Hey all! I'm tired as usual, so I won't ramble too long...
A note to all the
people I have yet to reply personally to, I'm trying, I
really am. Bear with me.
AND AWAY WE GO...
***************************
TGVH67A-at-prodigy.com
(MR ANGELO A ALEXOPOULOS) writes:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------
Hello
Again Amanda,
I forgot to add another little tidbit. I plan on purchasing a S-VHS vcr soon
but I wanted a copy of it as
well on S-VHS. I called a friend of mine who has
a S-VHS deck to record it for me. He is not a fan of George's but when he
came
to my work today to drop off the
tape he said he was blown away by his voice. "UNBELIEVABLE" He enjoyed it. I
told
him there are maybe one or two other artists that sound this good LIVE.
He could not believe it was live.
(When he wants
to, George sounds better live than in the studio. AG)
Angelo
***************************
JMac022-at-aol.com (Jason)
writes:
--------------------------------------------------
who is andros that runs aegean?
(Andros is George's cousin.
He's been in the business for years, it's all
who you know... AG)
i'd like to get a copy of jive talking...can u help?
(I
have a copy of a copy, which as a rule I don't copy because they sound too
dodgy. Anyone have an original? AG)
...also, can
i get a copy of david frost interview.....
(What David Frost interview? Jog my overworked mind please... AG)
can i get a
copy of that book young and gunning u just bought?........
(It's from 1984 I think, and I got mine by sheer luck. I popped
back into
the store, and the guy asked how I like the books, and then told me he didn't
expect anymore. AG)
what is a
FAQ?
(Frequently Asked Questions. AG)
***************************
chassagne-at-webster.ch (Chassagne) writes:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Hi
Amanda & YOG CREW,
I'm supposed to be writing one of my term papers due in oh about two
days, but decided to write about
my trip to London (during the Europe MTV
awards). I must admit reading my comments about George in the last issue
really felt
good!
(I used to do YOGMAIL hours before papers were do, I've also written a couple
papers an hour before they were due.
AG)
I apologize if this story is too long.. It was thursday Nov.14,1996 and I
purchased my ticket the day before, leaving
from Geneva to London( Please
keep in mind that I'm a native New Yorker studying in Switzerland for a
year). I was determined
to meet George!! I figured I'm in Europe(not in the
US) so I should make every effort to meet him. EASIER SAID THEN DONE!!
(So
I've heard... AG)
I was on my way to London as of 7:30am and finally arrived there at 4pm(it
was a very long train ride). I
have a British who gave me so,so information
on where exactly the MTV awards was to be held. I was some what in the dark
about
the exact location of the event. Through a friend of a friend who works
for MTV, said that the event would be in East Croydon.
Well after booking a
hotel room at this really crappy place(thanks to Waterloo Info Ctr. at the
train station)So, I take
another train to Croydon,(45min) after asking 10 or
12 people" DO YOU KNOW HOW TO GET TO......." I'm only explaining
these boring
travel tid bit to explain my state of mind on the evening of the event. When
I finally got to Croydon I hopped in
a cab on my way to this crappy hotel and
when begin to chit chat and I told him why I was in London that weekend.
Ithis is
when I almost died, he told me that the concert was to be held at
Alexandra Palace!!!!!!!!This was something I didn't know!!
(I
guess I forgot to tell you that. Oops... AG)
So, I got to the "hotel" and threw my things on the floor, hopped back
into
the cab--train--and on my next voyage to the north of London while I was on
the south! I did some more of the "DO
YOU KNOW...." and I finally got to
Alexandra Palace. There was a pretty large amount of groupies there. I must
tell you
that everyone knew George was there and that he was the
"entertainment" for the evening. After my encounter with all
the other fans I
forgot about the hell I went through to get there.
(Nothing beats a good spontaneous fan comraderie. I
have a few fond memories
of such too. AG)
There were two entrances separated about a block away from each other. I felt
such
a rush at the time. Why? Because I knew George was close by! I was in
dire need of a ticket and I was willing to pay any amount
of money. I know
that I really shouldn't say that but trust me, I meant it! There was a ticket
for sale but I couldn't find
the girl selling it. Then I heardthat someone
already bought it. I was really pissed.
I began asking alot of the people who
seemed to have been glued to their spot
for hours if they had seem George Michael. They all said no. Then about 25
minutes
later right in fron to my eyes, I saw the"man" roll passed me in the
dark blue or grey car (I was dark out and was
difficult to tell what color).
The windo was halfway open and girls behind me started screaming and I'm like
what the F**K? I
look straight ahead and hit eye to shades contact with
"George." I can't even explain how I felt. I had placed my
camera in my bag
before hand because I was beginning to lose hope. At the time of spotting
George I was actually frozen. I
couldn't move! All I remember was him looking
at the crowd of girls witha little smirky grin, then he closed his window, he
was
in the back seat. Someone I was talking to kept hitting my arm
saying,"did you see him, did you see him?" I was still
speechless. This is
the man I like many have defended left and right as well as treasured as if
he was my most expensive piece
of jewelry.
(Eye to shade contact? I'm jealous... AG)
After a few minutes have gone by, I came to and started screaming
that, "I
just saw George Michael." Yes I may have looked like a lunatic, but I didn't
give a shit. Now I was on a
mission to get in. There were entrances, one
witha red carpet the other a suppose was an entrance for "no namers." But
I
found out that this wasn't true. There were many British stars that were
coming in through that entrance, I just didn't know
them. I stood there with
other fans not so many by this time because the concert had already begun(it
was a little after 9).
People were still arriving at the event,so I stood
there with the desperate look on my face basicaly saying "I'll do
anything to
get in," well not exactly "anything." You can't imagine how many friends I've
made by now. And they
convinced me that I was just a "fan" I was an "obsessed
Fan." I guess they were right. They to, had to listen
to my touble of getting
to Alexandra Palace!
(I once walked down Yonge Street yelling "I JUST KISSED JOHN
TAYLOR!!!!" It
was a very good day... AG)
A couple came out and myself and this mother daughter team approached them.
We
asked them if we could have their ticket stubs(we hope to get inside with
it). The guy kept saying no,no(like leave us alone),
meanwhile the woman felt
so bad for us, she really wanted to give us the tickets. Finally after the
two discussed it the woman
gave me a ticket and the other to the
daughter(Basak) of the mom/daughter team. We screamed! I'm 24, so I guess it
may have
looked a bit "teeny bopperish" of me, but when it comes to
George.....We ran up the stairs with such a delight and
handed the tickets to
the guards. He looked at my ticket and said, "you can't go inside." I looked
at him with a I'm
going to kick your ass look while saying,"why not?" We
couldn't get in because the top portion of the ticket was
already torn off.
On the back of the ticket it states that there is no re-entry. I think I
could have just died right then. It
hurts to remember how devestated I was.
But after talking with other people the pain subsided. I must state that
unbelievably,
I was the only "die-hard GM fan". I wasn't to thrilled about
that. That's when I thought of the Yog crew the would have
loved to have been
there.
(Awww. AG)
I realize that this is dragging on so I'm going to shorten up the story.
There
was no hope of getting in. But I refused to leave, especially since the
I heard that there was a party after the awards. So I
thought that someones
going to get tired and I'm going to find a way in. I must say that the mother
/daughter team was with me
every step of the way. Ohhh, I forgot to mention,
somewhere before getting the ticket incident, I was going to cross the street
and
what do you think I saw coming from down the road, The car from the
"Spinning the wheel" video, which george had in his
performance. I mean the
car was right in my face. It was on a mini-tow truck. Here I was complaining
about not getting to meet
George, well I wanted more than the look at him
from the car, call me greedy! Then all of a sudden the car shows up, it was
quite
funny now that I think about it.
Time was ticking and I also knew I was going to be stranded because the
trains stopped
running at 12am, and it was a little after 11. I had all my
stuff on the other side of London. But then the mom/daughter team
offerred to
take me in for the evening. Basak, told me that she had set the VCR to record
so at leat we could watch it on TV.
I kind of lost hope and I needed a place
to stay so I went. As soon as we got to their place which was about 5 min
away, she
rewound the tape and I just gasped when I saw George. The mom told
me that I looked like a child that just got the Christmas
present she wanted
all year. I asked them if it was that obvious. I suppose it was. They had to
rewind GM' performance about 8
times to be exact(some guest I was!). But they
enjoyed watching my face glow as I watched George. The only thing that
alarmed
me when I watched the tape, was when George accepted his award, I
said aloud, "oh my God, what's wrong with George,"
because I know his voice
is never that deep. I was really scared. Also, he kept sucking in his checks
which seemed a bit funny
at first, but then i started to think, oh shit
what's wrong with George.
(Smoking in general has dropped his voice. I know
I for one had to quit when
I was mistaken for my dad on the phone one too many times... AG)
That morning after a good sweet
scream, I began the rewind-play-watch
process. Hey, I have to go back to Geneva after the weekend and I don't have
a VCR. But
Basak has offered to give me her original copy. I happily
accepetd. I don't remember the breakfast shows name but George was the
topic,
and they were all good reviews. Except they kept showing a clip of Bryan
Adams berating George because he mimed. I
really like B. Adams, I have most
of his CD's, but since then I've been on a Byran Adams boycott. That morning
I went to a
newstand and purchased three newspapers that had article about
the event. I'm sure a lot more would have been said about George,
but Oasis'
no-show was pretty much the topic all over London that day.
For the remainder of my weekend in London I did the
touristy things except at
night I went to certain clubs where my British friend from school(you know
the one with the screwed
up info) suggested I might find George there or
people who would know where I might spot him. I still trusted her because she
saw
George in August in a club in St.Tropez. I couldn't believe her when she
told me she didn't walk up to him because she's not
interested in him!
Well, I hope you enjoyed my story,"On the hunt for George." Although I went
through hell
during a portion of my stay in London. It was worth it! Many of
my friends couldn't believe that I went on my own in search of
George. But
I'll be honest, I had an agenda like I made an appointment with GM, that's
what kept me going.
(I am
dragging my "Andrew" along for the ride, but I have the same mind
set... AG)
P.S. I feel that I must include one
other piece of info. Back in
Geneva,Switzerland, I went clubbing with my friends on Fri night and went up
to the DJ and
requested "Fastlove." I think he liked me because during a two
hour span of dancing he played in this order; Fastlove,
Faith, Fastlove and
then Too Funky. I smiled at him all night.
(I hope you bought the man a drink too! AG)
"I
get to thinking I've been bad..hey..Just think of all the fun I had..hey
I'd like to think of this as education..."
(Thanks
for sharing!!! AG)
Martine
***************************
bozejko-at-math.uni.wroc.pl (Marek Bozejko) writes:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi
Amanda!!!
I've got something to say:
1.Big thanx for your work!!!
(You're most welcome. But allow me to give credit
where credit is due and
thank all the regular posters, you know who they are, you're always seeing
their names... AG)
2.I'd
like to dub some cassetts from you. How may I send you money?
(Depends where you're sending it from. Drop me a line, and we'll
work
something out. AG)
3.Can anybody find me..."Calling you" lyrics.
(It's a short song, perhaps someone
feeling generous can write them up? AG)
4.What's really "Red,hot&dance"?!? (stupid question?)
(A benefit
album released in 1992 for AmFar, which George donated 3 tracks
to. AG)
5.I also want to have picture of GM in my wallet,
but I don't wanna cut it
off from LWP sleeve. Any help?
(Photocopies? AG)
6.When GM unplugged will be relased?
(It
won't. AG)
7.Feels good,to be free!
(I know that! AG)
Take care
***************************
SNAPPING-at-aol.com
Carolyn) writes:
-------------------------------------------------------
In the interview GM said he would fully expect an
upbeat song or two on any
GM album because we knew he was capable of it. Didn't someone say that in
yogmail (and I think it
was you). Maybe he is reading us - if I were him and
did computer I couldn't resist.
(I think it's safe to say that if he
read it, he would have told a lot of
us--me especially--where to go regarding that whole Big Issue thing. Which I
am now
totally over for some bizarre reason. Although I do have this
tendency to ask friends who are acting kinda strange if they've
"been getting
creative", and my friend Michelle has taken to retorting "No, I don't think
I'll be writing any
songs this evening" AG)
***************************
AlanKHart-at-aol.com writes:
----------------------------------------
To
the person who asked about the US release of the "Older EP," there isn't
going to be a US release of that song....only
the UK.
(WELL THAT JUST TOTALLY SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AG)
I received confirmation that Virgin also has
no plans on releasing an
Unplugged CD or video, but several of the tracks will be used as b sides of
upcoming singles.
(WELL
THAT JUST TOTALLY SUCKS TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AG)
alan
***************************
yogfan-at-adnetsol.com
(Nancy) writes:
-------------------------------------------------------
Are there any other GM fans out there in the Southern
California area who may
be interested in doing some sort of fan get-together???? Please drop me a
note, I would love to
arrange something.
Nancy
***************************
dsmiller-at-earthlink.net (Debra Sue Miller) writes:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi
Amanda!
All I have to say is --- Oh My G-D!!!! I have long forgotten the "Big
Issue" article, I have no
recollection whatsoever about anything that ever
put a negative thought in my head about our George.
I've barely recovered
from the interview and unplugged. I have to admit I am
now (as I was before) deeply, madly, obsessively, compulsively and
completely
enamoured and in love with George Michael.
Is that man yummy or what!! (Even with the Caesar haircut). My word
-he was
wonderful. I loved the interview. He seemed to in touch with himself and
confident in his beliefs and feelings about
his private life. It was so good
to see him smile and laugh again. And the concert -- what can I say?
(Siiiiiiigh). He makes
my heart go pitter pat
(among other things!!).
I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did.
Happy holidays to all of
my co-yog fans and a bright and properous New Year
(tour anyone?). Amanda, Best wishes to you - enjoy your vacation from
school
-- you deserve a rest!!
(I'm enjoying it indeed! Thanks Debbie! AG)
Debbie
***************************
hmhaley-at-msn.com
(H. Martin Haley, Jr.) writes:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Well Amanda
For
some reason I thought I would never post to YOGMail; just planned to sit
back and listen -- never really been star-struck by
George, just have the
deepest respect for and fascination with the beauty of his music.
(Aha, a lurker... AG)
But
here I am....
I saw his Unplugged and interview on MTV last night and just wanted to share
a few observations that my
roommate and I had. (Incidentally, we had to
interrupt our Wednesday night 'Party of Five' ritual...ahhh the miracle of
having
two VCR's )
(The Canadian running of the MTV Europe Awards is going to interrupt my
Friend's night ritual...so that means
Canucks Much is airing the awards at
8pm this Thursday. AG)
On the Interview:
1) My roommate said the one thing that
she didn't like was how self-centered
he was..."I have been feeling this, and I think this, and I don't want to
talk
about that, and my life has been interrupted by that". I suppose she is
right, but a lot of the questions were about him
personally, and I think that
the music is such a personal endeavor for him that he can't talk about it any
other way;
2)
The interviewer sucked. I wish MTV hadn't hired that washed-up,
Dance-Party-USA infomercial-making, Downtown Julie Brown in man's
clothes.
Sorry guy; don't mean to be mean, but you have no talent as a music
journalist.
(I was shocked when I saw who
John Norris was too. I caught him many the
night during an insomnia ordeal, the guy put me right to sleep... AG)
3) I don't
think he could have been clearer about his sexuality. To be
quite honest -- for my friends out there who were blindsided by his
honesty
about his sexuality in The Big Issue -- I don't see how you could listen to
the lyrics on Older, or some songs on LWOP
for that matter, and not know.
(If only from his use of the gender article he everywhere -- did you think
he was singing from
a woman's perspective?) I find it so interesting that
George is as honest about his sexuality in his music as say Boy George is
in
his current stuff, but because he won't discuss it we continue this useless
game of speculation. I have to say that as a
gay man, I find it incredible
to have music to listen to that I know was written from my perspective (sorry
but Boy George
just doesn't cut it in my opinion). Lord knows that the
musician-population out there has a much higher percentage of gay members
than
the general-population. But....there is still this hollow feeling
knowing that he feels like it will change his life to
acknowledge to me that
this is
the perspective he brings to the table. There is still this hollow feeling
to know that he
will tell us other things about himself, like his depression,
that he uses drugs, but that this thing is something that is so
personal he
can not discuss it -- I call that being ashamed of it. I know from these
comments I am playing into the same
speculation routine that I just chided.
I just need to realize that just because someone is famous, rich, talented,
etc. it
doesn't mean that he is going to have an easier time dealing with the
whole realization that he's gay and all of the things that
go with it, than
say I did when I came out. Also, George is just like everyone else who is
gay in that the coming-out
process is just that -- a process, and that
everyone has their own schedule. Just look at his friend Elton John. Elton
said
the exact same thing as George for YEARS, and unlike George did all
sorts of things to keep up the charade. Now he is very open
about being gay
and enjoying the freedom it has given him. I imagin as George truly does get
"Older" his perspective
on being openly gay will change and grow as well.
On the Performance:
1. I thought he sounded incredible. It has been so
long since I have seen
him perform live that I was worried that it wouldn't meet all of my
expectations -- that he would be a
little flat or that the strength or
clarity of his voice wouldn't be what I still imagined .....but all of those
fears were
unfounded. HE SANG BEAUTIFULLY.
2. Having said that, I didn't like his "higher than normal" sometimes often
sugary
sweet interpretation of some of the songs. For instance "Father
Figure" is supposed to be a little funky, a little
dirty, a little nasty, and
instead it was like he was singing an inspirational. Father Figure is not
about taking care of
someone as a father would; it's about the relationship
between an older more experienced individual and a naive, in-experienced
younger
person. Father Figure is about the sensuality and seduction of youth
(and I don't mean minors, and I don't mean anyone under the
age of say 17;
youth is a word and a category that can be defined very broadly). Bottom
line, I think he threw the song away
-- he sang it beautifully, but it lost
its meaning.
(I admit, it's my fave ballad, and it didn't do it for me... AG)
3.
I could probably go down the list of how he missed the opportunity for a
great performance on several other songs, but it would
take too long.
4. My roommate pointed out that all of the songs he fluffed up that way were
Sony songs. She made me watch
it again and showed me how he really did dig
for the new stuff, really did put soul into the "Older" songs. I think she
was
absolutely right...What do you think?
(I'll have to check it out. AG)
5. It was way too short :)
6. Everytime I
see him sing I realize how much more beautiful his lyrics are
(as an auditory learner it is hard for me to get lyrics in the same
way
everyone else does without seeing someone perform -- for my it is always
about the music, the melody, the rhythms. Does
anyone else experience this?)
I also realized by examining the lyrics more closely how much the AIDS
epidemic has really
affected his work on this album. I mean we know he has
cared about and even been touched by AIDS in a personal way, and done a
lot
of great charity work for AIDS causes....but doing a work and donating it to
an AIDS benefit or singing your songs at a
benefit is VERY different from
working it
into the content of your songs, or in some cases making it the content of
your
songs.
7. I appreciate the diversity and range of older more than any other of his
records; this may sound strange because
it would seem on the surface to be
the least diverse. But what I find the most interesting about his new album
is how he
juxtaposes such seemingly opposed feelings and experiences. For
example, I think Jesus to a Child reflects the beauty and
spirituality that
can arise from two people in a committed, long-term love-based relationship.
But on the other hand, the very
next song is about how sometimes you just
have this desire to go out and find someone, anyone and have a sexual
experience.
How sometimes you just need to be with someone if only for one
night; to just have some physical, human contact -- it's about
basal human
sexuality, sex drive and how that interacts with what we think we should be
doing. Then, two
songs later in
Spinning the Wheel he takes the other perspective about how
dangerous and wrong that type of behaviour can be; and what it does
to the
people in our lives that care about us, often our partner, the people we
leave behind, the people that have to suffer
from our
self-absorption/fulfillment. I just find it so interesting. As a gay man,
and that's the only way I can speak, I have
felt all three ways at different
times, and very strongly, and I know that George has too -- it's makes him
and the music so
real to me.
(As a heterosexual woman, I can honestly say that I think "everybody needs a
little FastLove..." AG)
8)
In a nutshell he is still a musical genius, and even though the show
wasn't produced or performed the way that I would have
arranged every detail,
I will take him any way that I can get him, musically that is. :)
Thanks for all of the work you put
into this thing.
Sorry my e-mail was so long.
If anyone out there agrees with these comments or finds what I said to be
interesting,
blasphemous or anything in between, please write me. I really
just got on e-mail and I am looking for some interesting
pen-pals.
Thanks again,
Martin Haley
hmhaley-at-msn.com
***************************
To Wrap it Up:
Next
issue is out on Thurday.
By the way, on behalf of Dan, allow me to tell all AOL members about "Last
Christmas
Chat" on Thursday. Check the music message center for details.
Listen Without Prejudice...