The reunion no-one is ever dreaming of
George Michael on the fuzz; have we gone and lost our minds? Partly! A large portion was permanently displaced after senselessly jitterbugging away to Wake Me Up Before You Go Go! one too many times. The remaining braincells are in perfect working order and rate George Michael as one of the best crooners of the last and current century and a timeless dance club icon. Neither of these qualifications justifies us paying attention to Michael on the same blog that accused Foster the People of being too mainstream. Our excuse is the interesting array of covers that Michael has recorded through the years and that forms the core of his current Symphonica tour.
By transforming them into slow jazz ballads, Michael introduces some classic and some obscure alternative rock songs to Henk and Ingrid. Most of the 60.000+ fans that were present at one of the three performances in Ahoy! on the 10th, the 21st and the 22nd of October, will be familiar with the songs of Sting, Nina Simone, David Bowie, Amy Winehouse and Rihanna performed by the George Michael Orchestra. Other covers, three of which we will celebrate this week, are more the stuff of the Fuzz.
Let her down easy was the fourth single to D’arby’s third album Symphony or Damn (1993). Although the album was sort of a comeback after the commercially disappointing and rather difficult second album Neither fish nor Flesh, the single itself barely made the UK top 20. Despite this, it grew out to be D’arby’s most memorable song alongside the early hits of his 5x platinum debut album Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D’Arby. More than any other song Let her down easy showcases D’arby as the great and undervalued soul singer he is. George Michael does a great job introducing this delicate song to those who haven’t consciencely heard it before and making those of us, who have, conclude that the original is better. Terence Trent D’arby is still making music today. He’s recently released his fourth (online)album under the name Sananda Maitrey.