I like the new George Michael single. Am I ill?

WHEN OH WHEN will we FINALLY see an end to "Hey wow uh help gosh I like this pop chart single there must be something wrong with me shucks" opening gambits?????

Nothing personal Baxter! I heard the single for the first time last night and it sounded OK.

OTT video, for sure. ever notice how everyone does Jacko better now than Jacko himself? not nice, who me?

Do we know who produced it? It's a very strong job - and most of the best and most original production around these days is in that R&B territory, not least on a recent megaclassic with Freek in the title, of course.

In fairness Tom he might have just meant I like a George Micheal single which is not something anyone would admit too readily.

I've not heard Freeek yet however I was listening to shite Irish dickhead radio yesterday and the DJ said "I don't like George Micheals new single one bit, it's just not even music to me, complete rubbish". And I thought "hey can't wait to hear that".

Blimey Ronan our main pop station is just called Radio One (b-dum tish tumbleweed © N.Abebe)

What do you guys think of "Freedom 90"? That's one of my favorite songs.

I told you all the story of "shite Irish dickhead radio" and their 2 "RNB EXPERTS" wondering on air why Louis Walsh didn't hire Dr. Dre or Jermaine Dupris to produce the new Six single, which they were disappointed with.

You see what I have to put up with??????????? YOU SEE?

And your Radio 1 played X-Press 2 this morning. Pah........at least Coxys show is relayed, you all have no idea how spoilt you are.

Freedom 90 was the best single of the 1990s. By a long way. Sure, Robbie Williams managed to fuck it up, but.. the indulgence.. the supermodels.. the exploding jukeboxes. Possibly best pop song evah!

Anyway, it's fitting that "Freek" is just being called the new George Michael single, because it's not a SONG in any sense of the word. I'm getting a bit sick of these sonically impressive, densely layered pop quasi-epics that don't actually have a song underneath. (Note: chorus does not constitue song). It's not even as good as "Outside" ferchrissakes!

Freeek sounds like Depeche Mode (not the vocal, mind). I hear George Michel is working with Thomas Bangalter. Was he involved with this, though?

is that Sugababes thing out yet? R Freaks Electric. is it as totally fucking ace as the original bootleg? or even more fucking ace? please tell.

hm, never liked george michael. he makes me think of q magazine and pop music for old men.

Upon first listen, I didn't like it very much at all. But maybe I'll CHANGE!

I was indifferent to Trevor Nelson. Then I read Ronan's post upthread :).

It's like a kandi kolored wet dream that never ends. Stuck in a wish washy orgasm with no climax. In other words: a long boring moan. Such a pity cause I rrrreally liked him. Maybe as bad as Careless Whisper?

I think it's alright, it's a medicre pop record but the "not even music to me" production just saves it.

Isn't it time FT had an article about how "not even music to me" rcords have become accepted (eg Get radio play) despite them seemingly being impenetrateable to a large chunk of the audience, and the DJ's? I'm intrigued.

Having heard it properly.

It's only ok really. The beats are trying a little too hard and Michaels voice is too honeyed and croony for it to all fit together. Having said that, he could and has done a lot worse.

Graham's idea is interesting. To really get a grasp of how it's done though you'd have to see how radio playlists are compiled and that would require the same sort of background information that Simon Garfield was allowed when he wrote "The Nation's Favourite". And would Radio 1 allow a mere webzine that sort of access?

Well maybe it's more an issue of why this stuff is *liked* in spite of prevailing general prejudices than the more technical sales vs radioplay stuff. It's an interesting process though - I had to review 112's "Dance With Me" and I pretty much said "like it quite a bit but erm where's the tune?", and now it looks like it's going to hit number one on the Aussie charts. This after R&B was a no- man's-land only three years ago.

"Freek" is okay but I haven't heard it in the right environment (ie. club) to judge. It perfectly slots into the current Brandy-Basement Jaxx spectrum of squelchy 4/4, so theoretically it's a great idea, but it sounds a bit clean to me, very much the super- choreographed and stylised porn video as opposed to the real thing.

It's the lyrics or even the very presence of lyrics that make people in general tolerate and like it. The fact that the vocals are slightly higher in the mix than the average dance track. The fact that it's being sung by someone who has a face, an image which isn't "i have no image".

It works both ways also, ie friends of mine I know would love the Brandy single if it turned up the bass a bit and had no lyrics. But they're still nice people!

Also the video plays a big enough role in attracting the 12 cd types, example being Wheres Your Head At. Better example might be something like Weapon of Choice by Fatboy Slim, dreadful song, nothing going for it, can't really see the catchy nature of it compared to say......"ya mama" even, but a nice video makes people sit up and listen a bit more also.

I'm still waiting to see the video for X-Press 2s' Lazy, although I am quite confident it will be their crossover hit. That's why I'm mentioning it in every thread.

Tom's rebuke = hilariously touchy and as Ronan says, perhaps he just doesn't like George Michael. You're the one who's always going on about how being pro-pop doesn't mean liking all of it.

Hum...Freeek! sounds freeekin' Brilliant to me! Anyway...just some crazed portuguese oppinion! btw..freeek! is #1 here! :-)!

First thought: this is shit. A long cyber-moan.
Then thought it was the best thing EVAH.
Woke up and realized it is merely mediocre. There's no structure - as in a STORY - you just get these horny slogans.

still, life would be easier if michael, boy george and the headless chickens were just different