Georgios Kyriatou Panayiotouo was born in London in 1963, and along with his primary school buddy Andrew Ridgeley, he went on to form one of the most popular duos of the entire 1980s. Sadly their success was cut short in 1986 when the guys decided to call it quits for good. However, all was not lost as George ended up issuing his first ever solo album the following year: a collection of nine new songs simply titled “Faith,” which scored him many a top ten hit and immediately put him back into the spotlight. Although Wham was no longer a group by the time this album was released, George apparently had no issues with any of the other members of the band, as some of his former colleagues continued to work with him not only on this album, but also in other aspects of his career in later years. For example, former Wham (and Marvin Gaye) bassist Deon Estus played on this album, as did a fellow called Chris Cameron, whose name showed up on some of the old Wham records back in the day. Of course one of his former backup singers, Shirley Lewis of the duo Pepsi & Shirley also contributed to this disc. Anyhow, here’s what I think of each track.
Faith: This was clearly a very drastically different type of song from George Michael. Usually he would be doing a very bubblegum type of song…perhaps a very Motown influenced song as well. However, with the song “Faith,” George gave us a much more acoustic pop tune, which could also be interpreted as “rock” to some folks out there….although I do very strongly disagree with that statement. “Faith” is also one of the most recognised songs that George ever wrote, and so is the video clip, which featured him shaking his butt at the camera……something he later regretted the hell out of, along with the whole image he was portraying throughout this entire era. That said this is still a great song that still holds up after all these years. Obviously you’d have to have a good musical ear to pick this, but apparently the Cathedral Organ in the introduction is playing a short snippet of the Wham song “Freedom.” Interesting.
Father Figure: Let’s bare in mind the fact that I was all of five or six years of age when I was first listening to this record….so for a very long time, I had absolutely no clue as to what it was that George was singing about in this song. However, at sixteen it was brought to my attention that this song was really all about George wanting to be committed to a woman for the rest of his life. He was saying “I will be your father figure,” which, coming from a man’s perspective, was, I suppose his way of saying “I will be the one to take care of you & guide you through life until all is said & done.” Looking at that statement nowadays, I can see how somebody would want to include the song at their wedding. It’s definitely a very beautiful statement. However, the video clip is just a little confusing to me, as George is seen getting slapped around the head a few times by his incredibly angry & frustrated six foot tall blonde girlfriend…..perhaps that last word should’ve been written in inverted commas. To cap it all of, the final shot of the clip sees her sporting a very bushy moustache & toking on a fat ass cigar. I think somebody was trying to subliminally deliver us a message…..next track please Georgie girl.
I Want Your Sex (Parts 1&2): Another big hit for George back in the eighties was a great dance tune, full of dirty synthesizers & drum machines. The lyrics were even dirtier for their time, as the song was banned by several radio stations all around the world along with its video clip, which featured George & his then former make up artist & alleged “lover,” romping around in a bed while George wrote phrases on her back with a pink roll of lipstick. And examples of such phrases? “EXPLORE MONOGAMY.” Obviously being that I was just a kid at the time, I had no idea what the hell “monogamy” was, but of course I later discovered the true meaning of the word. Now…..somebody out there please tell me……was it so bad that George was saying “we should all be commited to just one person when we’re in a relationship”? I don’t think it was. I think that’s a very valid statement and it’s certainly not controversial at all. Not by a long shot. As you can see, times have definitely changed a lot since 1987. Apparently George isn’t too impressed with this song nowadays, and refuses to perform it in concert. I recall reading a quote of him saying that the song was “me doing a bit of a Prince number,” but I can’t see that comparison at all……except for the fact that it’s a very ‘horny’ type of song, with lines like “What’s your definition of dirty baby?/What do you call pornography?” This song also appeared in the Eddie Murphy film “Beverley Hills Cop 2.”
One More Try: It took me a while to figure it out, but I think what he’s doing here is giving his lady an ultimatum. He’s saying, “Do you love me? If you do, then tell me so. If not – just go away & let me be,” which is obviously why the song takes on a much more miserable tone. It also appears that he’s telling his partner that he still has a lot to learn about love….even though he doesn’t really want to open himself up to heartaches & pains & what have you. I suppose in a way you could interpret the song has being “gospel influenced,” as it features soulful handclaps and what not. “One more try” closed the first side of the LP.
Hard Day: The first song on Side Two was yet another hard hitting dance anthem featuring lots of electronic musical instruments, which, according to the credits, were all played by George himself. Wow. Very impressive. Lyrically it just seems to be all about a couple who are constantly at each other’s throats, trying to get a long, but never really being entirely happy with one another…except for the times when they’re in bed together making love. If you were genuinely paying attention to George’s career, then you would’ve realised that this song harks back to his Wham days….in particular the song “Battlestations” (moreso because both songs are along the same lines lyrically) and also songs like…… dare I say “Bad Boys,” “Young Guns” and the twelve inch mix of “I’m Your Man.” Those last three songs I just mentioned all feature George imitating a woman, and the end of this song sees him doing the exact same thing…except this time around, he was speeding his vocals up in the process in order to sound more feminine. Coincidentally Prince was doing the same thing when this record was released, which is probably why George got compared to him by the Americans around the time of this album’s release. I’m sure he would’ve been very flattered by that comparison.
Hand To Mouth: In this song, he’s talking about how a little boy was so heavily influenced by a Western movie that he went out & bought himself a gun and started going around shooting people. There’s also a reference to deceased prostitute whose child keeps crying because she’s at the age where she really needs her mother to be there for her. It appears that this song was George’s way of pretty much saying that America was a fairly messed up country back in the day. Also he’s talking about how nobody in the States seemed to have any religious beliefs at all, but he was going to pray for those people regardless. Listening to these lyrics was quite an eye-opener for me as a grown up, because previously, I had absolutely no concept of exactly what it was that he was going on about.
Look At Your Hands: Here’s another one that really shocked me when I was old enough to comprehend the lyrics. Basically George is singing to, most probably an imaginary woman whom he was previously involved with, who now has a new man in her life who bashes her up every night & gets drunk off his face. But the woman still wants to stand by her man no matter what. Eventually George starts to get all worked up because of her situation, which is obviously quite understandable. He also tells her “I bet you don’t like your life now.” And honestly, just who would want to be in a situation like that? Nobody!
Monkey: One of my favourite GM tunes of all time. It just makes you wanna get up & jam….the remix by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis is even better. Lyrically it’s all about some woman he was in a relationship with (most probably another fictitious one), who had a serious drug problem. “Why can’t you do it?/Why can’t you set your monkey free?” was another way of saying “Why can’t you give up the drugs?” It’s quite an ironic song actually, because George later admitted to smoking copious amounts of Marijuana (particularly after his gay lover passed away) and occasionally taking Ecstacy tablets while he was out clubbing. Of course he later got arrested for doing such things to himself. Poor bastard’s lost his mind…..on a lighter note, I still remember seeing him perform this song in concert when I was all of six years old. He was running up & down the stage rather “flamboyantly.” just like he was in the video clip, which of course also featured footage of presumably the same gig.
Kissing A Fool: Here’s George’s first attempt at a bit of a jazz strut, and although he does a relatively decent enough job, he’s not exactly Herbie Hancock or Miles Davis is he? I think we can all see that one! But anyway….I think this song is yet another break-up song…..perhaps even a little prelude to him figuring out his true sexual identity as well, cause he’s telling his girl that she was kissing a fool the entire time they were together. Remember, George wasn’t entirely gay when this album was released…he was still kind of unsure about that one…or something. Regardless it’s still a nice song. This song concluded the record back in the day….but since I’m reviewing the CD I must acknowledge the two bonus tracks. And so I will.
Hard Day (Shep Pettibone Remix): When I bought this CD back in 1996, I thought that this was the entire version……but in 2004 I got a bit of a surprise after I was given a few crates full of records. You see, even though this particular version is indeed labelled as the “Shep Pettibone Remix,” it appears to only run for about six minutes and thirty seconds……why am I saying “only”? That would be the usual duration for a 12inch remix….right?…… Wrong! The version on the original single actually runs for over eight minutes….looks like somebody out there was forced to press the fade button when converting this album to CD. Shame on them. I suppose I can’t complain too much though, at the end of the day it’s not a bad version. It is very eighties though. Of course it would be!
A Last Request (I Want Your Sex Part III): George could have easily decided to put this song directly after Part 2 of “I want your sex.” However, it was most probably ommitted from the original LP release because they ran out of space….not to mention the fact that the listener probably would’ve been bored out of their skull if that had actually gone ahead. Anyways, this is a much slower song compared to parts one and two of “I Want Your Sex,” which then gives me the impression that George was probably trying his hand at a bit of bedroom music when he was laying this cut down. It originally appeared on the flipside of the “Hard Day” 12inch as a part of one incredibly longass remix of “I Want Your Sex.” Of course it was also featured on the original 12inch single of the same name.
So then…… what’s the verdict?: It’s hard for me to sum it all up in a few words or less….about as much as I can say is that this is still a brilliant disc from beginning to end, and it’s probably the perfect starting point in order to catch a good glipmpse of the evolution of George Michael as an artist. Obviously it’s a much more grown up type of record as well, which can only be a good thing. Definitely seek it out if you love eighties music.
