Talk:George Melly

Health problems

I've removed some of the health problems - he's always been deaf, impotence isn't really an issue (as George puts it "mind? It's like being unchained from a lunatic"), I suppose incontinence could go back, but it's a bit trivial, and feeling faint when standing up too quickly is somewhat vague...

I've moved the stranglers ref. to the end where it has a better context, and generally tightened it up here and there.

Also added ref. to his wife's book which details their marriage.

Sexuality

Technically, GM is bisexual, but let's be careful using terms like "coming to terms with his bisexuality" when referring to his youth. At that time, he was exclusively attracted to men. Tomandlu 09:34, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

techically, who gives a flying fuck, being raised in a time were being left-handed was deemed evil, surely any modern measure of his sexualiity isn't correct or appropriate 05:41, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

technically, I'd agree :) Tomandlu 19:24, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

Fishing and masturbation

Not really noteworthy enough to include IMHO, but if anyone does put it back, please note that it was a large trout (not a salmon), and the reference is G.Melly's book, "Hooked".

Discussion on the Register

This article is discussed on The Register Andy Mabbett 16:01, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

GeorgeMelly.com

I'm surprised that this is described as a website relating to George Melly as it has next to nothing that is relevant on it! In the past it may have contained links to gigs but that is all. It is now only an advertisement for House of Graham the so-called webmasters - the forum is, IMHO, a disgrace. Amazon.com with the appropriate links would be a better choice of web-site! Perhaps someone knows of another more suitable link? Even georgemelly.net is more informative, although I know that at the moment there is no official link between that site and its dedicatee. Obiskobilob 18:17, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

Further to the above, I have removed both references to this website. I see that these references were added by the web-site owner and contribute nothing to information about GM that cannot be gleaned from other links. Also, as stated above the apparent main purpose of the site is to provide advertising for it's web-master. RFC. Obiskobilob 16:47, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

Hi, read the site, it's put up by his music management company (Jack L Higgins). I admit it contains sales information, but since it's the official site, I'd let that slide. I'm as anxious as you to prevent WP:SPAM, but in this case, I would argue for its appropriateness. Kbthompson 17:23, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

I don't think either site is officially endorsed. Tomandlu 13:42, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Does anyone know of an official website for George Melly? I have emailed Jack L. Higgins but have received no reply. As there is no evidence to justify its existence I propose that either the reference to a website be removed entirely. If a relevant link is needed to complete the form then I suggest something like [1] be substituted as this does have some reference to the life and work of GM. Comments please. Obiskobilob 22:22, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

It seems to be on holiday until May 25th, if nothing substantive relating to George Melly appears by then, I'd say ditch it. Kbthompson 23:55, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

I changed the link to Melly's website from "com" to "net". Although (according to sources close to GM) probably neither site is officially endorsed, the georgemelly.net effort seems to me to contain more relevant information and has less of a history of unreliability. Incidentally, I see the BBC published a link to georgemelly.com next to an article about Melly today. No doubt the link was found here on Wiki. Notapotato 13:02, 26 May 2007 (UTC).

We are more than happy to reinstate the previous content although it seems that there appears to be a one-man campaign to promote the "other" website and act as judge & jury. As we indicated in our recent entry (which was deleted by Obiskobilob - one rule for him?) we accepted the problems that had resulted in a poor website. However, we have made a considerable effort to restore the website's credibility and, under the patronage of Digby Fairweather, we feel that we have made a good start. There is considerable content on the way. Readers should note that the above criticisms are the opinions of a couple of individuals one of whom has his own agenda. That said, we are more than happy to publish both websites and allow visitors to choose for themselves! The original website George Melly or the latest contender George Melly. We would like to remind everyone that George is now confined to a "hospital" bed at home and is being fully supported by family and friends. We should also mention the Macmillan Nurses who visit George on a daily basis and the dedicated and difficult work they do. We have also edited the entry on the "Article" page by removing the word "Unofficial" and placing the original website first. Because we intend to incorporate a new forum we have ensured that they are both labelled the same as we have shown above. houseofgraham 11:34, 13 June 2007 (UTC).

Wikipedia does not tolerate spam or edit warring. Please conduct your battle with georgemelly.net elsewhere.

Please ensure that you cite reliable verifiable sources, which according to Wikipedia policy does not include self-published sources in most cases. Nor does it include what you "feel." I have removed your latest edits to reflect the current verifiable state of things. You will find links to the various Wikipedia references on your User Page Please study these carefully before making further contributions. Obiskobilob 11:29, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

House of Graham is NOT in any way contesting the right of competition; we believe that it is the very essence of life. We only object to intentional promotion by condemning your competitor. To that end we too will not tolerate spam or inappropriate comments. As you appear to be attempting to arbitrate perhaps you should ensure a fair basis and remove the word "forum" from the other link. This then gives both parties equal status and will allow the George Melly fans to judge for themselves. We have deliberately avoided this situation in the hope that a fair and reasonable resolve would be achieved. As you have now prevented the House of Graham from correcting the links it seems that we are regarded with disdain and you have brought into question our integrity in this matter. You may also wish to note that we have always had the support of Tom Melly and equally both the patronage and full support of Digby Fairweather. Perhaps you should be this in mind so that this matter can be concluded so that we can all get on with the job at hand?

Houseofgraham 11:48, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

I have replied on your user page as your comments do not refer directly to the article. Obiskobilob 15:22, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

I've restored the georgemelly.co.uk link as the official url - it has digby's support and endorsement, so please let it stand. By all means include other links, but this is a ridiculous thing to get in an edit war about. My earlier comment wasn't meant to imply that any link should be removed - just that any valid resource should be respected. It certainly wasn't meant to imply that the house of graham link was link-spam.

George has probably only a couple of days to live, so please get some fucking perspective. Tomandlu 21:58, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

Start classification

I have classified this article as a start consistent with the LGBT classification . It covers his life and career comprehensively but the sourcing needs more work. Capitalistroadster 09:27, 5 July 2007 (UTC)

Picture

Can't somebody find a better brighter more cheerful and more recent picture for this article? The current one is too dark and gloomy and I'm sure George himself would have loathed it. Maybe one in one of the colourful hats and suits that became his trademark? thanks Peter morrell 17:04, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

bibliography detail not QUITE correct

On viewing the article on George, an old acquaintance of mine, I was rather disturbed to see,in the bibliography section, that the book "Great Lovers" had been credited as his work alone. This was not in fact the case, as it was as much mine (if not a lot more so) as his; in fact if it had not been for my work (the paintings), most of which were already in existence long before the book was ever mooted, this book would never have been produced. These are the facts: in 1980 the late Eric Lister, a Director of the Portal Gallery, a gallery with which I was then associated, came up with the idea of a book of my series of "Great Lovers" paintings (I had originally started this series back in the mid-70s while living in Italy). He approached the publishers Jonathan Cape, and his friend George Melly to do the text, and publication was agreed. Melly agreed to do the text provided I did all the research on the subjects. This I did, and he, as an experienced writer, knocked it all into shape. He willingly acknowledged the part I had played by agreeing (suggesting actually) that my name appear above his on the book, and that I should receive 60% of the royalties as against his 40. He afterward said, in a radio interview (George was a very kind and generous man) that ".....Walter Dorin provided me with great wodges of material, many hundreds of pages, and all I had to do was boil them down to a manageable length, and put in a few of my own ideas about the subjects......" The books are still advertised for sale on Google, by Amazon, and various used boosellers, in this country, the USA and Canada, and Europe. The title of the book is always given as by "Walter Dorin and George Melly" (on the US as well as the British edition). Were George still around today I know he would be only to willing to confirm the above. Now I am not for one moment asking for this title to be deleted from the bibliography, I would not want that. Just that some acknowledgement be made of my "co-authorship", maybe in brackets after the title, " in collaboration with.....*, or whatever, etc. I do think I deserve at least some small credit for what was mainly my work way back in the '80s.

                            Pianopiano (talk) 18:06, 19 June 2008 (UTC) Walter Dorin

Stranglers

Should we mention where the track "Old Codger" appeared ? (I think it was b-side to "Walk On By". -- Beardo (talk) 12:32, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

Age?

There are two dates of birth in this article: 1921 and 1926. Which is right? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.252.220.107 (talk) 20:14, 12 September 2013 (UTC)

Discography

I've attempted to compile, mainly from sources on the web, but also from my own collection a pretty detailed discography for GM. There are most likely to be some other compilations made in the "microgroove" era, and single tracks spread around on multi-artist compilations. 86.181.32.27 (talk) 10:48, 8 June 2014 (UTC)Matthew

Fore-and-aft

The link is not - as you would surely expect - to the navy uniform, but to the fore-and-aft rig on sailing ships, so it doesn't tell us how the uniform differs from the bell-bottom uniform Melly craved, why it was 'dreaded', or anything else of relevance to this article. The 'fore-and-aft' article makes no reference whatever to uniforms, and there isn't a disambiguation page. Since the name of the uniform is a purely English pun, consulting other language versions of the 'fore-and-aft' article surely won't help - I've glanced at the German version, but it's a totally different term. Links that take you to the wrong place are an all too common failing on Wikipedia. How I wish links could be checked by a human editor before they're created!213.127.210.95 (talk) 16:05, 29 July 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing this out. I've removed the link from "fore-and-aft". Qwfp (talk) 16:17, 29 July 2016 (UTC)

Statue in Brecon

There were fundraising efforts to commemorate Melly with a statue in Brecon. However, the appeal appears to have wound up in 2015,[2] and I can’t find evidence that it was ever taken forward. Does anyone know? KJP1 (talk) 05:46, 26 August 2024 (UTC)

That's surprising. I can find no other reports confirming the winding up. This 2007 BBC source says they needed £100,000 to commission the statue, but had already raised £32,000. One wonders what all the money was spent on. This 2010 source mentions "three benches"? Martinevans123 (talk) 07:02, 26 August 2024 (UTC)