Hey all! Read on for an old George interview. But first, please read this
intro.
AEgean
got #105 Friday morning--unedited--so let's hope no one said anything
stupid in it. I don't think I did...ah, the perks of being
editor...but I
really think #105 was a fairly strong one in it's own right.
As for the best of edition, I honestly spent
all weekend with it on my mind.
Friday was a 12 hour day at the computer, while Saturday was spent house
cleaning--which I
always do when procrastinating on other matters--it was so
bad I moved the fridge, and even cleaned my parents' living room.
There are
so many great postings that it's just too hard to choose. The only things I
KNEW had to be in there was something
from Alicia--the friendship depended on
it--and a mention of the sister who got me listening to George--I called her
and was
told so... As it stands now, the folks at AEgean are getting numbers
99 to 102, and ANGEMAIL.
The "best of" is
just too hard to do. I guess it comes down to choosing your
faves of those things you love the most. I mean think how hard it's
been to
vote in the YM Honours, then multiply that by 100, because in the YMH's,
you're talking songs, I'm trying to
essentially choose between people. Moms
never admit to having their favorites, and that's just what this is like.
How can I go
and read through all the back issues and say "Yes, this is the
best", "No, this sucks", etc.?
There are
people on here George needs to know about, those who helped start
YM. JT--my mailing list mentor who runs the great Bananarama
list that
inspired me--can someone at AEgean please contact Keren Woodward and tell
her!?; Tim--who gave me my that first YM
link and now tends to the archives;
Mark for spending hours transcribing Bare so I would have something to post
in the early
days; Aidan--for spending time transcribing various British
press for those of us in the rest of the world; Alan--for all the
release
dates, especially the constant updates; my sister Jeanne for getting me
listening to Wham!; and of course Alicia--who
helped rekindle the love of
George that was starting to dwindle as I hit my 20's, and basically just for
being a great
sidekick--or Andrew as the case may be... ; ) But there are
also 520 other people who make YOGMAEL the phenomenon it is, by
posting, and
even just by reading.
So please understand folks at AEgean, I tried to give you the best of
YOGMAEL, but I
think the best is always the current issue.
AND AWAY WE GO...
***************************
s1138263-at-uottawa.ca (HELEN)
writes:
---------------------------------------------------------
Hi everyone,
...Just a note to say that it has been a
long time since I have received
so much info on George without having to hunt for it. Thank god for
computers. Living in
Canada, there isn't much said or written on GM, it
can be very frustrating, especially at those times when he didn't release
anything
for years. Now I can enjoy this influx of info right at my
finger tips...thanks...
In response to the person asking about
pictures of GM when he was
young, my mother went to England (my birth place), during the early
eighties and brought back some
magazines for me. One had the picture at
the Aegean site, and some of him in the Executive with a long beard and
long hair! If
at anytime he should have been a pot head, it was back then.
The Bare book has some good pics of his younger days, like the one
of him
riding on a Donkey!
Speaking of pot, does anyone else find it disturbing that GM
smoked all through the making of
Older just so he could "get through It"?
Doesn't this suggest that he didn't really want to do it? I remember when
he
insisted that he is a "pop star" because he loves to sing and
write...and now he can't sing or write without the aid of
drugs?...thats too
bad.
(Indeed. There is good reason that Older i EST/PST (and CST one hour earlier.) Scant comfort now
for those who
missed it. It was at 8:00 pm (E/T & P/T) on Jan 30th followed by the one
hour video collection. The
re-broadcast was Sunday night Feb 2 -at- 11:00 pm
(E/T & P/T), but no video hour after.
I was able to video tape it
twice, and a friend in Japan has his copy
already! It was exceptionally good stereo output, but the 15-20 minutes of
commercials
are a real drag. (I was able to monitor the Feb 2 repeat and
pause/edit out the commercials - but my pause function timed out
during the
last batch, meaning more than 5 minutes of ads before the closing track!)
The tracks:
Opened with "Freedom
90", followed by:
Fahst Love (as GM referred to it!)
I Can't Make You Love Me
Father Figure (a stunningly sultry
version)
You Have Been Loved
Everything She Wants
Praying for Time,
and closing (naturally enough with the next single)
Star People.
Regards, GJM (also born 6/25!)
***************************
des121-at-cats.ucsc.edu (Nasime Desiree
Motamedi) writes:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
Hi Amanda-
I
know that you made a web page for George Michael.
(Well that's news to me... I am not the webmaster of any George page, sorry.
I
just run the mailing list AG)
You mentioned that George has a song called 'If I ruled the world.' Are
you sure this is from
George Michael?
(You refer to Tim's page. And though he has not tweaked it, we now know
it is actually a track from another
artist, though I can't remember whose.
AG)
There is another artist who has the same title. I am wondering if it was a
mix
up. Does anyone know of this song?
Thanks for your help,
Desiree Motamedi
***************************
sexybeast-at-emails.com
(Aidan Padden) writes:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello there Amanda.
As you
can see, I've changed the email address again, but the old ones
still working. So, how are you? It looks like YM is about to hit
number
100, wow, we're going to have to get you something really
special to thank-you for everything.
Anyway, just a couple of
things here really. The Brits 97 album was
released a couple of weeks ago, and there are no GM songs on there.
You'd think
that with all the nominations he's got he would be on there
somewhere, although it does seem heavily indie orientated. I don't
know
if this is going to affect his chances of winning any of the awards, but
you'd
have to think that he's not exactly the
favourite to win if none of his songs
are
on there. Now, I can't remember how this went exactly, but I was reading
something
yesterday that mentioned that GM was a saint. This was
mainly due to the amount of work he does for charity, not only in
donations,
but also through actually helping out in the soup kitchens
etc. It also mentioned that he had paid a £3,000 debt off for either
his
backing singer or dancer, I can't quite remember now. Anyway,
that's about it for now, so, here's to the next 100 editions of
Yogmæl,
and take care for now,
(THANKS AIDAN! AG)
Cheers,
Aidan
P.S. I'm supposed to be going to London this weekend
with a couple of
friends, and they want to go and see if they can find where GM lives.
I'll let you know how we get on.
***************************
Fonda.Harris-at-mci.com
(Harris, Fonda E.) writes:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey, Amanda:
I keep
getting these Yogmael as an attachment. Is it the way it's sent?
I have received a 1 or 2 directly, but most have been like this.
Not a big
deal, but it would save me some file space if I received it as ar regular
message.
(It's sent as a standard e
mail, not an attachment. The problem lies in the
number of bytes contained in each issue, some are larger than others.
Each
mail se just started listening to some classic bossa nova
tunes that my friend introduced me too (he's from Brazil).
(You
can get it on the Older EP, or the Red Hot & Rio album. AG)
I'm REALLY curious (help me! help me!) to hear him
sing this
song! I never thought my favourite male singer would sing a foreign
song!... are we seeing perhaps another Julio
Iglesias in the making?!
(Comparions of Julio and George...lord give me strength... AG)
Cheers,
Romano (more
anxious than anxious itself!... does that make sense?)
***************************
llkoh-at-pl.jaring.my (KOH) writes:
-----------------------------------------------
Hiya
guys
Just saw Everything She Wants and i must say it's my fave Wham! video.
Who's visited the Aegean website? I went in
there but there was just this
title page saying Thanks and stuff about Aegean. How come there's only ONE
page? What no GM
info?
(You need Netscape to view the site. AG)
***************************
DeniseMarchant-at-chemsystems.co.uk writes:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Amanda,
I
wondered if you'd be interested in this transcript of a George interview
from a British Music Magazine from the '80s, given just
after Faith was
released. A friend found it among some magazines she was look through and
gave it to me.
(I'm always
interested in ANYTHING to do with George! AG)
I've typed it up for you to share with other Yoggers if you wish. Asterisks
have
been used in place of quote marks. Hope you like it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
**I
feel very sedate at the moment, very calm,** states George Michael so
**calm** he looks as if he's ready for a snooze on the
nearby sofa of his
record company office. **Yes, everything's going very much to plan.**
Mmmm. Strange to notice, then,
that the Legend That Is doesn't look
particularly delirious with happiness today. Perched, hands clasped, on his
swivelly
chair he actually looks a trifle detached, a smidgen defensive and
definitely **cool**. Could it be he s read some of the
not-entirely glowing
reviews of his new LP **Faith**.
**I haven't read them yet, actually,** states His Legendship. **What
are
they like? Mixed? Hmmmm... I don't take much notice of the press over here
any more ... it's so clouded by my success.
They're either really
appreciative or completely dismissive and I'd rather not read things that
are dismissive because it's
just insulting. Of course it hurts but it
angers me more now because I've put so much belief into everything. I'm not
bothered,
really. I'm not going to fight it any more ...**
Or could it be he's miffed at being **pipped** by The Bee Gees to the number
one
spot?
**I'm not at all heartbroken. All I can say is that if you're going to be
number two you might as well be number two
to a record you like - I really
like it! (I can't remember what the Bee Gee song was then - Denise) I've
been singing it for
the past two weeks. Through gritted teeth? Not at all.
I mean, I'm going to release another five singles off the album and I'm
perfectly
prepared for them not be number ones. I look like a Bee Gee?
Yeah that's true actually. Hmmmmm.**
Or could it be that Boy
George was interviewed on Radio One the day before
and practically told a shocked nation that George Michael was gay?
**That's
funny (looks a mite perplexed). No-one told me anything about
this. Hmmn. That's really weird. That's really really weird.
(Regains
**composure** and looks completely blank.) Well, I mean, apart from the
fact that I hardly ever see him and I'm
hardly ever with him for more than
about 10 seconds, I'm just surprised at him. I'm surprised at him for
getting that low.
Obviously things aren't going great for him and things
have been going great for sandwiches (smoked salmon and cream cheese).
Last
night, he reveals, was spent round at his mum's (**She only lives about
15 miles away - I was taking my sister home after she
visited me**) and
tonight he's having a bit of a shindig with his old buddy Andrew Ridgeley.
**I see him once or twice a
month usually and he's in the country at the
moment. That's another reason I went to my mum's last night - I'd borrowed
a
couple of his jackets and I had to leave them there for him to pick up -
it's all very close and family and cosy. It's just like
it always was when
we meet, actually. We talk about how our girlies are and what we re doing
and what problems we re
having, you know, what do you talk to your fiends
about?
**I've heard some of the stuff he's recording in Monaco and I
really think
he can make it. One of the songs is a really sexy American rock thing -
he's singing. And playing the guitar.
Ahh, people forget, you see, that
although Andrew was reeeaaally laaaazzzy, when he wants to he can play the
guitar just fine.
He just didn't do all that much for Wham! because he
couldn't be bothered. It's amazing, it's true - the ability was there and
he
just didn't care that people didn't think it was - I suppose he's now
hoping for the last laugh.**
So, why is George
Michael looking so glum these days. What's wrong with the
man? For the next three-quarters of an hour, let us ponder further.
Could
it perhaps be that...
HE'S NOT FAT'N' HAPPY ANY MORE?
I've been thin for quite a long time now. Since people have
heard I'm
working out they think 'God! You look thin!' but I've been this weight for
two years - 11 stone (154 lbs. AG) I
photograph like a fat pig, that's the
thing.
I'm fitter now, I've got a few muscles I hadn't discovered before but I'm not
any
thinner. I haven't been 'The 13-stone Fat George' The Sun knows for
ages.
HE ONLY LIKES ONE SIDE OF THIS FACE?
**That's
not true** You see both sides in my photographs. Actually I do
have a favourite side ... uh, wait till I work it out ... this
side (the
left one). Well, it depends on the lighting, really. There are certain
things about my face that I don't like but
I'm not telling because then
everyone would look for them. I certainly wouldn't let anyone go near my
face with a scalpel - I
think if you have a healthy body and there's nothing
glaringly wrong with it it's tempting fate to play about with it.
**Am
I vain? Hmmmn ... you see, I think vanity is not caring, just knowing
that you're great looking. I think doing what I do and what
most people do,
taking care of themselves, is because they're not very secure about the way
they look. I know that people find
me attractive which I used to find very
difficult to cope with, but I cope easily now because I'm more comfortable
with
myself. I now accept that people find me genuinely attractive, apart
form the fact they find the idea of fame attractive, so I'm
much more
confident now and that in itself makes you more physically attractive
because people can see it instantly.
**Do
I pluck my eyebrows? Yes, I've been doing that since I was 16 because
they join in the middle here (prods the middle of his
eyebrows) and I do
here a bit too (prods underneath the end of an eyebrow) but not much. My
eyebrows are quite a good shape,
believe it or not. I saw someone the other
day whose hairs grew all the way down here (prods half-way down his nose)
and he
looked like a freak! Why? Why not just take the time? I mean, I
looked strange with mine grown in and my sister nagged me into
doing it
because I was a complete state. She groomed me.**
(Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!! Suppose he met a Gallagher brother!!!!!
Ha Ha Ha!
AG)
KATHY
**I'm still very much in love with Kathy and I regret now that I made it as
public as I did. I
talked too much because I was kind of relaxed at hurry.
HE'S BEEN RUFFLED BY THE HURRICANE (Britain was hit by a pretty big
hurricane
back then - Denise)
**My house is like a Scandinavian house in the middle of North London - all
pine and glass. It's not very
grand, it's nice and classy and simple -
exactly right for one person. The bedroom is all glass on one side, all
windows which
look out onto the garden - if you wanted to you could easily
spy on me (what a thought! - Denise) Actually, the garden is an
absolute
wreck at the moment - the hurricane hit it really really hard. I had this
beautiful weeping ash tree and it's ruined.
It's a small garden but it was
just beautiful because it was all green and had trees all around the side -
but all the trees
fell into the main tree and broke it ... a 150 year old
tree, I was nearly in tears, I tell you ... So there you go, a tree is a
tree
is a tree in the end, isn't it? (?)
I blame it on playing about with the atmosphere definitely. There's been so
many weird
things happening with the weather this year, hasn't there? I
don't know if its anything to do with Chernobyl or if it's the hole
they
found in the ozone layer ... yeah, it's probably my fault for using all that
hairspray. (HA HA HA!!! AG) Yeah, I'm
probably responsible for the whole
of London's ... uuh... London's ... um, there's a term for it....er, well,
I'm probably
responsible for it anyway. I'm held responsible for most things these
days.**
HE WANTS FOUR TELEVISIONS?
**I've got four
televisions, actually. One in the bedroom, one in the
kitchen, one upstairs in the living room (because I've got two living
rooms)
and one downstairs. Why four? Er ... well, two of them were there when I
moved in and I already had two - that's my
excuse anyway. Usually I watch
the telly just before I'm going to go out and eat with friends or something
- Blind Date is a
good one for that I think everyone would admit to that.
You watch and see who the three people are and if one of them is really
ugly
or funny you'll watch it, but if not, you'll go off and do something
else until the next bunch come up. That's what I do anyway.
THERE'S
SOMETHING HE WANTS THAT HE CAN'T HAVE?
**There's nothing that I want for, really. And I'm not ashamed of that.
Er... I'd like
a day off though!**
HE WANTS TO BE LAID IN AN OPEN-TOPPED TOMB LIKE ELVIS
PRESLEY WHEN HE DIES?
**I cant see that
happening somehow. I think you have to ask for that,
don't you? Well, if it does happen to me I just hope they do my hair first.
Can
you image it? That would be the worst thing ...**
HE'S A BIT TIRED AT THE MOMENT?
**Yes, actually, I am a bit tired.!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not
life threatening stuff brought up there, but interesting all the same.
I like reading the personal stuff, like his house and
spending time at his
mums etc. don't you?
(Even though I'm not supposed to admit it...yes... AG)
Hope you enjoyed it
- Denise
(I did, I'm sure we all did! Thanks for taking the time Denise! AG)
***************************
freyes-at-kmi.com
(Frank Reyes) writes:
---------------------------------------------------------
HI AMANDA,
Who is the one who is ripping
people off? I think that person
who is ripping people off by not sending the merchandise after
someone already payed for them,
should be EXPOSED to all yoggers
on the Yogmael.
(He has stepped forward to remedy the situation, but would all concerned
parties
please contact me. Also, for future reference, there will be new rules
regarding posting personal collection for sale ads to
YOGMAEL. AG)
Just a short note to all:
BUYER BEWARE AND TRUST THE PERSON
BEFORE YOU BUY FROM THEM!!!!!!
(If in do