The guys of disguise
Hello everybody! Thanks for stopping by to check up on the Kid.
As I`ve announced at the beggining of this month, we`re gonna make a little
twist in our music machine and for a change, flow with the pop music. I managed to
remember details from GM concert to serve them up here for you and to continue,
I am about to meet some pop artists I respect and feel as very influent, with
full of material to discover.
George Michael, who was declared as one of the greatest pop
artists ever due to his vocal range and extremely sensuous way of presenting
his music to public. That is why almost everybody loves him. I mean, come on,
ask around, if they at least don`t love him, they sure know him. His lyrics
tended do depict love purely. We have sweet romantic love as in I remember you,
then we move on to some more sexually orientated lyrics, provocative as well as
talkative (starting with the title of the song) like I want your sex, Fast love and many
different but from the same branch-love that ended up badly. But what needs to
be reflected here is, these lyrics seem to provoke your empathy. If you happen
to face a similar experience as George, you really get a clue what the man is
talking about. The more you listen to it, the more you`re into it. When I first
listened to Careless whisper I suppose I was around 8. We used to have this
radio station, man I don`t even remember the name, anyway, they used to keep
the saxophone intro (now I`m sure you got it in your memory somewhere and you`re already whispering it to yourself
right now. And still convinced GM ain`t
your type?) for the opening of their evening news or something. Well it kept
playing in my head over and over again and suddenly I heard the whole piece on
the radio. The result? Go figure! I was astonished. I`ve never heard such voice
before. Due to my age, I was not especially into this way how to put the music
to evoke people`s emotions and so on, but I was already aware he knew how to
sing it so good, I kinda knew he`s been talking about (well not exactly, I
figured it out some years later), but anyway, I was already a fan. Similar story
but with different aspect is Sir Elton John, who is also very famous for his
emotionally-filled songs. Your song would never turn out to be so famous if
there won`t be love described in so simple way, one could only wonder, why didn`t
he use the same words himself to tell how he loves somebody. Both of these
artists took part especially for this reason on Freddie Mercury tribute concert
92.
John, whose songs might be described
as a bit more light as Michael`s (not comparing to the songs of Wham, but solo
career), are also depicting emotions as they are, without any decorations. As
heard in timeless heartbreaking classic Sacrifice (which I dare to compare with
GM`s Careless whisper). The music gets into your ear, the melody is simple, but
yet not too much so we shall not leave it to underestimation and the extra plus
is his accompainment on the piano. What needs a special attention is The Lion
King soundtrack and also the masterpiece dedicated to the princess Diana. I
might declare myself as The Lion King (kinda) fan(atic) for having at home this
cartoon in 3 different languages and I used to know it by heart (the songs and
all) so I don`t know if music has something to do with it or not. Anyway, The
Lion King won`t be the same without this important part.
Now at this point I would like to put under spotlight one
important thing, which both of these artists have in common and it`s not only
Don`t let the sun go down on me. I am not here to be the judge of their sexual
orientation, but, what interest me, and I have spent some time on this, is the way
they present it. I know the 90s were the years we could not declare them as
strictly conventional, but also not so liberal one for one to be coming out so easy.
It`s not like some people say, it`s easy if you`re an artist. You just come
there and say whatever you want and people will like you anyway. Well I think
the situation goes in slightly different way. If you happen to be a famous, a
really big one, it`s even more difficult to present people who you really are
when they thought of you differently from your beggings. It ain`t easy for
somebody to play the role just to achieve the recognition and pay the
huge price of being wrongly understood as somebody else. Especially when we talk about
such intimate topics as sexual orientation. What I tended to notice is GM put
special attention to his extremely macho performance back then. Even during his Wham
years, both him and Ridgeley tried to act like normal straight guys, chasing after
girls (what I have in mind is Tropicana club) and trying to be cool. Then he
decided to present himself in kinda rock-macho look for Faith (leather jacket,
guitar, ripped jeans and beard). Not macho enough? He added some
supermodels, good-looking girls, who
were at the top of their career, in the Freedom 90 and Too funky. In Father
figure and Careless whisper he still tried to give the impression of the great
lover. Elton John tried it differently. He chose men and women actors to depict
the story going on in the song, while he was only starring in some singing parts. And now imagine all those videos telling the truth. Would you still be a
fan? Would you still like If you were my woman if you would hear if you were my
man instead?
But they both did it. They came out under the public eye, with
the great chaos, pomp or how you want me to call it. And they maintain their
success. One of the really cool songs is Outside, having some funny details
from his unfamous incident hooking up with the undercover cop. What got out of
this was interesting song and a really cool video with dancing scene right in
the public bathroom (where the scene happened). When he admitted his homosexual
orientation he started to be really opened about very personal questions (also about
Anselmo Feleppa and his other relationships with men, going on pride parades etc.). Elton John took another
step by marrying David Furnish and adopting two kids. And yet, gay man who admitted he slept with so many man prostitutes he is lucky not to be having aids, remained a important persona
in the music industry, due to his special outfits and remarkable glasses. So to
conclude, the music remained. The fame is still here even though maybe some of the fans
gave up on them. I ain`t surprised, you don`t have to sleep with the guy. If you like it, you listen to him, if not go find another one. No matter how the persona stays big, what really matters to me, might be something more than a video with
love story of two people of different sex.
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