My final Stranger Things soundtrack suggestion is one of the four #1 singles produced by George Michael’s blockbuster solo debut, Faith.
Not ‘Faith’ or ‘Father Figure,’ which are both a bit too adult for a show focused on teenagers, and not ‘Monkey,’ which is a great dance track but a bit too silly for a show about monsters threatening all life on Earth.
George Michael’s Faith is one of those great 80s albums that contains so many hits it’s hard to believe they all originated on the same record. And it holds up very well 25 years later.
‘Faith,’ ‘Father Figure,’ ‘One More Try,’ ‘I Want Your Sex,’ ‘Monkey,’ ‘Look at Your Hands’ and ‘Kissing a Fool.’ If you were listening to music with any regularity in the late 80s, I bet you can sing a few bars from every one of those songs off the top of your head. I know I can.
20 Best Songs of the 80s – #17
Here’s an example of a song and an artist that transcend the 80s… George Michael’s next album, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, came out in the early 90s and was even better than this one. That album represented his creative peak, however, and what followed was many years of silence and then a very public fall from grace.
And the wonderful Faith album holds up to this day, not as an 80s relic but as an involving, passionate work. If I were arranging this list strictly by the quality of these songs, this one would be near the top. But ‘Faith’ does crack my list of 80s favorites because I have strong memories of Michael’s transition from Wham! fairy to solo sex symbol.
Talk about squandered talent.
George Michael’s first two solo albums were about as good as anything coming out around that time. Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, in particular, was an elegant collage of danceable pop and heart-wrenching acoustic ballads. It was hard to believe the guy from Wham! was capable of such resonant art.
And you know the rest of the story… forgettable music and memorable bathroom arrests galore.
Meet Me In Montauk 