Ladies And Gentlemen - The Best Of George Michael (DVD)

Best Of George Michael 15+

♫ The singer :

He was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou on June, 25th 1963 in North London and went to school with Andrew Ridgeley. The duet was knwon as WHAM in the eighties. After they split, George Michael started a solo career. His albums "Faith"; "Listen without prejudice"and "Older" were out before his Best Of.


♪ George ...
...story about him to tell)

He's one of those singers (together with Sting and Phil Collins, for instance) about who I can't remember the first time I heard a song, and which song it was. It's a bit as if George Michael had always been present in the soundtrack of my life. I am not a huge fan, in the sense that I don't have all his albums but I like "Listen without prejudice" and this one very much!

♫ The ... more

Best Of George Michael 15+

♫ The singer :

He was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou on June, 25th 1963 in North London and went to school with Andrew Ridgeley. The duet was knwon as WHAM in the eighties. After they split, George Michael started a solo career. His albums "Faith"; "Listen without prejudice"and "Older" were out before his Best Of.

♪ George Michael & me : (not that I have a particular story about him to tell)

He's one of those singers (together with Sting and Phil Collins, for instance) about who I can't remember the first time I heard a song, and which song it was. It's a bit as if George Michael had always been present in the soundtrack of my life. I am not a huge fan, in the sense that I don't have all his albums but I like "Listen without prejudice" and this one very much!

♫ The DVD :

Although I bought it only a few months ago, I guess it was out at about the same period as the CD & tape versions of the same Best Of. But here I'd like to draw your attention on a important point : this DVD is not the equivalent of the CDs & tapes. In 1999, I bought the 2 tapes, which was very good value for money as there are 29 songs in all ! On one part, slows ("for the heart") like "Careless whisper" & "Jesus to a child" and on another, dance songs ("for the feet") such as "Fastlove" & "Spinning the wheel". But on the DVD, there are not so many titles. That's why I wrote "Misleading title" about this DVD.
I am not fond of all the songs and all the videos, I usually watch the same ones again and again. But here's my opinion :
There is no booklet with this DVD.

♪ The videos :

You can either watch them from 1 to 23, or you can choose to go directly to your favourite video or "instant chapter access to songs" as indicated in the menu.

1. Outside

The video begins with an extract from a film. "Outside" is not taken from an album. lt is the "hit" single in reference to George Michael's arrest in LA. We have a view on Hollywood by helicopter and a video camera shoots couples kissing. The water closet where George Michael is turns into a disco. He's dressed as a policeman and starts dancing. It's a parody of his own experience.

2. Fastlove

George Michael makes me think of a devil's face. He 's sitting in an armchair, dressed in black with a small beard and short hair : his face is half in the dark.

3. Spinning the wheel

This video is in black and white, George Michael is once again dressed in black and wears sunglasses. He is singing surrounded by a jazz band.The video has a 1930s atmosphere in the way people are dressed; they dance charleston.

4. Freedom'90

It is about 2 lovers apart : Linda Evangelista and a man (I don't know if he's famous, I didn't recognize him!). We can hear George Michael's voice through their lips (they pretend to sing) but also through Christy Turlington's and Naomi Campbell's who also appear in the video.

5. Killer / Papa was a rollin'stone

Watching this video, I remember my teen years. It was the first video where lyrics could be read and I was amazed at the time by this idea (it was in 1993). I found it so original (how naïve I was) and this cover of 2 songs Seal' s and ? was a success to me.

6. Too Funky

This video reminds me of "Liberian girl" in which stars are looking for Michael Jackson who is himself filming the video. I think that the "Too Funky" video was filmed when George Michael had a problem with his own image since you only see glimpses of him, filming. The stars of the video are indeed top models : Tyra Banks, Naomi Campbell, Estelle Lefébure, Linda Evangelista ... You only get their first names so there is also "Emma" & "Nadia" but as I didn't recognize them either, I can't tell you more!

7. Faith

The first thing you can see in the video is a record put in a juke box, which is to me quite outdated. After thet, George Michael arrives with his guitar, wearing sunglasses, jeans and a leather jacket. He's not shaved and I guess you easily imagine how he looks. I think he's a bit ridiculous at this point!

8. I want your sex

Quite explicit title, isn't it ? While George Michael is singing, we can see a woman's hand; semi naked bodies in a bed. Any more details ?

9. Jesus to a child

Great song, full of emotion, a slow ... I listen with my eyes closed. Sorry for the video !

10. Waltz away dreaming (with Toby Bourke)

Letters, photographs on a bed ... Toby Bourke plays the guitar and we slowly go from a bedroom to woods, which make me think of "A midsummer night's dream". George Michael is among the characters in the woods.

11. Father Figure

The first thing we see is an urban landscape of a city at night. A model is alone. She's waiting for a taxi while George Michael is driving his car. So we guess that they had a quarrel. The singer was suspicious about an affair between the model and a photograph...

12. Older

I LOVE this song, which was not on the CD/tape version of the Best Of. Here, George Michael is once again dressed all in black and wears sunglasses. He's in a South American landscape, in the sun, heat and dust but doesn't seem to care.

13. Don't let the sun go down on me (with Elton John)

This is taken from a live concert ofGeorge Michael and Sir Elton John comes on the stage as a guest and sings along with him.

14. Kissing a fool

Another video in black and white, George Michael is singing with a jazz band.

15. I knew you were waiting (for me) (with Aretha Franklin)

According to me, it's far from being his best duet. The two singers are in front of a big screen and we see Aretha Franklin before the screen where we see George Michael and vice versa. It was in 1987, at the time when George Michael had sunglasses on, jeans and a leather jacket.

16. Somebody to love (with Queen)

This was filmed in Wembley in 1991 in a tribute to Freddie Mercury. Evidence is given that George does have a great and powerful voice. He sings with the members of Queen. What a performance!!

17. Monkey

This is a solo song but it could have been put on a WHAM! album since the style of the song and the style of the video make me think of WHAM!

18. One more try

Emotion here again. The singer is alone ...

19. Star people '97
20. I can't make you love me

These 2 videos are taken from George Michael's "MTV Unplugged"show so it's not the album/radio version I like best.

21. A different corner

I think it was one of his first solo songs. I was not surprised to see the singer with longer hair, a beard and an earring with a cross. You immediately think of the way you dressed at the time ... As for the song, I just LOVE it, it is full of emotion. Everything in the video is white : the room, the clothes of the singer => sobriety

22. You have been loved

Unplugged version

23. Careless whisper

George Michael is alone but seems to remember happier times with a woman : sun, love, success, happiness : a lot of nostalgia here.

I don't know which order was chosen to this list of videos but they are not put in the chronological order. You can see the different looks of George Michael through the years.

♫ There are subtitles in several languages (English, French, Spanish and Italian)
I personnally use the English & French subtitles because I don't understand every single word in the song and it helps me a lot to understand better.

♪♪ The bonuses :

₪ Discography ₪

₪ "Parkinson" ₪

I am not a particular fan of Michael Parkinson, but given that I was in England at the time of the programme. As George Michael promoted his latest release, I watched it and wished I had taped it !! Years after, I am delighted to watch it again whenever I want. Souvenirs come back, but not only. If you haven't seen it, I will quickly sum it up (otherwise, you don't have to read) : George Michael talks about his (then) recent arrest, but what is more interesting : his youth, his experience with WHAM, success...
I feel he opens his heart and it's worth it. He also performs songs during the show :"Outside" & "A different corner" . From the menu, you have direct access to the extract of the show with these two songs.
The show lasts about 45 minutes.

Running time : 2 hours

I add some pictures for you to see George Michael's different styles ... not in the chronological order !!

Thanks for reading, rating and commenting x

Don't hesitate to check my spelling as I am not a native speaker
 

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