By George!

I've been called "musically gay" for many years. As a child who loved Duran Duran, I was regularly beaten up by lovers of Twisted Sister and Van Halen. Later, I became a big fan of WHAM as well and later, George Michael's solo career (I saw the FAITH tour at MSG). How I went on to be in something called "the aggression" might have been a response to this...

Anyhow, when while bantering back and forth with my friend TODD RYAN, he, always questiong my sexuality, made the following joke: "oh come on man, I know you sit around all day listening to WHAM!" and what do you fucking know, at that VERY moment I was listening to guess what, WHAM! Fucked up. Anyway, this incident has led me to re-address Wham and their work, which I remain very fond of.

I think George gets a bum rap, but I think his ego did get a little outta control for awhile with the whole suing of Sony, the not appearing in videos, etc. He's gay, big fucking whoop, but sadly, the dumb fuckers known as the public and the music industry seem to ignore the fact that he is a brilliant songwriter who played the bulk of the instruments on all of his records. He's the real deal, the total package. And he's Greek.

Anyhow, this came across my way this morning:

"A documentary which takes a candid look at the life of chart-topping singer George Michael will be shown at this year's Berlin Film Festival. A Different Story will screen in the Panorama section of the festival, which runs from 10-20 February.
It features the singer talking about both his career and his personal life, from his days in Wham! through to more recent events. Michael will attend the festival to introduce the screening on 16 February. Director Southan Morris and executive producer Andy Stephens will also attend the festival. The 93 minute film will see Michael discussing his early days in Wham! along with his later career, including his legal battles with record label Sony and his stance against the Iraq war and American politics. It will also touch upon his turbulent personal life, including his arrest in a Beverly Hills park toilet in 1998 for "lewd behaviour", and the death of his boyfriend Anselmo Feleppa from Aids. The film, which includes previously unseen footage of the singer also features contributions from Michael's former Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley, as well as ex-Wham! backing singers Pepsi and Shirlie. Other contributors include Sting, Mariah Carey, Elton John, Noel Gallagher, Geri Halliwell and Simon Cowell."

The fact that NOEL would be in this documentary speaks volumes to me in a good way and justifies my respect for the man. George Michael is a rare animal in that he really is a genius who can write, sing, play and perform. And he's a helluva showman. And he's greek

In other news, Cochella's line up is so fucking insane this year that it might have to be seen. Have you seen this shit? NIN, New Order, Coldplay, Prodigy, a reunited fucking BAUHAUS (!) and Kasabian and like dozens of other really good bands. Fuck that, I think we're down. We'll discuss in depth.

F