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.
My #3 album of 1990 is Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, the second solo album by the late George Michael.
Three years earlier, Michael scored a massive hit with the pop classic Faith, an extremely difficult act to follow. Listen Without Prejudice sold only a third as many copies as its predecessor and received mixed to positive reviews, but for my money it’s just as strong an album.
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.
Top Ten Male Vocalists – #7 – George Michael
The song I wanted to pick to highlight George Michael’s voice — ‘Kissing a Fool’ — has been featured on the blog already. That performance alone earns Michael a spot on this list. But he brings the same whispery passion to all of his songs that he honed to perfection on that one.
In looking for a song that really showcases his vocal chops, I couldn’t do much better than this cover of Stevie Wonder’s ‘They Won’t Go When I Go,’ performed live and released on Michael’s Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1.
[This week’s guest blogger, Amy, continues her exploration of favorite cover songs.]
While The Police and Joni Mitchell may have inspired two fabulous covers, it’s difficult to think of an artist who has inspired more great covers than Elton John. The album Two Rooms, released in 1991, is devoted to Elton John covers performed by the likes of Eric Clapton, Sinead O’Connor, The Who, Kate Bush, Sting and Tina Turner (we’ll overlook that Wilson Phillips is also a featured artist).
However, the two EJ covers I love the most were not featured on that album.
Meet Me In Montauk 