Oakland A’s Josh Reddick has been using George Michael’s “Careless Whisper” as his walk-up song and Twitter cover. Reddick usually uses WWE themes and country music.
George Michael has been approached to make an appearance. According to the San Francisco Gate:
There’s no official word yet on whether Michael will show, but there has been contact and the A’s are hopeful they can pull it off. Which would be amazing, and pretty darn cool. Michael, who is English, presumably has little background in baseball and probably hadn’t heard of Josh Reddick until recently, but the Oakland outfielder has brought Michael’s sax-heavy ballad “Careless Whisper” back into cultural relevance.
“It will be the story of Wham! from the early days right the way through to their huge success as one of the biggest bands of the 1980s,” said a source.
“It is very early days but the film is in production and they are casting at the moment for actors to take the role of George.”
“There are several people sniffing around my Wham! film,” he said, “but I’m not sure any of them will come off because they all require Wham! music in them and George controls that. He will have the yes or no on each script presented. George would want control.”
The film, which would concentrate on the band’s heyday from 1983 – 1985, is said to be budgeted at £50m, though it’s unclear whether this would include a fee for music copyright. Michael has yet to comment.
Simon Napier-Bell, the manager of Wham! in the mid 1980s who masterminded the historic Wham! trip to China, later directed “George Michael: Portrait of an Artist” (Amazon Ad) in 2023. It includes interviews with Stevie Wonder, Sanandra Maitreya, Stephen Fry, Kenny Goss, Chris Cameron, Rufus Wainwright, Piers Morgan, and Jo Whiley.
There are three competitions right now for George Michael stuff.
Win George Michael’s Armani Suit
You can win a custom-made, dark-grey metallic linen-blend Armani suit worn by George Michael during his 25 Live tour. The competition closes at midnight on May 22, 2014, and three working days later for postal entries. Check here for all the details.
Win Signed Copy of George Michael’s Symphonica
You can win a signed copy of Symphonica and a signed copy of Words, a book of George Michael lyrics. Also, four runners up will receive copies of Symphonica. The competition ends Tuesday, May 27, 2014. Check here for more information.
In a separate contest, you can also win a signed copy of Symphonica. No competition deadline is listed. Check here for the details.
George Michael has released a new video for his single, “Going to a Town” (Amazon Ad). Unlike the “Let Her Down Easy” video, the video for “Going to a Town” is concert footage from the Symphonica tour.
“Going to a Town” was originally written and recorded by Rufus Wainwright and featured on his 2007 album Release the Stars (Amazon Ad). It is the second song to be released from the successful Symphonica CD.
This article has been updated since it was originally published to include the following information.
George Michael talks about “Going to a Town” in the following interview:
The Guardian reviewed “Going to a Town” as:
The King, George Michael, has returned to us, this time in the form of a Rufus Wainwright cover. Going To A Town is a wistful, orchestral anti-American ballad, which manages to tread the fine line between movingly grandiose and enjoyably tacky. This being George, the video features a poorly animated burning crucifix, which turns into a poorly animated giant burning wooden “LOVE”. He continues to be our most ludicrous yet talented pop artist, and long may he reign.
.