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Now I’m really bummed that I didn’t buy tickets to the MSG show, even if they were overpriced: George Michael has announced that his current tour will be the last of his career, presumably to devote more of his time to scuttling the Wham! biopic that his former manager has been plotting. The last arena shows of his career will take place in London in August, and they’ll be dubbed “The Final Two”–a sequel of sorts to Wham’s last gig, which you may recall was called “The Final.” (And yes, I have the Wham! greatest-hits album of the same name.) In honor of his impending retirement, let’s go back in time via YouTube…
First, here’s George covering one of my favorite songs of all time, Terence Trent d’Arby’s “Sign Your Name” (!):
From that same 1991 show, here’s “I’m Your Man”:
And here’s his combined cover of “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” and Seal’s “Killer,” which actually made me appreciate the original version of the latter in a big way:
Speaking of live covers:
Next, here’s a 1988 performance of “One More Try” (only audio, sorry):
A slightly unsynced version of “Monkey,” because it’s the only one that hasn’t been caught by the Sony BMG “no embedding” police (they have to get that ringtone ad revenue, I guess):
And finally, “Everything She Wants,” because it has live crowd noise (so it counts!) and is also still one of my favorite songs ever, thus making this collection of clips come full circle:
Feel free to post your favorite GM clip in the comments, because I’m sure I missed something.
Michael “to retire from touring [BBC]
George Michael “may thwart Wham! film” [Guardian]
I just heard my knees creak and felt my hip pop.
WHOA! This genuinely makes me ache a little inside. Guess I’ll get back to work now. [And look into getting some tickets to that show at the Great Western Forum]
hey, remember when they played in china or japan or one of those foreign places? i followed the stories faithfully in smash hits/star hits.
+ Watch video
Kissing A Fool is freakin’ awesome!
they being wham.
i’m an interweb idiot, btw.
The Final was my first self-purchased cassette. This news makes me feel old…
Also, Adamski released his version of “Killer” first (though him and Seal wrote it together).
Not George Michael, but my favourite George Michael, ahem, “cover”:
“I Want Your Sex”
Soccer moms and West Hollywood are bummed.
@Chris Molanphy: You had a cd player in 1986?
@Chris Molanphy: i did. i bought it later, though, at virgin. maybe in the ’90s?
Words cannot describe my love for Wham’s “Club Tropicana” video.
Best video ever:
I’m gonna jam the Monogamy Mix 12″ of “I Want Your Sex” in tribute.
@brasstax: I did - bought my first Sony Discman (the first one!) in summer ‘86 with money from my first job. I wasn’t an early adopter, exactly (CDs came out in ‘83, I think?), but among anyone my age or almost anyone I knew save one or two adults, I was definitely first on the block.
This probably explains why I tend to defend the CD from vinyl haters instinctively. Everyone forgets how shitty most pop/rock vinyl sounded in the ’80s and how much better the CD was in almost every way.
@Chris Molanphy: Wow, I didn’t know the Discman was available so early on. I only have fuzzy memory of cd technology in 86, and was totally a late adopter (didn’t get a player until 1992), but I was thinking those earliest players were like $700-$900.
@NeverEnough: That is a good one.
Also, has anyone seen this this lady’s George Michael fan blog before? I didn’t even know there were fan blogs, really, but she’s written probably 150,000 words about him over the past two years, ranging from psychological studies to (very long) porny slash fiction.
@bcapirigi: !!!
I’m going to be reading that blog the rest of the day. Off to vote on her “who should be the subject of my next erotic George Michael story?” poll *crosses fingers that there’s a “the corpse of Cliff Burton” option*
@bcapirigi: From the blog:
“”GET HIM ON HIS KNEES,” a voice said. It wasn’t Malyuchenko but the other, rougher voice that told Kenny to get the body oil. Kenny obeyed and was on his hands and knees, waiting. George parted his cheeks and lightly rubbed his completely stoked shaft just outside his asshole, teasing him…”
Fantastic.
Did you actually buy the British edition of The Final? I paid, like, $25 for that baby on import CD in 1986, with hard-earned 15-year-old’s money.
You still wanna go to the Garden and sit in the nosebleeds, I’m there…
Thank you for all the awesome George Michael YouTubery, Maura.