were one of the first to sign on. And I
remember you were one of the feverish
posters back then too.
Thank you to all of you for all the positive feedback in the last
year. 10 years? We'll see... AG)
That´s
all for now
Bye
sK
snailmail:
Stefan Kirchfeld, Burgstrasse 42, 31134 Hildesheim, Germany
web address:
prinz.hannover.sgh-net.de/~stefank
Whamerica-at-aol.com
(Alicia) writes:
AG--
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY YOGMAIL--YOGMAEL--
YM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Live
long and prosper!!
Luv,
Andrew
To Wrap it Up:
"Thank you so much for all your
work and dedication...
thanks and love, George Michael"
(Like you wouldn't have ended with that one today too...)