And you thought YM was just fluff...time to tear apart George's
career
decisions/inclinations...welcome the latest SonyMail.
A note to UpsetGMFan: You are, as we speak, being lynched
in my
incoming mail box. Read all about it next week.
Also, it's a long weekend coming up here in North America, so
I'll see you
Tuesday.
AND AWAY WE GO...
Ant.Grimley-at-dial.pipex.com (Anthony Grimley) writes:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
If
anyone is wondering if there will be an Older video (with the
BRILLIANT Fastlove vid on) then here's the latest info kindly
given
to me by Shirlie:
As for the Older video nothing has been released or will be
released in the near future, if I hear any news
on it will let you
know.
Oh well just have to keep waiting...
Meanwhile whilst I was in Plymouth (the original one) I
managed
to pick up Faith(7" and 12"), A Different Corner(7" and 12"),
Kissing A Fool, Freedom 12",
Father Figure and Too Funky
hooray! I've made a compilation of all the B-side instrumentals
to help me play the songs from the
Unplugged songbook I wrote
about a while ago. Finally, thanks Amanda for putting so much
of your time and love for The Man
into Yogmael.
Warmest Regards, Ant.
Sassiec-at-aol.com writes:
--------------------------------------
Just
had to comment on the following from Yogmæl #221:
> DarinBS-at-aol.com writes:
> Why would he be releasing another
Wham! album? He's not
> obligated to do this.
Actually, George IS obligated to do the Sony / Greatest Hits
album. It
was one of the conditions of the court settlement.
Either he had to give them a whole new album (which he
stated he would
NEVER do) or he had to go along with their
idea (the GH album).
> Why all of these calendars? I don't see an Elton
calendar. I
> don't see a Seal calendar.
Obviously, you don't look in the right places (no offense). I
HAVE the 1998
Elton John calendar, and I'm SURE that there
must be at least 1 for Seal, as well. Just because a
calendar is out, does not
necessarily mean that it was a
project George persued. All he (or Ægean, Virgin or
DreamWorks) had to do was O.K. it, and
even that is not
always done, sometimes merchandisers or marketing
companies use old photos for a slightly
"bootlegged"
calendar, and it's not worth it (financially) for the artist to fight
the production of the calendars.
>
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.
George definitely went through a hermit phase, but now he's
back (sort of) and he's doing his own videos,
and planning on
touring. I'm happy he keeps changing, growing and evolving
as an artist (and as a person). I feel it's his
right to make his
career / image into anything he wants. Why in the WORLD
would he want to fit into a mold (ANY mold) of what
people
"expect" ?! Pigeonholing talent like his is futile. If you no
longer like (love) what he does, no one is
twisting your arm
to be a fan. I also think that George (and probably Andy, too)
would consider being compared to the Spice
Girls a
compliment (they were THE pop icon band of the 80's.
Remember when the music was (early 80's) dismal and
depressing,
and then all of this "Bubble gum" came out of the
UK?! I do. And I was glad. And I'm glad it happening again.)
>
I would also love to argue why he left Sony. The details.
Are you suggesting that you have details that others do not re:
his
career, his life, his contract and/or how Sony abused him?
I'd love to hear them. E-mail me directly, any time.
"This
is your brain" (crack)
"This is your brain on Yogmæl" (sizzle)
"Any questions?"
S.
hana-at-kestrok.com
(Hana) writes:
-------------------------------------------------
>In YOGMAEL #221 egroeg-at-bigpond.com writes:
>I
have noticed how people (especially Yogmaelers) love to hate
>FONY, aka SONY, for everything that SONY has done to George.
Hey
you beat me to the punch line... I too, was about to write and
voice my opinion about all this FONY bull-lony...
Yep and it
seems pretty petty, when they'll(Yogmaelers) all be
buying a SONY GH CD in the near future.
Just as friends sometimes do,
get into huffs, then we kiss &
make up.
I guess things can't be too bad if George was in the studio
remaking songs
for the GH CD for SONYs label... George will
be receiving more royalty checks in no time(after the SONY
GH is released), and
he'll have a $-) smiley face. If he has a
problem receiving the SONY royalty checks, I will be more than
happy to forward him
my mailing address and he'll never have
to put up with them. :)
>To me it seems to me a little unfair. We shouldn't
forget what
>SONY's primary objectives are: maximise returns and profitability.
Exact-o-mun-do... As with all smart
companies in the world.
>It is just like any other business (except for maybe George's
>AEGEAN, which he created
after experiences with SONY).
Just like other artists who felt limited, Prince & Madonna who
went to do their own
labels. Prince thought he could do his own
thing and leave the "Little Red Corvette" and "1999" behind, but
in
the long run, the fans showed him (what his former companies
wanted also) that they want the old stuff too. Enough about
Prince...
>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.
Corporate executives, didn't become executives
for holding peoples
hands. They are executives cause they get things done. Ask any
executive of any company, the bottom line
is $$$ and profit.
>They don't really care about a musician who, don't forget, signed
>a contract.
They would
care if he was making a profit and was bringing in piles
of buck-o-roos. But if you sit on your fanny and pout to the press
about
how they are forcing someone to live up to his end of the deal
(signed contract that spells out expectations), and giving SONY a
bad
name... Can't say I(SONY) would be happy either. No
company wants a bad name, nor to defend themselves in the press,
even if
they're in the right. It can still tarnish a company image.
>It is just like a supplier (musician)signing a contract with
the
>"manufacturer" (SONY). And if the supplier doesn't suddenly like
>it, too bad - out of business.
Yep,
if you don't like the contract, don't sign it. There were plenty
of other companies out there... If he wanted to do his own
thing,
he should have done it a long time ago. Remember the lull all of
us GM fans went through in the late 80's waiting for
new material.
Then in the early 90's...
>I perfectly understand that SONY treated George unfairly, but it
>was
only because he signed that his first shitty contract
Now... now... I wouldn't call it a shitty contract. They give him X
Million
$ in advance to... swim in. Then he gets royalties, and
more $$$ for every concert, and new CD he makes, and more $$$
in a few
months to swim in. And agree to do videos, concert
tours, and do everything possible to sell most CDs. Didn't seem
like an
unreasonable musician contract to me...
(I agree on this point. George M talked himself into a corner
here, that original
contract with CBS is not the one at issue,
the 2 renegotiations after the fact are...and if certain managers...
-- no offense
to those who know Rob, and I know who you
are -- ...Rob, YOU fucked up a little too. AG)
>and (I guess everyone learns
something everyday)
Yep, and I am sure SONY is a lot wiser too.
>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.
Think about it in the real world. No money making corp
would turn
away a money maker if they were living up to their end of the deal.
If you're not profitable for a company, then
you're costing them
money to keep you there, and corps would be extra frustrated if
they paid you X Million in advance, and
weren't getting a return
on the investment.
>So please, let's get the facts straight, and don't blame the
>whole
company for some "funky's" stupidity.
OK... you said that part not me... OK we're all entitled to make
ONE
mistake in our lives, and we all know which one George
made. He settled it, and he moved on, so lets GET OVER IT
already...
>And
no, I don't work for SONY or anything like that; I just have
>SONY TV, 2 VCRs, camcorder, telephone, walkman and a
>number
of SONY releases. And I am very happy with them.
Yes I have quite a bit of SONY toys too. Of all of them my favorite
is my
SONY 900mhz(don't buy a new cordless phone unless it has
900mhz, they're way better) cordless telephone with caller ID on
the
handset that I can take to the beach(3 blocks away) and make
phone calls, almost like having a cellular, without the high costs.
:)
(OK, good company electronics wise, but I do have a Sony double
cassette deck that speeds up tapes a lot, was that just
my dumb
luck? AG)
I didn't hear anything about his contract saying he would be digging
ditches, cleaning out septic
tanks with his toothbrush, working on
car engines, etc.
Poor baby, doesn't want to be in videos anymore... Too much
worky...Excuse
me get your ass :) in the videocamera... Then get
your ass :) on a concert tour and do your thang... And be quick
about it...
:-b
(Cheers to that! AG)
"I sware I won't tease you, won't tell you no lies. I don't need no
bible, just look
into my eyes."
SONYs response "YE-AH RRRIGHT". :)
Trevor.Spradlin-at-noaa.gov
(Trevor Spradlin) writes:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Amanda:
First and
foremost, Happy Anniversary! You've done a
fantastic job. Thanks for all your hard work!
Folks might be interested to know
that the cover art for the
"Waltz Away Dreaming" single is a Victorian era painting
entitled "Flaming
June" (dated 1895) by the British artist
Frederic Leighton. The body of water behind the sleeping
woman is supposedly the
Mediterranean Sea (or perhaps
it's the ÆGEAN Sea). It is an incredibly beautiful painting
(I've seen it in-person), and
continues to demonstrate that
George has impeccable taste.
Finally, I'd like to respond to a recent commentary regarding
George's
dispute with Sony:
*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?
I think it's important to remember that at the end of the
"Faith" tour, George decided
that he did not want to be
promoted in a certain way - i.e., as a pin-up poster sex
symbol celebrity a-la the Wham! and
"Faith" eras. With
the release of "Listen Without Prejudice" in 1990, he
wanted the MUSIC to speak for
itself without the focus on
his "celebrity," private life, or his visual image. Thus, he
did not emphasize videos. I
believe that he truly did want
his MUSIC to be promoted and heard. George is a
musician, and does not seem to be interested in
also
being a "pop-star" anymore.
From what I have read and observed in George's various
interviews to date,
it appears that things went from bad
to worse when: 1) Sony executives walked out of a
"Cover to Cover Tour"
concert; 2) were not supportive of
releasing the "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" EP
(which nevertheless hit No. 1
worldwide); and 3) failed to
support the "Red Hot + Dance" LP. George had
earmarked both the EP and LP projects to
be fund-raisers
for various charity organizations such as the Jimmy Fund
(children cancer) and Red Hot (AIDS). Again, George
wanted
the music to be promoted and focused upon, not
his image. During the court proceedings, George expressed
his dissatisfaction
with Sony's lack of support and -- correct
me if I am wrong, Amanda -- felt that Sony did not promote
the projects because
they did not stand to make a profit.
George decided that since the Sony folks did not share nor
respect his philosophy, he no
longer wanted to continue
business.
(Well, to Sony's credit, they did step forth to do the Dance
album, but true, there
was little promo for it. George claims
it was all a matter of attitude though in general. AG)
Like all artists -- indeed
all human beings -- he has changed
and grown with experience. I respect George's decisions
and I think he has show a great
deal of integrity. He
certainly has the courage of his convictions.
Grrlfrrday-at-aol.com
(Cheralyn) writes:
-------------------------------------------------------
In Yogmael #221, Amanda wrote:
<<
Besides, there is a neat little term out there called "pulling a George Michael." >>
Ok, I'll bite. What does
"pulling a George Michael" mean?
(To exit a successful band and have a successful solo career.
Yes, I KNOW George
wasn't the first to do it ever, but he was
a marketing phenom at the time, so they used his name. I
suppose a woman would pull
a Belinda Carlisle? AG)
< Amanda, honey, I cannot agree with this statement. Maybe I just (NOOOO! This is NOT what I meant. I mean they have a greater now, says the wannabe musician working on a compendium of Just lookin' for a little clarification, baby. (Anytime. Thanks for taking the time to ask. AG) cheralyn "Looking for some affirmation..."
don't understand it. Do you mean that
the authors of music history
books are failed musicians themselves? And so their opinions
can't be viewed as unbiased but
instead influenced by jealousy, etc?
appreciation actually
because they are more "into" the history of
it typically, and where the sound comes from. I guess I didn't get
that
across properly. Sorry. : ) Hope it makes a little more sense
boy
groups in the '80... AG)
To
Wrap it Up: