"Careless Whisper": the greatest hit of the 80s, the story of its creation and the main inspiration for George Michael
Oh, that one. "Careless Whisper."The "The Voice of the World," which has touched the hearts of millions of listeners from all corners of the globe in the 1980s! Composition Careless Whisper, which delighted many, is the first biggest hit child of the solo journey George Michael, a member of the notorious British pop duo "Wham!".
In today's article, the story of everyone's favorite pop balladsabout who exactly has become muse for the performer and composer of the great hit, as well as interesting facts related to the creation and release of Careless Whisper
"Careless Whisper" is a romantic pop ballad with one of the most beautiful saxophone solos
On the itself the case, George Michael created «Careless whispering" in co-authorship co their by a colleague at to the duo at «Wham!" Andrew Ridgely. They are came up with and recorded her together, when developed how artists in 1981 year in Watford, then them It was total 17 years.
In the early '80s, George Michael moonlighted as a DJ at a Bel Air restaurant near Hertfordshire.
"I was on my way to Bel Air when I wrote Careless Whisper. I was always writing on buses and trains and cars. It always happens on trips. With 'Careless Whisper,' I remember exactly where it first came to my mind, where I came up with the saxophone line, I remember exactly where and when." - George recalled in his autobiography Bare.
First demo version was recorded by In winter 1982 of the year Houses at Andrew Ridgely. In living room his parents they created impromptu studio. TO to time, when mother Reejelly should was come home, record necessary It was make on the ambulance hand.
On the recording you can hear acoustic guitar, on the which played Ridgely, bass–guitar in performance Dave West, and, naturally, line vocals George Michael. It's funny, what he recorded on the microphone, which the was attached к handle brooms.
The true meaning of the song and the main young heroine of the story that inspired George Michael
"When I was twelve to thirteen I had to go with my sister, who was two years older than me, to the London ice rink at Queensway. There was a blonde woman with long hair who went there. Her name was Jane. I was a fat kid who wore glasses, and I was head over heels in love with her, even though I knew I didn't stand a chance. A few years later, at sixteen, I had my first girlfriend, whose name was Helen.
Shortly thereafter, Michael learned that his first love, the same blonde Jane, moved to a place that was right next to the school performer. They met briefly, but the girl didn't recognize George, who had grown up and looked prettier.
Afterwards, when the singer and his band performed at the school's discoJane was present there. Then she realized that George was very like. This is how the couple began to meet. Next we should read Memories most George Michael:
"Our relationship lasted a couple of months, but I didn't stop seeing Helen then. I felt very smart at the time. The whole idea of Careless Whisper was that the first girl found out about the second girl, which she never did. I started a new relationship with a girl named Alexis without ending up with Jane. Things got very complicated. Jane found out about it and got rid of me... I actually felt guilty about the first girl, and I saw her after that, and the idea of the song was about her."
Interestingly, in the mid-1980s, the performer briefly had an affair with Brooke ShieldsThe first time I saw her, she was a famous actress and model, who was crazy about Michael.
In 2012, Shields revealed that she had always thought that Careless Whisper is dedicated to the breakup of their relationship with Michael. Which, of course, was. incompatible with realityas the song was recorded long before the couple's relationship.
Interesting facts you might not know
Creation pop ballads, shooting clip to her, of course, did not go completely smoothly. There were mishapsinteresting things were happening...
It was very difficult to find a saxophonist to play the solo
George Michael claimed that he got more compliments for writing the saxophone solo at the beginning of the song than anything else he had ever written. The saxophone part was played by Steve Gregory, a session musician from London. As confirmed by Chris Porterwho was the engineer for the session, 10 different saxophonists tried to do solos before Gregory came up with the sound Michael was looking for.
In order to create the world-famous saxophone riff, tape slowing was used
One of the problems was getting so many notes in one breath. This was achieved when Porter retarded tape as he recorded Gregory's solo. When he spun the tape at normal speed, Michael approved of it. The result is one of the most famous saxophone solos in popular music.
Cover by the band «Seether" returned "Careless Whisper" to the Billboard chart
Terrific cover version of the South African group «Seether" brought this song back to the Billboard Hot 100 in 2009 year, coming in at No. 63. The band recorded the song with a mixture of reverence and banter, completely confusing their fans, especially those too young to know it was a cover.
While making the music video, the producers lost the first footage of the kiss
The official music video for the song, directed by Duncan Gibbins, was completely filmed in the Miami, Florida. It features an American actress and model Lisa Stahl. Lisa plays the role of Michael's devoted girlfriend who leaves him because of his affair on the side. In an interview with the magazine. Q magazine Lisa said that she and Michael had to shoot the kissing scene twice because the producers somehow lost the first footage of the couple kissing.
George Michael himself does not consider "Careless Whisper" his most important song.
This song was very important to George Michael's career, but he later said he didn't feel much of a connection to it. When he released his album Faith in 1987 year, he stated:
"While Careless Whisper was loved by many, it did nothing for me emotionally. That's probably because it seems like it's from another life. One More Try, on the other hand, is a ballad very close to my heart."
In an interview with the magazine People The singer even said that he was "fed up" with the song.
