Hot damn! Everybody let's play the GEORGE MICHAEL TRACKS POLL results thread

spotify playlist

17 ballots, 73 tracks voted for, one awesome countdown

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40. I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)
61 points, three votes
single with Aretha Franklin, 1987

Well, that's a start.

I'm...surprised she let him touch her.

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39. Star People
61 points, three votes
from Older, 1996

did you count "star people 97" as a separate vote or group em together

Grouped together. There was actually a three-way tie for no.38, but there's no room for ties in this poll (except at joint no.21).

http://s19.postimg.org/46l95pcv7/38_Older.jpg

38. Older
61 points, three votes
from Older, 1996

I'm going to aim for 20 tonight and 20 tomorrow, and see how we get on. I was initially going to limit it to a top thirty, but 31-40 seemed pretty interesting to me - lots of tracks that haven't had much attention, other than the Aretha number.

Voted for both 39 and 38. I wonder if the other two voters were also the same people :)

I didn't specify on my ballot, but I was probably voting for Star People '97 too.

No overlap between the voters, the poll's integrity remains intact.

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37. Flawless (Go To The City)
68 points, three votes
from Patience, 2005

Damn, George looked his best between 1990-1993.

http://s19.postimg.org/gb540ff4z/36_Mouth.jpg

36. Hand to Mouth
73 points, three votes
from Faith, 1987

cover his chin and that could be Bono there

Kudos for the manipulated Fairlight breaths in "Hand to Mouth." He does sultry well.

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35. I Want Your Sex
77 points, three votes, one number one vote
from Faith, 1987

three votes!!!

That seems right to me, I never liked it much. I like it a lot better now but I still wouldn't call it a GM Classic.

Somebody asked in the voting thread why he hit a (relative) trough in the UK through Faith and LWP. This was the lead single from Faith, which might explain it to some extent - it was definitely frowned upon here. I don't know whether it was the same in other countries, or that was just us being uptight?

What!! There goes my #1 lol

I don't know whether it was the same in other countries, or that was just us being uptight?

there's things that you get and things that you don't

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34. Something to Save
85 points, four votes
from Listen Without Prejudice, vol.1, 1990

unexpected!

ha wow everyone hates I Want Your Sex. well played ilx, didn't make my 20.

surprised Something to Save is this low.. oh well :D

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33. Shoot The Dog
88 points, four votes
from Patience, 2005

It's one of my favourites, this. I find it super-infectious and bubbly. The production all over Patience is pretty cool.

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32. The Strangest Thing
89 points, six votes
from Older, 1996

So many great sounds on Shoot The Dog.. Love his voice in the verses and the chorus is very charming

A very curious voting pattern for The Strangest Thing - it finished last or just-about-last in five of those six ballots.

also, block out the eyes and there's something Cobain-y about that pic

I'm a fan of ILM but it has disgraced itself on this next one...

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31. Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)
97 points, four votes
from Fantastic, 1983

You mean it's too high?

Certainly not. That said I could only find room for it at the foot of my own ballot.

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29=. The Edge of Heaven
99 points, five votes
single, 1986

I've never been sure if this was a stand-alone single or an album track, or a track that was lobbed onto a post-facto album, or what. Anyway, it's also too low.

Here in North America it was released as a single from their 3rd album Music From the Edge of Heaven. I think in the rest of the world it was part of a singles compilation called The Final.

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29=. Cars and Trains
99 points, five votes
from Patience, 2005

I had no idea this was going to place, but it picked up a lot of votes on the last day. I'm not hearing the special appeal of it tbh.

I checked to see whether it had even been mentioned on ILM before this poll, and suspecting that it hadn't, but I was pleased to see Josh In Chicago putting up a strong defence of it back in 2005.

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28. A Ray Of Sunshine
101 points, four votes, one number one vote
from Fantastic, 1983

I'm shocked to see Hand to Mouth so low. That's always been my favourite song on Faith.

Something to Save is just lovely. Probably my favourite vocal of his.

Happy and surprised to see Cars & Trains this high. Love the production and his delivery of some of the lyrics are so classic. "Johnny's gone and got himself a new man, he gets laid, every day". Brilliant stuff.

I don't remember anything about Ray of Sunshine. I don't know the Wham albums well apart from the singles.

It's fabulous. Whenever it comes on my headphones, I just can't keep from strutting.

I'm getting into Cars & Trains a bit more now. It's really nice actually - very slinky. I think it's the answerphone message at the beginning that put me off.

You're right anyway, the vocal is terrific. I love the "Oh, Johnny" at 1:56 - it's quite unGeorge. It reminds me of some other singer, but I can't quite my finger on who it is.

It's R Kelly! At 3:02 in Three-Way Phone Call. They're not actually particularly similar, but that little phrase led me into mind-mashing the two.

Slinky is definitely the word I'd use to describe Cars & Trains. If he ever bothers to make another album, I hope it's a whole album of songs like Cars & Trains and Precious Box. Those styles really suit him.

I'll have to re-listen to the Wham albums. Ray of Sunshine is indeed fantastic. That bass line is so good.

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27. Kissing A Fool
102 points, five votes
from Faith, 1987

Tasty Avalanches remix of Ray Of Sunshine

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=63SkCbwp1os

The Ben Folds and Rufus Wainwright cover of this is one of my favourite covers ever https://youtu.be/Q01WCVrgQaU

"Careless Whispers" is the only George Michael song I think is genuinely great, surprised it didn't hit #1 (I did not vote in this poll)

I'm not mad at any of the 3 remaining songs being #1.

Careless Whisper, Wham Rap! and Club Tropicana are Andrew's three co-writes. He's got to be pretty happy with that.

My top 3 might actually be in the top 3. This poll is amazing.

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3. Father Figure
338 points, twelve votes, three number one votes
from Faith, 1987

I didn't vote for this. I had no idea it would be this high.

that's what the cops said in 1998

The vocals with the choir on this record are just sumptuous. Had a hard time deciding between this and my pick for number 1 as the top spot. So happy to see it place so high.

Me too. I couldn't decide if I liked "One More Try" or this better. In the end I put OMT at 2 and this at 3.

'Freedom '90' for the win!

Pretty sure it will.

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2. Everything She Wants
403 points, thirteen votes, two number one votes
from Make It Big, 1985

Freedom's single mix is ever-so-slightly different from the Make It Big mix; the piano in the verses etc. it pops more than the album version. there's no mention that i can see anywhere of the mixes being different but you can really tell. this was just 'a thing' in the mid to late 80s it seems; giving the radio mixes a lick and polish.

― piscesx, Thursday, September 22, 2016 4:23 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

y'know, I always thought when I bought Make It Big that the version didn't sound like the one I remembered, and now you've confirmed that. listening to the 12" now and this is what I remember from the radio!

YES EVERYTHING SHE WANTS!!!

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1. Freedom '90
425 points, fifteen votes, one number one vote
from Listen Without Prejudice vol.1, 1990

is there a better, subtler song about Thatcherism than "Everything She Wants"?

xpost I want a mojito now

Both amazing songs. Still completely baffled that "Freedom '90" only made it to #28 in the UK. Even #8 in the US is low for such a monster hit.

Pretty surprised Freedom only received one #1 vote in this poll

Freedom '90 that is

FULL RESULTS

425 Freedom ’90
403 Everything She Wants

338 Father Figure
333 Careless Whisper
313 One More Try
312 Fastlove

246 A Different Corner
235 Faith
232 Too Funky
231 Last Christmas
228 Waiting For That Day

189 Praying For Time
185 Cowboys And Angels

164 Freedom
163 Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
157 Heal The Pain
157 Outside
155 Precious Box
150 Young Guns
146 Jesus To A Child

122 Club Tropicana
122 Monkey
116 Amazing
109 Hard Day
106 I’m Your Man
104 Killer/Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone
102 Kissing A Fool
101 A Ray Of Sunshine
99 The Edge of Heaven
99 Cars And Trains

97 Wham Rap!
89 The Strangest Thing
88 Shoot The Dog
85 Something To Save
77 I Want Your Sex
73 Hand To Mouth
68 Flawless
61 Older
61 Star People
61 I Knew You Were Waiting

58 As
52 December Song
48 Mother’s Pride
46 Freeek! 04
44 Bad Boys
42 I Can’t Make You Love Me
42 Jive Talkin’
40 Waiting (Reprise)
38 Do You Really Want To Know
37 Somebody To Love

36 You Have Been Loved
34 Heartbeat
30 Blue (Armed With Love)
29 Nothing Looks The Same In The Light
29 Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me
26 Come On!
26 Look At Your Hands
26 To Be Forgiven
24 My Mother Had A Brother
22 Like A Baby

21 They Won’t Go When I Go
20 White light
20 Battlestations
20 Soul Free
19 It Doesn’t Really Matter
19 Patience
18 If You Were There
18 Spinning The Wheel
18 Heaven Help Me
15 An Easier Affair
15 Happy
15 A Last Request
14 Where Did Your Heart Go?

Thank you and goodnight!

Thanks for the great poll Ismael! I hadn't listened to Wham in a long time and had a lot of fun revisiting those records especially.

Such a great poll for one of my greatest musical influences. Thank you so much Ismael!

xpost I believe you mean "Wham!"

Yes!

my mom used to sing Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go to me. fond memories

granted this was just a week ago

Great poll Ismael. Thanks a lot for running it. I didn't vote for Freedom 90 but it's still a worthy winner.

A marvelous poll. I discovered how much I've loved this man.

Inspired by it, I wrote this essay about growing up and ignoring and re-learning him.

this was so much fun. thank you ismael!! can we make a playlist of all the songs in order? (i guess i can when i get home)

also i honorable mentioned his covers of "what a fool believes" and "sign your name" because omg

i hope george is happy and resting and i hope he knows how much his music touched people

Great poll, thanks IK.

"Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" was my #1. A bit shocked it didn't make the top 10 even. And a bit surprised I seem to have been the only voter for "Spinning the Wheel".

There's a few songs here I clearly need to get to know better. Have followed the playlist.

excellent poll, great piece up there too Alfred. he's brought out the best in ILX has old George.

very good poll indeed, congratulations !
this makes me want to revisit GM's oeuvre.
I started by listening to "Freedom" earlier today.
I had forgotten how massive and unstoppable the melody is. The whole thing is like a storm (until the brilliant final with the "Penny Lane" trumpet).
a pure rush of joy !

my favourite part of the melody being the pre-chorus. this is what takes the song to another level, to me.

CAN WE TALK ABOUT "WAITING FOR THAT DAY," THOUGH????

My memory serves me far too well.

Thanks for a great poll IK. Lovely essay Alfred. It's been so refreshing to go back to old favourites and find new gems.

it's hard to love
there's so much to hate
hanging on to hope
when there is no hope to speak of

Just caught up with this. If I had voted, "Spinning The Wheel" and "Nothing Looks The Same In The Light" could well have charted.

thanks ismael. father figure was my number one. those woozy synths are an instant trip back to childhood.

I would have also voted for 'Spinning That Wheel'

One thing this poll has made me realise is just how many classics this man has written. That he has a superb voice goes without saying, but as a songwriter I feel he should be held in higher regard than he is. I'm disappointed, in a way, that he hasn't written more of them over such a long career.

"Father Figure" was my #1 too & if I could have given it all my points I would have. I mishear it systematically as "to be walking naked / in your sight" & even now that I know it's otherwise I continue to mishear it this way intentionally. I don't know what to make of my experience of a song by a gay man as the most sexually profound song I know, something of my own queerness within heterosexuality I suppose. and that I listened to it so much when age 13, coming into my sexuality. but I...identify with this song.

What do you think about George's political engagement? I was a little bit surprised, running through the catalogue, at how big-themey he is. Religion appears a lot, there's economic stuff, they did miners' benefits ... even Young Guns or Wham Rap do kids' politics in their way. It seems a bit unfair that they had the reputation as being the epitome of vacuity.

For some reason I think Andrew Ridgely wrote 'Wham Rap'. I can't remember why - presumably I read this in an interview 30 years ago.

So surprised to see Everything She Wants at #2, didn't realize it was such a hit! Think it's the only song in the countdown that didn't have my vote. Great song though.

I Can't Make You Love Me wuz robbed...

Thanks for running a great poll Ismael Klata!

Missed the poll but will have fun listening, thanks!

I honor my big brother.

Happy birthday, bro.

Happy 59th Birthday. In terms of his non-Faith tracks, "Jesus To A Child" is one of his best ballads, you can feel the loss and heartbreak in his voice, along with "Praying For Time" which is more relevant today. "Fastlove" is his best uptempo track, very addictive. "Outside" is great as well.

Damn we did this poll just before he died? Jeez i was sure it was after.