Yes, he may have shifted things in his earlier years but in my lifetime (early 80’s onwards) I can’t think of a single noteworthy thing he’s done apart from that equally ridiculous codpiece.
Aye, he’s as important and influential to me as Captain Sensible, Chris Rea, Phil Collins and Midge Ure. He was just another one of those celebs who would pop up on kid’s TV.
He was the prancing idiot from the Dancing in the Street video. A man who, behind the changing fashions, always struck me as a profoundly dull person. Somebody with absolutely nothing to say.
His music represented everything I disliked about music in the 80s. A bland, thin, tinny and over produced noise. Syrupy songs accompanied by screechy saxophone.
And while, I’m sure he was influential. For me, it seemed a bad influence. He was the perfect pop star for the 80’s, a fairly bland and generic product who had understood how to market and rebrand himself.
He was style over substance. The inspiration for the likes of Lady Gaga.