It’s a Major Award! The Grand Prize of all Prizes!

George Michael was bringing his 25 Live to San Diego and you better believe my tickets were secured. It was going to be somewhat of a reunion for my cousin Andrea, and friend Bridget, my two concert dates from our Faith tour night way back nearly two decades earlier (read about the Faith tour experience

https://www.jukeboxjournal.com/musical-memoir/george-michael-the-wham-faith-years).

Susanne would also be with us this time and I was beyond excited to have all my George fan besties on board for this momentous occasion, the return of the love of my life. Speaking of the love of my life, my actual real life hubby was definitely a trooper for all his support and patience as the shenanigans played out.

A local radio station was running a contest for George Michael’s upcoming concert tickets. This wasn’t your normal contest where caller number 10 gets two tickets to the concert. This was the big daddy contest with separate rounds and a GRAND prize! There would be five winners a day for five days. Those 25 winners would each receive the most recent album, 25 box set including the videos. The 25 winners would also be placed into the drawing pool for the GRAND prize. 10 tickets to 25 Live at San Diego Sports Arena, pre-show dinner for 10 at EXY, Greek Fusion restaurant in the Gaslamp, 2 tickets to the Las Vegas show, including airfare and hotel!!! I already had the four tickets to the show for me and my George besties and the latest album box set but I was obviously going to be calling in to try and get my hands on that GRAND prize. I made it in as one of the 25 and was more than excited to wait and see if I could possibly be the big winner. The final day came and went without any breaking news or notifications but the following week as I lay in bed sleeping, my phone rang and I answered in a half dream state. It took a few seconds for my brain to process the news coming into my ears but once I understood what was happening my legs and voice took over as I catapulted out of bed and ran up and down the halls screaming. Brian was instantly in a panic upon waking to such chaos. He kept asking, “What happened? Are you ok? What’s wrong?”. All very sweet reactions from a concerned husband but also all in vain because I was too wrapped up in my frantic celebration and euphoria or possible temporary insanity to provide him any relief. Eventually he was able to figure out what was going on and he laughed at me and all my crazy and tried to get more sleep. I wrapped up my call and started texting everyone I knew. This was breaking, urgent news, it truly was safe to say, “It’s a major award!” and I was crazier than ‘The Old Man’, Mr. Parker in A Christmas Story, as I wandered around the house on cloud 9. I take that back, cloud 9 isn’t high enough to describe the state I was in. 

I invited more girlfriends to join us for our epic night. I wrote up a ridiculously silly invitation, choreographed a dance (really we just studied the choreography from the Outside video) for us to perform at some point at the show, coordinated matching police costumes for our Fab Four to wear, booked a limo and waited in great anticipation for one of the best nights of our lives, or at least of mine. June 17, 2008, the big day had arrived, we all met at my house and practiced our moves, blasted a George only playlist, made each other up and had so much fun. The limo arrived carrying us off to a delicious dinner and we continued on our path to the show. Upon exiting the limo I realized I had the original four tickets but the envelope of contest prize tickets had been left behind at home. Remember when I previously mentioned that Brian was a trooper?  I immediately called him and put him on the task to leave work, drive home and collect said envelope of tickets and bring them to our limo in the Sports Arena parking lot. He again laughed at me and set forth on the mission assigned. Truly a knight in shining armor and possible saint status especially when you consider I was literally dressing up in hopes George might see me and reconsider his romantic choices and if he would have I’d have to say, “Brian, it's been a great 10 years of marriage but I think this is where we part ways.”. I have since matured and grown enough to understand it doesn’t work that way and I would never attempt to or encourage anyone to “turn” someone else. However, it did make for a very chill husband because in all my glorious groupie attempts at GM concerts he knew there was no threat, totally unphased. I for one was a bit delusional but had a great time trying.

The four of us with the originally purchased tickets had great floor seats with an open section between us and the closest first section of seats. We used that open walkway as our stage before the show started and while lights were still up. We performed our ‘Outside’ dance moves in front of an entire crowd of awaiting fans at a packed Sports Arena. We made all sorts of friends and cracked ourselves up while we sang our hearts out and boogied the night away. The next morning my friend Bridget forwarded an online article about the concert in an email with the subject line: “GM Review - we’re famous! ;)”. In the comment section Cesar from Tijuana wrote something about enjoying the girls dancing in the cop outfits. We all got a kick out of this in our email threads and laughed at each other’s stories and pictures from the night. My sister in law, Erin, childhood friend, Michelle, Andrea’s childhood friend, Nina and others were among those in the nosebleed section and they had their own set of adventures to laugh at.

Four days later on June 21, Andrea and I were on our way to Vegas for show number two on my big GM tour adventure. We spent all day at the hotel pool, and lounging in our cabana with personal misters. Fun fact: upon describing our upcoming GM getaway experience with personal misters Andrea understood this as we would be receiving poolside personal Mr.s as part of the GRAND prize. We still crack up when we picture us in  swimsuits, daydreaming of our night ahead at George’s concert as we sip on frozen cocktails brought to us on silver platters by cute poolside servers. Andrea was still nursing her then baby daughter, Marley and between the all day sun and pumping and dumping back in the hotel followed by a sweaty night of dancing to the setlist in a crowded arena, we were a bit like one of those best friend comedy movies after the show was over. I was all pumped up to go hunt my idol down or go Vegas club hopping but my sidekick was literally all pumped out so back to the ac in our room we went and to catch up on some much needed sleep it was. 

Six days later, June 27 and I was now at The Honda Center for my last show of the tour. This was not part of the prize but more of a can’t be over yet and cousin Corin (the original chauffeur for Faith concert) needs to make it to a show and Susanne wants one more show as well because she lost the name pull for Vegas to Andrea. We once again donned the police hats and walked in proud carrying large homemade signs for our George. On this magical ending to a great run I was lucky to meet  Deon Estus, bass player for Wham! As well as on Michael’s Faith album and tour, among many other credits. His biggest or most recognizable personal hit was ‘Heaven Help Me’, which included backing vocals by George. I remember how much I loved that song when it came out. I also met George Michael’s father, Kryiacos Panayiotou, also known as Jack. I was starstruck in my encounter with them and they were gracious enough to let me take pictures with them. 

The three shows were like a dream come true for me. The talent and energy were still in full force on stage. The signature dance moves, the voice like honey, (I swear, no other voice like his). I made it to the front couple of rows at some point, I know he saw me. He was beautiful and sweet, kindness poured out of him. I got kicked out for trying to get closer again at another point, I made my way back in like a ninja in the night. Again, as mentioned earlier, I have since matured. Well, at least when it comes to groupie antics. I have graduated to higher concert goer standards, a much more civilized experience is part of the plan these days. Thank goodness though for these wonderful and wild memories. How would I behave if I could go again right now? I wish I could find out. Have you been lucky enough in life to see George Michael live in concert? Let me know in the comments.

Brown Skinned Brownie

I remember the cashier at the grocery store (after overhearing my mom speaking to me in Spanish) telling my mom that if she was going to live in America she was going to have to learn to speak English.

I posted the photo above on my Facebook page one year with the comment, “I was the only brown Brownie”. It was meant to be funny but the truth is it wasn’t always funny. I remember selling Girl Scout cookies door to door with my mom and an old man asking her how long she had been speaking English and when is she going to lose that lousy accent. My mom didn’t hesitate to answer him that she was a proud American citizen and she may have a lousy accent but she speaks two languages and asked him how many he speaks. After his response of one she told him that when he learns a second one he can come talk to her about her accent and finished off with, “Are you going to buy some cookies or not?”. He bought two boxes.

I remember sorting through my piggy bank money and my mom finding out I was going to throw all my pennies away because they were brown. You see, I had been walking to school and other kids were calling me ‘beaner’ because I was brown. My mom took me by the hand and told me my brown skin was beautiful, she then walked me to the living room and pointed out the picture window. On the driveway across the street laid a very fair skinned blonde woman slathered in oil. “See?”, she asked. “Women all over want to have your skin color, they pay to perm their hair to look like yours and they fry their bodies to have skin like yours”. She reminded me that I was beautiful but mostly because of my beautiful heart, and that I would always be beautiful because the inside comes out so strong.

I can go on and on with stories similar to these but the important thing is with the example and reactions of my mom I was able to grow into a confident woman who didn’t let those events continue to effect me in a negative way. Thanks to this, years later when I was walking in a strip mall with two daughters of my own and a woman sped dangerously erratic and close to us I threw a hand up to gesture “are you serious?”. She looked out the car window and said, “oh relax” and I replied that she should slow down and to that she said, “Why don’t you go back to the country you came from?”. The funny part came when she pulled into a spot, got out and walked into a tanning salon. Looks like she was in a big hurry to get a tan. Anyway, I was then able to laugh at the comment and remember my mom’s message.

When I became a mom myself and started all our little nightly routines one of my favorites was something we called the color sleep. Starting with Isabel, I would list off colors and the things that each might represent. Like, Pink is a satin ballet slipper as it spins on the stage. Pink is cotton candy, sticky, sweet and melting on your pink tongue. Pink is a squirmy, squealing piglet before he splashes into the cold mud. Brown is mommy’s morning cup of coffee waking me up. Brown is the fresh earth on our hands and in our nails when we plant pretty flowers in the garden. Brown is a strong, fast horse running down the field. Brown is a yummy chocolate bar, milky sweet for you and bitter dark for me. Brown is your beautiful skin, eyes and hair, curly or straightened out, from shades of caramel to cinnamon, you are beautiful inside and out.

I’m so happy that my kids and others have more representation out there now than when I was growing up. To them it’s normal to see more diverse faces in roles that had been cast or written another way in the past. Just recently when I showed Grace that our highly anticipated live action film, The Little Mermaid had begun casting and Halle Bailey had been cast as Ariel her response was, “Cool!” And her little sister, Lucia’s was, “She’s SO pretty!”. So when I read online that people were having major temper tantrums about it I felt bad for their narrow minded views and the little ones they may be shaping. When I see and hear the supposed President of this country talking about US congresswomen going back to their countries or amused by and encouraging rally chants of “send her back”.... I feel more than sorry.

I will keep telling my kids that they are beautiful. I have two with brown skin, two with much lighter skin and one in between and all will continue to hear that their beauty comes mostly from their kind and generous hearts, their brave, adventurous spirits, love of books and curiosity and so much more. They will always be exposed to diversity in real life and in the media we choose.

George Michael-Wham!-Faith years

October 11, 1989. I was Thirteen years old when on this most special of nights, a core memory was formed. I would see the love of my life, George Michael in concert. George Michael, live and in person on stage at San Diego Sports Arena. Not only was I infatuated with this pop icon he truly was and remains for me so much more. An enormous talent of songwriting and producing with a voice that is unmatched. Kindness and generosity that has touched so many. A real life superstar and I would witness his first solo tour. That night as I excitedly got ready in a haze of Aqua Net hairspray combined with the intoxicating scent of Exclamation perfume, I fumbled through my Caboodle and wondered whether I should wear my Wet n Wild lip gloss or the Bonnie Bell Roll-On. What would be the best choice for an unforgettable night like this? High shimmer or high gloss? Flavored? Scented? I mean this night was crucial, I was feeling so grown up and so cool! That is until I got the news. The news that the guest list for tonight’s outing had just had a very last minute change.

I was a Wham! fan from the beginning. I was in love with George Michael. I mean, obsessed might be a more accurate description but far less appropriate for a hopeful music blog writer so I’ll just go ahead and stick with LOVE, I was in LOVE. See, there I go again, the all caps are just a bit juvenile but maybe I’m transporting back as I write this. The music was my absolute favorite. From Fantastic, and Make It Big, to Music from the Edge of Heaven. When the music was fast it made me happy, made me dance. When the songs were slow they made me dream of a future love and the heartache that would most likely follow.

As I fell in love with the music of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley along with their friendship that came through so strongly. Wham! was also goofy and hilarious and not afraid to show it. There were the two heartthrobs in George and Andrew but we also had the beautiful, glamorous and funny Pepsi and Shirlie to look up to as well. All this made for a perfect combination for young kids falling in love with a band and forming their own bonds as best friends. From hanging with my older cousin Corin and listening to the more mature, “Nothing Looks the Same in the Light” to dancing and being silly with my elementary and middle school besties Susanne and Bridget. We had future married lives with George and Andrew all planned out. But my biggest fan friend, Wham! partner in crime was my cousin Andrea. Andrea and I worshipped Wham! Together we choreographed dances to their songs, actually choreography is a bit of a stretch when in actuality we just motioned the lyrics as we sang and danced in front of the mirror. To be totally honest, even saying we motioned the lyrics could be a generous way of putting it because there were a few botched lyric translations, most notably in the song “Credit Card Baby”. We were acting out a muscular body builder for the line “I guess they think that I’m a lucky guy” because we thought he was singing about being a love “big guy”. We cracked up hysterically when we realized our error and it still makes us laugh every time we bring it up. We had a whole Charlie’s Angels meets Punky Brewster faux photo shoot thing we would perform in front of my huge French provincial style bedroom set mirror. This was quite impressive because we would hold fabulous poses as we made the imaginary camera clicking sounds and all the while we were holding the door closed as my little brother, Donny tried with all his might and crazy strength to get in. There were the recording sessions of sing-alongs and more hysterical moments like getting a fart caught on tape or as we still quote,  “got it on recording!”. A few years later when “Music from the Edge of Heaven” came out with noticeably  more grown up content we would sneakily listen to the lyrics on “Battlestations” with our jaws dropped, hoping Tio Hugo wouldn’t bust us but soon enough he did. This album was like a beautiful farewell to their fans and the video for “The Edge of Heaven” was a great compilation of all the best video moments. As the song title implies, I was in Heaven. This video was my most favorite televised, video recording ever. George in his most absolute glory wearing a fringed suede jacket, singing, dancing and celebrating his fabulous run with Andrew. I was in total awe every time and those were precious occasions as these were not the days of DVR and YouTube. Andrea and I watched happily as we sat on Tia Evelyn and Tio Hugo’s couch and then it happened, Tio Hugo heard the lyric, “My daddy said the devil looks a lot like you” and he walked straight over to the television set and turned it off. This was devastating, but we barely protested. We may have questioned with tears and begged a little but we didn’t really revolt because Tio was usually a fun loving and easy going Tio so if he took this stand he meant it and we better leave well enough alone. Seriously though was he not listening to the rest of the lyrics or was that the line that put him over the edge? I was over the edge, “The Edge of Heaven”. To this day, I haven’t made it back.

One year later we were graced with the release of George Michael’s first solo album, Faith. Of course I could not get enough and my room was covered in posters, pillows, t-shirts, all the Faith merch I could get my little hands on. I lived and breathed Faith. I have a memory so vivid that I can still feel myself in that moment. When the “Faith” video came out and opened up with that jukebox in black and white and the vinyl record sound of “I Want Your Sex” playing and then transitions to the organ and then to guitar strums and boot taps of the now oh so famous, “Oh I guess it would be nice…” I was hooked. I remember running home from the school bus stop to make sure I would catch the “Faith” video on MTV’s Top 20 Video Countdown show. Once the video started slipping its way down the chart, for each slot it dropped I had to speed up my running pace to get home in time. I was desperate not to miss it and I can still feel my backpack hitting me as it violently crashed back and forth from left to right on my back as I ran down the very steep hill at full speed. On one of these days as I watched George strut his stuff in his infamous blue jeans my little brother randomly decided to walk up to the TV set and turn it off. What the heck? Had he been commiserating with Tio Hugo or something? Well, Donny wasn’t going to get the go down quietly kind of reaction from me. I'll spare you the details this time but I’m sure you’ll learn all about our WWF style encounters some day. 

The days of Faith were now in the Bridget chapter of fan friendship. Andrea was really into New Kids on the Block at this point and I really didn’t have too much time for that. When I got the most amazing news ever that my mom was buying me tickets to the Faith tour for my birthday I flipped! The tickets went on sale around my birthday and the concert itself would be held on October 11, just three days after Bridget’s birthday so she was the obvious choice for a concert partner. The age gap of three years suddenly seemed to be widening and Andrea was probably going to bring the cool factor down if she tagged along. She had started copying all my style choices lately and it was getting really annoying. I mean, it wasn’t exactly her fault when it came to the hand me downs, that was between our moms. I definitely wasn’t holding that against her but the other stuff was too much, when she picked the exact same Swatch watch I already had, well that was the final straw. I needed to go with my older, cooler school friend. My mom bought four tickets and said that two were for me and Bridget and the other two were for my older cousin Corin and whoever she wanted to bring. Corin had a license and would be chauffeur and chaperone all in one and so she should at least get to have a friend along for the night. That was all the more exciting! Bridget and I would be hanging out with two high school girls at a big concert for our favorite singer ever! My mom took me to Tia Evelyn and Tio Hugo’s house to drop me off with my cousin Corin. My heart raced with anticipation and excitement but with the announcement of a change in plans that heart of mine quickly sank. I was possibly still lightheaded from all the questionable fumes from the cosmetics chaos mere moments earlier but I swear my knees started to buckle as it was explained. Corin’s friend, Rachel was sick and unable to join us and it had been decided that Andrea would be going in her place. What happened next was like a scene straight out of a movie. Andrea came down the stairs with the biggest, silliest grin, her shiny bob bouncing with excitement that filled the room. And wait for it, I had planned my outfit very carefully, attempting to somehow match George Michael’s suspender look in his video for “Monkey”. However, in front of me stood Andrea in what she had decided was her best look for the night. It was a skirt and matching tank top with scenes of cartoon dinosaurs having fun outings of all kinds repeating randomly all over the outfit. Again, I repeat, Cartoon Dinosaurs all over. Dinos at the gas station, Dinos at the drive up diner, Dinos everywhere. How was I going to keep my cool image tonight with a baby dino cousin tagging along? You haven’t forgotten, I was going for “cool” and this new addition to the night’s squad was definitely going to cramp my style. Thankfully the music that we all loved and shared erased any silly ideas of needing to be cool. I’m sure once I stepped in there and realized how much of a baby I still was as well it all vanished and I know for sure I sang my heart out with George, Bridget, Corin and of course my ride or die George bestie, Andrea, that night. I still remember him dancing all night and running back and forth and all his energy and love he gave back to us. 

This isn’t the last George story and there’s plenty more with my fellow fan club member cousins and besties but I can’t end without saying that the little Dino dress wearing kid who used to copy me from toys to watches is now the woman I would copy most if I could when it comes to fashion, she is the most fashionable person I know. Hers is the closet I raid if I’m ever in desperate need of a last minute wardrobe rescue. She’s the one who gives me the amazing hand me downs these days and her daughter to mine and she’s still the one that shares the couch with me most often on a George Michael video watching and sing-along session. I still hold the card for biggest George fan though. After her NKOTB phase she moved on to N’SYNC and then Justin Timberlake so….

 Stay tuned for more chapters to our adventures with George, much much more where that came from.