Today Christmas Day is the 8th anniversary of the passing of George Michael who died on Christmas day 2016.

I have been majorly influenced by pop singers and icons. I remember Tommy Steele, Bill Haley and the Comets, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Dusty Springfield, Amy Whitehouse, Diana Ross, Dolly Parton, Kate Bush, Prince, Shirley Bassey, Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Cher, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Freddie Mercury, Jimmy Hendrix, Brian Jones. and this list is just for starters. (emboldened ones died prematurely IMO). All have given me great pleasure over the decades.

I have the type of memory which remembers every single song I have ever heard so if someone were to play a song and it’s one note out I would notice. It’s the same with music and particularly with piano and organ music. I don’t know whether it’s a blessing or a curse. Christmas is the time when the media pull out good films and biographies about people who want to sit and veg out in front of their TV during this holiday period.

I realized that I almost forgotten the great impact that WHAM, namely George and Andrew, had on the population in the 1980s and 1990s not only of the United Kingdom but in America. They ‘made it’ in America as we say. Such as the hype surrounding singers that you seldom really find out what they’re like except by listening to the opinions of those who knew them.

I thought I would use an hour long TV program on the life of Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou to dig in.  George was born in East Finchley of all places when I was 19 years of age and a very gauche and social inept person. It makes me cringe to even think about it.

Here are some snippets from the hour long eulogy NB emboldening is for readability

….George had the insight to see the need for friends around him as he recognized that this business can be lonely…. He said the more friends he had the merrier. He entered the recording studio full of fun wearing shorts when he was recording the Christmas song ….he wanted to play all instruments himself so determined was he to get it right ….  Sam Smith noted that his genius is more than the parts. He said George had a young and pure voice…..

Sam said you could tell he is baring his soul because appearing in front of a crowd is like being naked. ..He means every single note he sings….. It did not feel as if he was trying to outsmart you with his lyrics and I think that’s genius to find the balance ,to be relatable…something that everyone can relate to and also he’s being deeply honest…. There is self-confidence in Georgia’s voice.... He knows who he is …He flies when he sings. By being honest he lets you in to his world… it is almost organic, there is something organic about his singing. ….

He makes the environment relaxed and makes it fun. He made sure he had time with his family mainly at Christmas. He was very generous as he was at all times and loved his house and his Christmas tree. He was very proud of it like a child and he would always have a party Christmas Eve which was the highlight of Christmas. On one of their Christmases together they all decided to go Carol singing and he wore a disguise but when people recognized him they moved on quickly. ….

He sent around huge hampers to his friends…. He worked really hard keeping those friends together he knew we had a tight group of friends. He knew that if he wasn’t there doing special things and parties and so on the group would dissipate as indeed it did after his passing... A man of great kindness and compassion and he helped inspire not only himself but many others.

So what if anything can we learn from the above?

There isn’t that much difference between singing and making a spoken speech. Both have a message to deliver and it needs to be done in a melodious way. If you listen to  great orators there is music and rhythm to what they have to say there is the point is that anything including work can and should be fun, it should be manifestation not  drudgery people should be valued and appreciated as individuals.

There’s nothing better than working as a team and feeling a valued member; I feel we should all look at the way we treat our fellow employees or team members because if we could emulate just a part of what George has shown us, the world would be a better place.

In this troubled world with more problems looming on the horizon it is very difficult to keep our spirits up and so good role models are more vital than ever. Well done George wherever you are.