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‘In the afternoon, we were jamming with the hostel’s equipment’ – Pip Hodge |
Court sends George Michael to Sing Sing
IN the words of one of his hits, the guilty feet of pop icon George Michael had lost no rhythm when he led hostel residents in a round of music-making as part of a community service order on Thursday.
The Highgate-based singer spent eight hours with residents of St Mungo’s homeless hostel in Euston, collaborating on a series of songs about poverty, crime and homelessness prompted by their experiences in Camden.
He supervised the music workshop as part of a sentence laid down by Brent Magistrates’ Court in June. He was ordered to undertake 100 hours community service after admitting driving while unfit. The former Wham! co-star was found slumped in his Mercedes in Cricklewood in October last year.
“When he arrived, nobody knew who he was,” said St Mungo’s resident Andrew Gilmour. “He was in a baseball cap, shirt and trainers, and spoke to anyone and everyone and didn’t act special.
“He was dressed down more than me. But then he helped people write songs, some about poverty, some about people in hostels.
“I thought it was a really good thing, because he’s keeping drug addicts and alcoholics off the street. They’re going to him rather than going down to the off-licence or going and doing a deal for gear. He was right down to earth, a good man.”
There was a strict ban on cameras and recording equipment during the afternoon session, and management at the Endsleigh Gardens hostel were forbidden from even confirming the musician was in the building, despite a stream of residents leaving the centre clutching autographed shirts, posters and copies of Big Issue magazine.
“In the morning we had a music workshop, thinking about lyrics and talking about a set of key words. There were ‘sons’ and ‘guns’, ‘faith’ and ‘hope’,” said resident Pip Hodge. “Then in the afternoon we were jamming with the hostel’s equipment. He seemed like a nice guy, but he was a bit shy, funnily enough.” |
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