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Will King George rule?
by David Sue17/11/2006
WHEN George Michael began this European tour two months ago, all
the signs were in place for an auspicious (and long overdue) career
comeback.
After the opening date of the tour, critics were already
proclaiming him "King George!" in their glowing reviews. But in
typical George Michael fashion, this headline would soon change to
"The Madness Of King George" within a matter of days.
Found slumped unconscious in the seat of his car by the police on
Hampstead Heath, Michael was eventually cautioned for being in
possession of cannabis.
It wasn't necessarily the circumstances of his misdemeanour which
were sad though (Michael has been caught in MUCH worse situations,
remember), more the way it re-emphasised the whole "flawed genius"
aspect of Michael's latter-day career. Like all the great flawed
musical geniuses, when Michael falls from grace it often seems like
a long, despairing fall.
That's entirely because of those (legal) highs which he attained at
the top of his musical game.
Alongside Madonna and Michael Jackson, George Michael defined
Eighties pop music, first as one half of Wham! with Andrew
Ridgeley, then as a solo artist.
As far as the Eighties went, he was very much the complete package,
a gifted singer-songwriter with MTV-friendly style.
Feelgood pop but with its own unique sense of soul, his albums have
sold more than 80 million records and he effectively laid the
template for the savvy, autonomous male pop star.
You need only look at the career arches of Justin Timberlake and
Robbie Williams, who both left behind boybands to pursue "credible"
solo pop careers. The latter even covered Michael's Freedom track
as his first solo single after leaving Take That.
Speaking recently on a controversial South Bank Show special about
his drug problems, Michael said: "Cannabis can be a terrible,
terrible drug. You've got to be in the right position to take
it.
"You've got to have achieved most of your ambitions because it
chills you out to such a degree that you could lose your
ambitions."
All of which suggests he still has that sense of ambition and
self-knowing which inspired his last comeback hit Fastlove - the
song that was made (and had an outrageous video inspired) in the
wake of his Los Angeles public toilet episode in 1998.
Although all the tickets for his current European tour - his first
in 15 years - sold out within 15 hours, it would be premature to
say this is a full-scale Michael comeback.
There's a Greatest Hits album also due out, titled Twentyfive, but
that more highlights Michael's musical inconsistencies (he's only
made six albums in a 25-year career) than underlines his
genius.
In the meantime, King George will have to wait a little longer
before regaining his throne.
George Michael plays the MEN Arena tonight (Friday), Saturday, and
Tuesday.
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