My earliest memory of George Michael was when my dad returned from Kathmandu with a toy Casio keyboard that had several demo tunes on it. One of them was an instrumental version of Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, which I listened to over and over again for years until, sometime during my early teens, I broke open that keyboard to see what was inside. That was the last I heard of that cheesy sounding, but incredibly memorable tune. I never knew what song it was until I heard it again years later and looked up the lyrics.
If you were ever a fan of the man and his voice, you’d be able to easily recognise it among several others – it was smooth, angelic and effortless. How ironic that this Christmas turned out to be his last. His biggest song, Last Christmas, turned out to be his reality.
George Michael’s songs often featured an airy, dreamy chorus section supporting his voice, reverberated guitars and simple accented funk rhythms over a slower dance and an R&Bish beat reminiscent of the 80s dance sounds. Add a beautiful slithering and raspy saxophone melody to it and you have the colossal, careless whisper which we consumed in insane proportions at some point in our lives. It was our drug, a sound track to our lives, a tune that gave us something to dream about while we stared at the houses and streets passing by on our trip to school or work with our earphones on.
His control over his voice and texture was mesmerising to say the least – a characteristic trait of singers with gifted voices. All of his songs gave us hope and faith in something beautiful and aptly titled, ‘Faith’, his debut that went on to be his biggest work ever. The man had swag too! The ear rings and the faded 5’Oclock beard gave him a distinct look. And who’d not want to own one of those tinted glasses that matched his dress?
His live rendition of Careless Whisper, in China, in 1984 is my all time favourite. It starts with a solo improvise saxophone intro flowed by warm synth chords. He inspired millions of other artistes and audiences alike, performed with other greats like Queen, Elton John and Beyonce to name a few, won several awards, broke records on album sales but stayed humble always and made creativity his top priority. He was once quoted as saying, “If you don’t feel you’re reaching something new, then don’t do it” – a standard you can hear in every one of his works right from Wham! to his solo work till the very end.
Although it was fuelled by his involvement in drugs and scandalous behaviour that he got himself into, George was also a voice of the gay community. His songs timeless, his presence loud, his voice one of a kind and his charisma, deep and illusory, he will be remembered for years to come, definitely every Christmas and as long as love exists.
– The writer is a Bengaluru-born record producer currently based out of Hollywood and has a much anticipated track coming out later next month
