George Michael 50-1

[Roobs321]

I'll never grieve over a celebrity as I did with George. In my early teen years I struck a formative connection with his music and he remained the most constant fixture of high rotation with me ever since. His death was so soul-crushingly tender and private that I couldn't bear to hear anything about it and completely withdrew from any media for an entire week. This time of the year tends to be a little sad for me in that respect.

GM's 50 best A-sides including all Wham!, solo, duets and posthumous. I considered a complete GM singles list, but 50 felt the celebratory cut-off point as beyond they start to slip into mediocrity. Everything listed here is rather special.

Favourite non-singles: Hand to Mouth, Crazy Man Dance, Secret Love (cover), Blue

I'm not a fan of the Nile Rodgers Fantasy remix (the only a-side version), but the original version would make my top 50. I miss the horns, think he mangled it a bit.

Top 50 singles:
50. Miss Sarajevo (cover)
49. An Easier Affair
48. John and Elvis are Dead
47. Freedom (Wham! 84')
46. Roxanne (cover)
45. Round Here
44. The Edge of Heaven
43. The Strangest Thing '97 (This '97 remix overcrowds the album track's measured mystique (which I much prefer). Has its place as a more uptempo club-ready version (ala Everything But the Girl), but it proved more successfully appropriate in the fellow '97 remix case of Star People)
42. Shoot the Dog
41. Where Did Your Heart Go? (cover)

40. Monkey
39. One More Try
38. I'm Your Man
37. If I Told You That
36. Club Fantastic Megamix (12")
35. As (cover)
34. Killer/Papa Was a Rolling Stone (cover medley)
33. I Can't Make You Love Me (cover)
32. Heal the Pain
31. Faith

30. Flawless (Go to the City)
29. I Want Your Sex (regardless of individual or both parts)
28. Soul Free
27. Club Tropicana
26. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
25. Hard Day
24. Father Figure
23. Star People '97
22. A Moment With You ('99 single)
21. I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)

20. Freeek!
19. Amazing
18. Older
17. Praying for Time
16. Spinning the Wheel
15. White Light
14. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
13. Freedom ('90)
12. A Different Corner
11. Too Funky

10. Everything She Wants
9. Fastlove
8. You Have Been Loved
7. Careless Whisper
6. Waiting for the Day
5. Outside
4. Cowboys and Angels
3. Kissing a Fool
2. Last Christmas
1. Jesus to a Child

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Nice!

An artist I'm not familiar with whatsoever. Thanks for the starting point, will check these out

 

[wally funk]

Bit of a cheat (collab with Queen) but for me it doesn't get any better than this:

 

[Roobs321]

Bit of a cheat (collab with Queen) but for me it doesn't get any better than this:

The Somebody to Love single would be in the 51-55 area for me. I've just never really taken to Queen personally, except for a very few hits. Can understand it would rate much higher for some others (I don't see it as a cheat).

 

[raskolnikov]

I would have this one in my top ten. Not that I think it's a particularly great song but it was the first song of George's that I heard and I loved it as a teen.

 

[Roobs321]

I would have this one in my top ten. Not that I think it's a particularly great song but it was the first song of George's that I heard and I loved it as a teen.

I still find the first 3 Wham! singles a bit raw on their own terms (although those Top of the Pops performances are fking legendary), but Fantastic is to me their most cohesive album, and therefore the one I replay the most. Make it Big and (in some markets) Music From the Edge of Heaven are decent pop albums with some far greater highs, but Fantastic just holds together very nicely for me: the 3 initial singles, the 3 Megamix bits, Club Trop & the strong non-single Nothing Looks the Same in the Light. Plus an excellent b-side in Blue. The whole vibe of that album wears their influences and youth in a charming, bouncy way. A far cry from his first 3 solo albums, but I dig its commitment to the dancefloor. And that Countdown interview with Meldrum circa early 1983 shows how articulate, intelligent and charming he already was when still only 19.

Wham Rap! has caught a lot of flak over the years, but like with Young Guns and Bad Boys I've grown to enjoy them. Rap! would be sure to get any party rocking, bring the yolo feels and have you keeping your chin up despite feeling a bit skint.