Monday 26 December 2016

Rick And George: 2016 Not Finished Yet

Carrie Fisher may have managed to wiggle free from the Grim Reaper that has been particularly reaping the famous in 2016 but not so Rick Parfitt and George Michael who have both died over the Festive period.
I saw Status Quo in their pomp in the 80s, they were part of a radio roadshow and after the live event ended they came back on the stage and rattled through the best of their back catalogue while the roadies waited to take down the set. 
While true they only seemed to play three chords and the songs all sounded similar but the duo held their hands up to that and as Parfitt said himself: 'We're Status Quo so whose songs are they supposed to sound like?'   
George Michael i was not so much a fan of but like Quo, he was an ever present from my teenage years and i count 'Last Christmas' as one of my favourite Christmas Songs while 'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go' and 'Careless Whispers' takes me back to carefree, teenage years of youth clubs, concerts and school discos.
Michael's best years were a long way behind him and he had gone off the rails over the last decade or so, the drugs and the pressure of fame sending him into a spiral culminating in his arrest on Hampstead Heath after which he shut himself  away from the public eye.
'Rocking All Over The World' seems to be the popular choice on the radio to commiserate Parfitt and Quo while 'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go' has been the most heard song today for George Michael and though both musicians were background music for me at the time, they are a link back to long forgotten, fond memories of people i have not thought about for over 25 years which makes music such a powerful tool.   
Hopefully, 2016 has finally finished with it's spiteful harvesting.

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