George Michael George Michael/France 1988 & more

Wham!, which dominated the 1980s, broke up the duo in 1986. However, although he was behind Andrew in terms of popularity due to his looks, his songwriting and singing talent was as clear as that of Beat Takeshi and Beat Kiyoshi, so no one would have doubted the success of George Michael’s solo career. The first single after Wham! broke up was a duet with Aretha Franklin, “I Knew You Were Waiting.” This song was a hot topic and reached number one in the US. This shows how popular Wham! was at the time, its aftermath, and the high expectations for his solo career. George’s long-awaited first solo album was released the following year, 1987. It was “FAITH.” Wham! was a bright, pop, and healthy band, but their last album, “Music From The Edge Of Heaven,” was dominated by “adult” songs with a hidden sadness. Originally, soulful ballads such as “Careless Whisper” and “Different Corner” were released under George’s solo name, and some of the songs seemed to be the foundation for George’s later solo albums. However, like many musicians who make solo albums after the band breaks up, George also intentionally tried to break the image that was firmly established with Wham, and challenged himself to a different musicality at a level that exceeded the expectations of his fans. “FAITH” was indeed an album released by a talent recognized by the world, with the attention of the whole world. As I wrote earlier, this album seemed to break the traditional image of Wham, and the title of the first single from the album was “I Want Your Sex”. Looking back on the various scandals that followed, the title is somewhat meaningful, but at the time it was interpreted as a song about sex by a young artist who was stretching himself. And as a real-time memory, I was also surprised that six singles were released from the 13 songs on the album. Moreover, George’s second single “Faith” was followed by four consecutive number one hits in the US charts, “Father Figure”, “One More Try” and “Monkey”. George had the momentum to sell anything he released. When “Kissing A Fool” was released as a single, there was an air of “is he really going to release it yet?”, but judging from the single charts, George’s solo career couldn’t have got off to a smooth start. When you turn on the TV in Japan, you can see Katsuya Kobayashi introducing George Michael’s video in fluent English. The tour accompanying this album “Faith” was held over a long period from February 1988 to July 1989, and was a large-scale tour with 137 shows. Japan was chosen as the first stop on the tour. The set list was a mix of songs from “Faith”, songs from his Wham! days, and cover songs, and George’s vocal skills were fully demonstrated, with each show being a great success all over the world. This work is a soundboard recording of the performance in Paris, France on May 31, 1988 from that world tour. Since it is based on the broadcast sound source that was aired at the time, the sound quality is excellent and there is nothing to complain about, and it is of such high quality that it can be used as a live album as it is. In terms of content, this Paris performance, which corresponds to the second leg of the FAITH tour, had a total of 12 songs performed on the day. Unfortunately, this work only contains 11 songs, and only one song, the title song of the album, “Faith”, is missing. However, that “Faith” is recorded as a bonus track at the end of the sound source of the Los Angeles performance on October 4, 1988, even though it is an audience recording, so the set list of the FAITH tour is recorded in its entirety. This is a soundboard recording of the Paris performance on May 31, 1988 from George Michael’s first solo tour, the FAITH tour, which he never expected to hear about at Christmas, when opportunities to hear Wham! songs have increased since 2016. The bonus track “Faith” is included, and you can listen to the entire set list from that day. PALAIS DES SPORTS PARIS, FRANCE May 31, 1988 01. Hard Day 02. Everything She Wants 03. I’m Your Man 04. A Different Corner 05. Love’s In Need Of Love Today 06. Father Figure 07. One More Try 08. I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) 09. Careless Whisper 10. Lady Marmalade 11. I Want Your Sex P t. I, II & III THE FORUM INGLEWOOD LOS ANGELES CA U.S.A. October 4, 1988 12. Faith