Forget Me Not

As we approach the end of this year, another great 20th Century singer/performer/writer has left us.  George Michael made the 1980s more memorable for me with some of the best songs of that strangest of decades.

Wham! made some of the best singles of the mid 80s and supplied a funky antidote to the stilted seriousness of Spandau Ballet and other "New Romantics".  Here is their best single:

George, of course, became a somewhat more serious solo artist and continued his career with hits like Careless Whisper and Faith.  His masterpiece, however, was Fast Love, a song that continues his recurring themes of not wanting responsibility and instead attempting to forever continue the thrill of finding new excitement:

The 21st Century saw a decline of his songwriting powers as apparently too many drugs stifled his talent.  We should not though forget what a talent he had, and his heart was always in the right place as his benefits for NHS Nurses and striking miners showed.

Farewell George and thank you.

                                       

Epitaph

Today brought the very sad news of Greg Lake's passing to cancer yesterday.  I first became aware of him as part of the original King Crimson in 1969 with their phenomenal first LP, In The Court Of The Crimson King.  The song Epitaph from that album haunted me then and now seems more prescient than ever:

Soon afterwards, Greg became part of ELP.  Here is one of their best songs, Karn Evil 9 from Brain Salad Surgery:

Perhaps his most memorable song, however, is I Believe In Father Christmas from 1975:

So another great musician from the 20th Century leaves us this year.  Farewell and thank you Greg.