alive and kicking

George Michael returns with "White Light", his first single since his brush with death earlier in the year when he was struck down with a serious case of pneumonia in the middle of his "Symphonica" tour.

"White Light" sees George reflecting on the event with a somber musical backdrop set to a throbbing dance beat. The dark production is beautifully positioned against his uplifting, lyrical prose.

A lyric video, the latest promotional tool of choice to start the campaign behind a single, has hit the interwebs. Let's follow the bouncing ball.



From the sound of it, I would bet cash money the song was written as a ballad. But someone in George's camp must have said something, especially after the cool reception he received for his previous single, the over autotuned cover of New Order's "True Faith". And George needed another ballad like he needed anotherloverholenyohead. With that in mind, he headed back to the dancefloor. That's exactly where his fans want him to be right now.

George released his latest single to mark a very important career milestone. He issued it on the thirtieth anniversary of the day Wham! charted with "Wham! Rap", their debut single. Where has all that time gone?

"White Light" is available through all fine digital outlets. A CD single will be made available shortly which will include George's cover of "Song To The Siren", which I believe is the Tim Buckley song, as opposed to the one by Bryan Ferry.

the big smoke

The interwebs have certainly been sprinkled with its fair share of less than flattering reactions to George Michael's drastic reworking of New Order's "True Faith", a single which was released this week in the UK for the Comic Relief charity.

The dreamy production features a heavily affected vocal and even dares to remove some of the original lyrics. Treating GMs vocal with a vocoder effect allowed for some interesting harmonics that would not have been able to be created naturally. At least that's how George explained and defended his use of it. Let's keep in mind that he hardly needs autotune. George is quite capable of staying in pitch.

So, it's clearly an artistic statement of some sort. At least he has continued be top of mind with something related directly to his career. It's a nice change of pace from him being slumped over the steering wheel of his car. Regardless of your thoughts on the merits of the single, it's all for a good cause with all the proceeds being donated to the Comic Relief charity.

Now, just days after the release of "True Faith", George revealed the video for it. Let's have a look.



Well! I heard George likes a good smoke! Oh, such delicious irony.

I like how the clip develops into a bit of a tribute to the original, Philippe Decouflé produced video from New Order. I'm especially fond of George's new found desire to look directly at the camera. Nice to see him ditch the sunglasses. Let's hope he continues the trend.

faith, hope and charity

Color us with curiosity! George Michael, fresh from the clink and back promoting the deluxified edition of his landmark longplayer, "Faith", has decided to record a song for this year's Comic Relief.

Always showing the best taste in covers, GM will show off his soulful pipes on a rendition of New Order's classic 1987 single, "True Faith". Sense a theme?

Released ahead of Red Nose Day which will take place on March 18, "True Faith" will be released as a single backed with an instrumental version of the track as a b-side. It will be available digitally on March 13. A CD will be released on March 14. A music video is currently being lensed.

George Michael and all the members of New Order have graciously agreed to donate all royalties from the sale of the single to Comic Relief. Let's hope George gets the poppers out for this one! Can't wait to hear it.

And now, a taste of the original.

partially restored faith

Finally! The tracklisting for the deluxe edition of "Faith", George Michael's amazing, debut longplayer has been revealed. If it is to be believed that this is the final rundown, mama is simultaneous thrilled and disgusted.

First, the good news. The expanded edition of "Faith" will be available in various price points. Something for every wallet or handbag. Whichever applies, ladies. There's the super pricey big box o' stuff at $147. There's a more manageable two CD configuration with a bonus DVD. Lastly, there's a down and dirty two disc set for those that only want to be aurally stimulated.

More good news. B-sides and remixes! A few curiosities, as well.

Not sure why "Fantasy", originally the b-side of "Freedom! '90" and "Waiting For That Day" in the US and UK, respectively. Same goes for "I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)" which made its first appearance on the b-side of "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me", are included. These aren't "Faith" era releases.

Nice to have GM's live cover of Stevie Wonder's "Love's In Need Of Love Today" which was tucked away on the b-side of the 12" single for "Father Figure".

Great to see the remixes of "Monkey" finally get issued on a CD. They only ever featured on the original CD single way back in 1988. Glad to have the instrumentals of "Faith" and "Kissing A Fool" which were released as b-sides.

However, I am furious at the glaring omission of the single version of "I Want Your Sex", otherwise known as "I Want Your Sex (Rhythm 1 Lust)" which was the a-side of the original 7" single. This burns my ass. With only a paltry nine tracks on the second disc, surely they could've included the single version of it. To this day, it is only available on the soundtrack to "Beverly Hills Cop II".

Here is the full tracklisting for the newly remastered "Faith".

CD 1

Original album:

1. Faith
2. Father Figure
3. I Want Your Sex (Parts I & II]
4. One More Try
5. Hard Day
6. Hand To Mouth
7. Look At Your Hands
8. Monkey
9. Kissing A Fool
10. A Last Request (I Want Your Sex, Part III)

CD 2

Remixes, rarities and b-sides:

1. Faith (Instrumental)
2. Fantasy
3. Hard Day (Shep Pettibone Mix)
4. I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)
5. Kissing A Fool (Instrumental)
6. Love's In Need Of Love Today
7. Monkey (7" Edit)
8. Monkey (A Cappella)
9. Monkey (Jam And Lewis Remix)

freshen up your "Faith"

Sony has officially announced that they are finally issuing a deluxe version of "Faith" by George Michael. It is scheduled to hit the "shops" on September 27.

This one has been a curiosity over the last few years. "Faith", along with his output as part of Wham!, has been mysteriously absent from the list of classic albums to be given the remastering treatment.

His legal wranglings with Sony long behind him, it was always odd that "Faith" never got the deluxification it deserved, especially during his recent "25 Live" tour. Nonetheless, it has been long overdue for a serious dusting off and sprucing up.

As I mentioned in a previous entry, it appears "I Want Your Sex" is being reswizzled for contemporary dancefloor consumption by Freemasons. It's an interesting choice considering the single version of "I Want Your Sex" has not appeared on any of GM's greatest hits collections. Another in a long line of head scratchers from George.

Hopefully, the deluxe edition of "Faith" will include all the remixes, non-album b-sides and single versions connected to GM's debut solo longplayer. While we wait for the tracklisting to leak, let's take a look back at all SIX singles from 1988's best selling album of the year.

"I Want Your Sex"
US #2/UK #3



"Faith"
US #1/UK #2



"Father Figure"
US #1/UK #11



"One More Try"
US #1/UK #8



"Monkey"
US #1/UK #13



"Kissing A Fool"
US #5/UK #18

There is one question that still circumnavigates my brain when I listen to "Faith". Does George like the smell of his own armpit?