Hot damn! Everybody let's play the GEORGE MICHAEL TRACKS POLL results thread

xpost:

Nah, definitely not - if anything, the appearance of new monophonic recordings were very unusual at that time. In a way, it makes sense that the track is in mono, though, given how the song is stylistically.

"Praying for Time" was another shock when released: it zoomed up to #1 in the United States but plummeted quickly, whereupon programmers took to "Freedom '90" almost out of relief.

I'm not fond of it as anything more than defiant gesture but given my increased political engagement I appreciate the resources that Michael pours into THE RICH DECLARE THEMSELVES POOOOAHH/THE REST OF US ARE NOT SUUURE

there's a bit on the 1990 South Bank Show docu where he goes through it line by line explaining each. i almost cringed myself inside out watching it.

I need to see that.

What do you think about George's political engagement? I was a little bit surprised, running through the catalogue, at how big-themey he is. Religion appears a lot, there's economic stuff, they did miners' benefits ... even Young Guns or Wham Rap do kids' politics in their way. It seems a bit unfair that they had the reputation as being the epitome of vacuity.

http://s19.postimg.org/59ngi2kwz/11_Waiting.jpg

11. Waiting for that Day
228 points, ten votes
from Listen Without Prejudice, vol.1, 1990

I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW YOU HEAR THESE WORDS THAT I SAY!

This song should've been #1 for three weeks.

And it's more poignant than "You Can't Always Get What You Want."

http://s19.postimg.org/8rzgeglsz/10_Christmas.jpg

10. Last Christmas
231 points, eleven votes
single, 1984

THIS YEAR

i guess you can't argue with the political stuff even though the way he expressed it was often cack-handed. no more so than Ronnie Talk To Russia though or whatever.

that 1990 South Bank Show in question FYI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmcJnVi30KQ

He must make so much money from this song every year. In 100 years people will still be playing it.

The only Xmas song to truly ever have my heart. I even find myself listening to the pudding mix year round.

http://s19.postimg.org/7ofc2i15v/9_Funky.jpg

9. Too Funky
232 points, ten votes, one number one vote (mine!)
single from Red, Hot + Dance, 1992

YESSSSSSS

too high!

pfft nah

it is def too funky though

Not high enough more like

It's fantastic and actually made me discover "Somebody Else's Guy" back in the day.

http://s19.postimg.org/do3365lyb/8_Faith.jpg

8. Faith
235 points, ten votes
from Faith, 1987

One thing about Too Funky - is the sound at the start lifted from the Pet Shop Boys' One More Chance? It's only a piano drag, but they sound identical to me.

I like 'Too Funky', but not only is it too high but it isn't funky enough. 'Faith' also too high!

I had to compare, and it's higher pitched in "Too Funky". (x-post)

Faith, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and Freedom are songs I've heard so many times I take them for granted how good they are. I didn't even consider voting for them.

I was hoping Cowboys & Angels would sneak into the top 10. Such an incredible song. Shame it was the first song he released that missed the top 40 in the UK.

I didn't have Praying For Time on the first list I made but after listening to LWP a couple of times it ended up going in my top 10. Not an obvious lead single at all.

I hope there's never a Christmas when I don't love hearing Last Christmas. That song is absolute perfection.

I don't believe I've ever heard a busker playing Faith. It feels like I should've. I heard one playing some Steely Dan a few weeks ago; I'd be surprised if they didn't keep a bit of George in their repertoire.

Primal Scream's Movin On Up ripped Faith off but Faith *blates* ripped off Close To Me by The Cure.

Just realised that Freeek probably isn't going to place now is it?

http://s19.postimg.org/4rsb27vc3/7_Corner.jpg

7. A Different Corner
246 points, eleven votes, one number one vote
single, 1986

I love Waiting For That Day.. Not sure if this clip was posted earlier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNS4xJRlMlM
Great dancing too

I can think of 7 songs that are a lock and yeah "Freeek" isn't one of them. (x-post)

what do y'all think of "A Different Corner" as confession by a gay man in love with a friend?

I tend to forget how unusual "Faith" was in 1987. One of the shorter #1s too.

A Different Corner is one of the most beautiful number one singles ever. I love it more and more as the years go by.

My mother-in-law and I were singing it together at the weekend. It'd've been her no.1, had she voted.

"Faith" really *was* unusual at the time, especially after "I Want Your Sex". Great at karaoke too! (x-post)

ADC as confession - it might well be that, but there are some songs that demand that sort of reading and I wouldn't say it was one of them. It *does* sound very specific though.

http://s19.postimg.org/pan77a99f/6_Fastlove.jpg

6. Fastlove
312 points, fourteen votes, one number one vote
from Older, 1996

I didn't think so either; it was a suspicion based on the longing. It didn't seem particularly...masculine? Hetero?

Anyway, Marcello:

The giveaway comes in the lines, “I would promise you all of my life/But to lose you would cut like a knife/So I don’t dare.” In other words, he loves his best friend (“‘Cos I’ve never come close in all of these years/You are the only one to stop my tears”) but he loves him that way also, and he is tortured because he cannot bring himself to tell him (his “I’m so scared” is the reddest of excoriating wounds) – the same subtext compelled to remain within the shadows of “Johnny Remember Me” and “Have I The Right?” The music’s careful placidity is a striking counterpart to his agonised voice – and where does that “And if all that there is, is this feeling of being used” come in, when really it’s the paralysing fear of rejection that prevents him from getting close to his desired Other but also stops him from moving away; the torture of lifelong compromise – “I should go back to being lonely and confused/If I could…I would…I swear.” Then his unheard pledge also echoes into the far horizon, just as the man retreats into the greenery, walking away…in silence.

that "So I don't dare," coupled with the oceans-of-sound production is wayyyyyyy too histrionic for het feeling. It just doesn't code as a man too afraid to approach a woman.

was convinced A Different Corner had a chance for number 1

http://s19.postimg.org/jp5dgyxyb/5_Try.jpg

5. One More Try
313 points, eleven votes, two number one votes
from Faith, 1987

oh god this song

another one where the gay overtones are as loud as a snare drum

#1 R&B in America -- a rare thing then and now

I was convinced this one had a chance for #1. I thought ballads were boring when I was a kid, but I loved this. Again, his voice is just untouchable.

Wow, I assumed Fastlove would be number one. I was the number one vote. Genius song.

God I still swoon every time I hear him sing "Just trying to find some peace…" in One More Try

YES! 'Fastlove' in the Top 10, as it should be. Should have been Top 5, IMO.