Extended Cut: George Michael with Marcus McCann, Part 1

Careless whisper is my alarm sound and it’s fantastic every single time

I'm late to the party but why does he look exactly like Misty on Yellowjackets

Just wanted to note the Vanderpump Rules crossover with James Kennedy (George Michaels godson) and his renaming of his dog from Graham to Hippie!

Yall gotta stop making me cry at the gym!!!!

This started with me excited about George Michael and ended with me bawling my eyes out. Marcus, what you said about our molecules dispersing and Freddy's being in George, David, Elton, + Liza was so, so beautiful it broke my heart.

Sharing a link to Liza's performance at the Freddie Mercury tribute Concert for Life. I love the introduction (has stayed with me all these years) and what she says at the end. Keep watching all the way to the end. Lovely sendoff by Roger Taylor. And then you see Freddie. Magnificent. Charles could NEVER. https://youtu.be/zSxKIVm33mE?si=Oy4a59-7kY2DaOe0

Thank you so much for this! My mom passed last summer and George was everything to her. She was allowed to listen to popular music when she was a kid so she kind of had her teen years in the early 80’s while I was a kid. His music made her so happy and we liked it too so that was helpful! There was a running joke that whenever my mom and I were out somewhere we would hear a George Michael song and I was usually the one to spot it, she trained me well in that aspect 😂 Thank you for stories and presentation of them, you are so kind and it always feels like we’re hearing about a friend rather than some lofty idol kept at arms length. My mom would have loved to hear this one for sure. ❤️

This podcast as a whole is incredible at making me deeply care for people who I haven’t known much about before. This part 1 is so moving. What a lovely conversation between Marcus and Sarah Marshall. Thank you thank you.

Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1. is one of my favorite albums of all time, and even though I would have loved to have Vol 2, I'm glad that George used the songs for good things. Talking about Freddie Mercury living on in his songs... this reminds me of the video of an enormous crowd waiting for an outdoor Green Day concert singing along with "Bohemian Rhapsody", and it just gave me chills. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZnBNuqqz5g

I shared YWA with my dad a couple of years ago, and he will occasionally tell me about episodes he listens to during long work commutes. It's been a nice way to have a connection with someone I sometimes feel strained from. My dad loves George Michael and his music (in many ways, I think he helped my dad to be more understanding of gay people and his gay kid as a result.) I made sure to inform him about this episode! I'm excited to learn more about a man my dad cares about through people that we both care about, and to talk about it together :)

The outro music always triggers a deep emotional response in me and hearing it after your discussion about the Freddie Mercury tribute concert and George visiting Anselmo's resting place finally brought me to tears.

I cannot believe a 17 yr old came up with "guilty feet have got no rhythm"

So bloody excited for this, about 4 years ago we bought a car that only had a tape deck. I bought WHAM fantastic on casette from a flea market and have been obsessed ever since💖. May this podcast have the wide reaching cultural impact we need to finally get a great George Michael biopic 🙏

I feel compelled to say that in the UK/Australia a badmington "birdie" is called a Shuttlecock. So the joke's even more on the nose! 😅

I immediately had to pause to watch Liza with Queen. Hearing “we are the champions” in the context of the AIDS pandemic is one of the most devastating performances I’ve ever seen. I found myself mourning for the millions of lives lost. I am not a person who cries easily or frequently, but that performance is a punch in the gut.

I sang Careless Whispers to get through my pap smear today. That is all.

You guys had me crying with your beautiful metaphor about Freddie mercury’s voice

Re: respecting teen girl feelings and listening to them, and the comment that teen girls watch Euphoria. I was recently reading a review in the Guardian of the show Heartstopper. (Which is so... Ted Lasso but queer teen romance.) The writer was admitting the show is good but was questioning/disparaging its sweetness, saying it's not like Euphoria or whatever, which is dark and therefore somehow relevant or modern or ?? . (Never mind it deals with serious themes like assault and such.) ANYWAY. I know it's a teen thing for all teens. But the youth I know who love it are girls, and they love. it. I was thinking a lot about how 1) kids can like Euphoria AND Heartstopper. 2) Seeing yourself in stories that deal with both the hard stuff AND the sweetness of life is so important. Teen girl taste is powerful and meaningful and deserves to be taken seriously. I'm so glad George Michael is getting the YWA treatment in this regard. Anselmo 💕💕💕

At the 53 min mark, talking about polyamorous movies: there's a pre-code movie by Ernst Lubitsch called "Design for Living" (1933) which is a lighthearted comedy about the relationship between two guys and their girlfriend. May be first on-screen poly relationship? I enjoy it a lot.

I don't know if this is the case with George, but my understanding is that so-called "diva riders" are ways for performers to check that their contracts have been read. If you're setting up pyrotechnics and heavy speakers and stuff, you want to make sure that the venue is genuinely prepared for it, and walking into your dressing room and NOT finding blue-and-white palm trees (or brown M&Ms) is a fast way to find out.

anxiously awaiting part 2 and praying for an epilogue regarding his nephew and godson James Kennedy of bravo’s Vanderpump Rules and his ex-fiancé’s feral labradoodle he renamed to Hippie after she had to give him up during an inpatient stay at a trauma center. a very rich text indeed.

It's interesting that Marcus mentions George making disparaging comments about Andrew RE his contributions to WHAM. Obviously this could be a retcon, but Andrew himself has said that it was a conscious decision for George to take over the songwriting because he was better at it!

Creed has a cover of careless whisper everyone should check out

It made me chuckle when you brought up the wham rap, a friend of mine did a genuinely lovely little bit of writing on it from a class and gender perspective here https://sslh.org.uk/2023/12/22/in-tune-wham-rap-enjoy-what-you-do/

Weeping and laughing at this episode. Cannot wait for part two!!

Question: is the character in Arrested Development a reference to George Michael?

I knew absolutely nothing about George Michael beyond the Faith music video and his arrest, so this episode was all new info for me! Very fun, can’t wait for part 2!

Knew absolutely nothing about George Michael, now I’m sitting in a coffee shop weeping 🥲 thanks for the episode, absolutely great!!

Loved this so much! Thank you

If anyone wants to see a great poly romance movie— check out First Blush on prime!♥️♥️♥️

I would love to know what everyone would have been if they became what they wanted to be at age 5. Dolly Parton: Shark Scientist here!

The video of he and Mary J covering Stevie Wonder's "Always" is two of the sexiest people being real sexy (HER HAT)

teenage girls are tone poems!

Haven’t finished listening yet, but my sister and I were massive Wham/George Michael fans from the 80s - even loved Young Guns and Wham Rap! On a white people who shouldn’t be rapping note: I would like to submit a ‘remake’ of Rapture from last year via The Boys: https://youtu.be/li2WDMgHxD0?si=4RpTT0VnJjUIlcJq

why is no one gonna talk about Ted Breakfast.

Proud to be a Whamerican

Sarah doesn't know Club Tropicana 😱😱😱

David Fincher directed Freedom 90?! I should have known bc of how …blue it was

I’m crying on the bloody bus at the Freddie mercury concert bit

My 97 year old grandfather just got married to a gal he met at a seniors dance. Dance is still where it’s at!

As a firmly Gen ex’r, wham rap was on mtv and on moderate rotation. It wasn’t that bad, it was a British guy talking over a dance beat. Now I have a brain bug. “They promised you a good job… no way”

Found a bunch of pictures of Yog in yellow after looking for that butter yellow suit - I think yellow is his power colour 😍

Omg Sarah please listen to Club Tropicana 🥹

That Ezra Pound comment 😙👌

OMG - I have been wishing out loud to my bf for YEARS that YWA would do a George Michael episode 🥹 Ty ty ty ty ty ty! ✨✨✨✨