Photo from Getty
Image taken from The Guardian’s
web
Floral
tributes outside the Oxfordshire home of George Michael,
where he was found
dead on Christmas Day.
Photograph: Jack Taylor/Getty Images
Update below
signature + update in pink (feb-april 2017 + February 2020 where she admits...)
Dear George
Michael,
... I really
wish I didn’t have to write this now...
Late summer 1984, I arrived in Verdun, a French town where everything is a reminder of WWI. If
you are a native walking around, Monuments
aux morts are just like passing by Trafalgar Square. It’s there, part of
the landscape... a bit heavier though!
I was
returning from Djibouti in East Africa, so the school transition was a bit of a
challenge weather wise. From up to 80ºC to minus 20ºC. I’m sure you
will understand my music tastes were on the cold scale, cold wave, post punk
and anything a bit freezing.
I knew your
tunes because my mother listened to RTL or RMC always. The radio was on 24/7.
Although my English was primitive, Wake
Me Up Before You Go-Go I knew almost by heart. Not that I liked it, but it
entered my brain at dinner time. Talking was not all the rage at home, listening to the radio was the best
option. You should have seen my mother doing the washing-up pretending she knew
the lyrics. Priceless! It worked while cooking or dusting too.
It’s at the
French lycée I warmed to you. Careless Whisper. There was a juke box
(or perhaps was it a boom box?) in the students common room and in the autumn,
at lunch breaks, someone kept playing Etienne
Daho’s Week-End A Rome followed
by your hit and then Sade’s Smooth Operator, a daily basis treat for a few weeks. Lots of memory in that sad
but full of surprise’s town.
You, like Madonna, Prince, Michael Jackson, Boy George, Carmel, Duran Duran, Alain Bashung, Elli Medeiros, Dead Or Alive and so many more were
always present in my life even though I would only buy Etienne Daho’s LPs. It’s
what you guys eventually represented that I respected. How you guys achieved
your goals despite the discrimination: being black, gay, bi, a woman, a
proletarian.
Yesterday, 26
December, when I learnt your passing, I wanted to celebrate your philanthropy,
your generosity, your commitment to those suffering and your humour. So, I
tweeted @ 8AM GMT your cameo for Little
Britain and Comic Relief. Having
worked for Les Inrocks, I knew they
had no interest in you, but I don’t trust their “innocence”, so I waited for my
second twit on you in bed with Ricky
Gervais an hour later. I mean they are plenty
of moments of you being funny and charitable...
Two hours
after my first twit, Agathe Auproux of Les Inrocks wrote about your cameo on Comic Relief. A "cult" moment according to her (there are so many)! Couldn’t she write
on your philanthropy or generosity in general? A longer article? Perhaps she
had some dusting and washing-up to do? [Les Inrocks/Agathe Auproux might have realised it is not a "cult" video anymore and dropped the word "culte" recently in March-April 2017: showing off their ignorance and vulture attitude]
Half an hour
before that, the magazine that might not have much to say about you started its
rave on you: a collection of music peeps on twits (2K views on FB) – well, they do
observe twits don’t they? They are journalists.
@ 12pm GMT your eight iconic tracks - I know, that’s insulting, even I can mention more than
that – (over 500 views on FB).
2pm GMT, the most honest
article on you, wrong title though “icone queer”!
(over 700 views on FB).
If Les Inrocks really wanted a “cult” moment, why not chose a French one (no translation needed) and talk about Thierry Ardisson and George Michael in Tout le monde en parle. What a profound and honest interview!
If Les Inrocks really wanted a “cult” moment, why not chose a French one (no translation needed) and talk about Thierry Ardisson and George Michael in Tout le monde en parle. What a profound and honest interview!
If Les
Inrocks had really wanted to celebrate the singer in an alternative way, why
not talk about Wake Me Up
Before You Go-Go sleeve’s design... no less than Peter Saville (Joy Division, New Order,
King Crimson, Roxy Music, The Monochrome Set, OMD, Suede, Pulp, David Byrne
& Brian Eno, etc.)?
Or talk about an anecdote (true or half true) of one of their fav band The Smiths who wrote an "angry" song Panic on Wham! being played on On BBC following a news report about the Chernobyl catastrophe.
Or talk about an anecdote (true or half true) of one of their fav band The Smiths who wrote an "angry" song Panic on Wham! being played on On BBC following a news report about the Chernobyl catastrophe.
How many
people have commented on FB reminding Les Inrocks about the crass they said about you
in the past? All
comments deleted, including mine.
They are simply scavengers, gathering clicks for their advertisers! Death is
saleable...
Because I
spoke my mind politely though on their FB page, Les Inrocks have blocked me from commenting any further on their future posts. The
magazine that defends #FreedomOfSpeech, the magazine that
sexually harassed me,
the magazine that makes sure I’m out of business!
Pierre Siankowski, Les Inrocks's editor prefers to block me on Twitter rather than sorting out
anything...
How many
front covers have you made for Les Inrocks George? I can’t find any in their 30 years of existence! Perhaps
I’m wrong? In 2014, they wrote about you, not in very good terms...
It is
understandable to pay tribute to a dead artist, but being OTT as they have been
with no tracks of respect for you in the past is pretty dubious!
What’s next?
An edito by Pierre Siankowski saying how much he loved you and how his magazine
acts on integrity? An angry, faithless predator he is, making money on death!
What a great year it has been for Les Inrocks... so many musicians have died!
I told you
George, I wish I hadn’t written this prose. Wherever you are, here is a nice and informative
piece on you from BBC.
Bon voyage mister Michael.
Twits on George
Michael by Mark Stephens :
George Michael
with Freddie Mercury tribute w/ David
Bowie https://twitter.com/MarksLarks/status/813283637793845248
George Michael /
Catherine Tate Xmas special https://twitter.com/MarksLarks/status/813351002967605248
February 2017: Following this post update, Agathe Auproux (Les Inrocks, Cyrille Hanouna’s
TPMP) blocked me on Twitter! Criticised quite rightly a heavyweight
kickboxer for posting pictures
of a “sexy” woman on Instagram... while posting similar pictures of herself... [The latter video has been deleted in March 2017 and her "porn" pix on Instagram have been removed...]
February 2020: Agathe Auproux admits having been subjected to clickbait in Les Inrocks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9N1G2Yh6pQ&t=7s, which implies the magazine stole my Tw-knowledge and experience in London via David Doucet: https://twitter.com/Sybillebbldnrbt/status/1374755318819917826
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