George Michael spent 1st of 12 weeks at #1 with Faith

Faith George Michael

Released: November 3, 1987 Peak: 112 US, 16 RB, 11 UK, 15 CN, 3 AU Sales (in millions): 10.0 US, 1.2 UK, 25.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: pop

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Faith (10/24/87) #1 US, #2 UK, #5 AC, sales: 0.5 m Father Figure (1/9/88) #1 US, #11 UK, #3 AC, #6 RB I Want Your Sex (6/6/87) #2 US, #3 UK, #43 RB, sales: 1.0 m One More Try (4/16/88) #1 US, #8 UK, #1 AC, #1 RB, sales: 0.5 m Hard Day (10/17/87) #21 RB Hand to Mouth Look at Your Hands Monkey (7/9/88) #1 US, #13 UK, #8 RB Kissing a Fool (10/8/88) #5 US, #18 UK, #1 AC, #33 RB Total Running Time: 49:37

Rating: 4.219 out of 5.00 (average of 22 ratings) Quotable: “One of the finest pop albums of the ‘80s” – Steve Huey, All Music Guide Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “A superbly crafted mainstream pop/rock masterpiece,” SH Faith was George “Michael’s stunning solo debut after four years in the lightweight British duo Wham!” MR and it made him “an international solo star.” SH He scored four consecutive #1 hits in the U.S. with singles from the album (“Faith”, “Father Figure”, “One More Try”, and “Monkey”). That made him the only British male solo artist to land that many chart-toppers from one album. WK He book-ended his four #1’s with two more top 10 hits (“I Want Your Sex” and “Kissing a Fool”). Some of those songs “were among the decade’s best pop.” MR “Faith’s ingenuity lies in the way it straddles pop, adult contemporary, R&B, and dance music as though there were no distinctions between them.” SH The album made Michael “the first white solo artist to hit number one on the R&B album charts. Michael had already proven the soulful power of his pipes by singing a duet with Aretha Franklin on the 1987 smash ‘I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me),’ but he went even farther when it came to crafting his own material, using sophisticated ‘70s soul as an indispensable part of his foundation.” SH However, he didn’t just cross genres. He was equally successful at “funky dance-pop and airy, shimmering ballads.” SH As for the former, “Michael appropriates the Bo Diddley beat for the rockabilly-tinged title track” SH In regards to the latter, there was “the heartfelt ballad Father Figure.” MR However, he also proved “himself a better-than-decent torch singer on the cocktail jazz of Kissing a Fool.” SH “Michael arranged and produced the album himself, and the familiarity of many of these songs can obscure his skills in those departments – close listening reveals his knack for shifting elements in and out of the mix and adding subtle embellishments when a little emphasis or variety is needed.” SH “Though Faith couldn’t completely shake Michael’s bubblegum image in some quarters, the album’s themes were decidedly adult.” SH With its “wicked R&B groove” MR I Want Your Sex was the most notorious example, of course, but even the love songs were strikingly personal and mature, grappling with complex adult desires and scarred by past heartbreak.” SH “All of it adds up to one of the finest pop albums of the ‘80s, setting a high-water mark that Michael was only able to reach in isolated moments afterward.” SH “Unlike so much 1980s treacle, this disc hold ups surprisingly well.” MR Notes: A 2011 remaster added “A Last Request (I Want Your Sex Part 3)” to the original album and added a second disc of remixes (three of “Monkey” and one of “Hard Day”), instrumental versions of “Faith” and “Kissing a Fool,” covers of two Stevie Wonder songs (“I Believe When I Fall in Love” and “Love’s in Need of Love Today”), and the song “Fantasy.”

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for George Michael SH Steve Huey, All Music Guide MR Michael Ruby, Amazon.com (essential recording) WK Michael Ruby, Wikipedia First posted 3/25/2008; last updated 2/28/2024.

George Michael’s “Careless Whisper” hit #1

Careless Whisper George Michael

Writer(s): George Michael/Andrew Ridgeley (see lyrics here) Released: July 24, 1984 First Charted: August 4, 1984 Peak: 13 US, 14 CB, 12 GR, 12 RR, 15 AC, 8 RB, 13 UK, 12 CN, 14 AU, 6 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 1.52 UK, 6.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 419.0 video, 655.31 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: As half of the pop duo Wham!, George Michael quickly overshadowed Andrew Ridgeley and began planning his post-Wham! career almost as soon as the duo struck big. To that end, “Careless Whisper” was billed in the UK as a solo single by George Michael, but the U.S. credited it to Wham! featuring George Michael. BBC The song was also on Wham!’s Make It Big album. Wham! chalked up two other #1’s on the U.S. pop charts before Michael amassed seven chart-toppers on his own. This song also hit #1 in the UK, on Cashbox, and the Billboard adult contemporary chart on its way toward selling 6 million copies worldwide. Ironically, it was one of the few songs penned by Michael and Ridgeley AMG and the latter’s “only number one as a composer.” LW They “wrote the song when they were just 17, despite George’s own admission that he ’knew nothing about romance and certainly nothing about love.’” BBC It was a fictitious story Michael thought up while boarding a bus to his job as an usher at a cinema. SF Michael told reporter Daryl Morden, “‘It’s very naïve when you listen to it, but it still stands up, even if it does sound a little immature in some ways…We made up for that, I think, by making sure the production and arrangement didn’t sound simplistic.’” FB He has also said, “‘It disappoints me that you can write a lyric very flippantly and it can mean so much to so many people.’” KL It definitely did that as it “touched fans and passive listeners alike to become one of, if not the only, love songs of 1985” AMG and “one of the most enduring ballads of all time.” BBC “A simple song with just four chords, the track’s charm lies in its mournful saxophone intro, together with George’s anguished vocals as he pleads for forgiveness from the lover he’s cheated on.” BBC “Now a last-dance staple everywhere from school discos to weddings, the irony inherent in thousands of lovestruck couples smooching to a song about infidelity appears to be lost on most people.” BBC Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Wham! AMG All Music Guide BBC BBC Radio 2 (2004). “Sold on Song Top 100” FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 602. KL Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh (2005). 1000 UK Number One Hits: The Stories Behind Every Number One Single Since 1952. London, Great Britain: Omnibus Press. Page 297. LW Alan Lewens (2001). Popular Song – Soundtrack of the Century. Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 156. Related Links: Last updated 11/22/2022.