George Michael News

According to George Michael covers New Order for Comic Relief:

Former New Order bassist Peter Hook told the BBC Michael’s version was a “beautiful” interpretation but admitted it was “not exactly to my taste”.

According to Hook, the band became friends with the former Wham! singer in the 1980s when they would attend the same parties in the US.

“It’s a very, very George Michael interpretation of the song and it’s beautiful for that,” he said.

“It’s very flattering. George doing True Faith is such a great compliment.

“It blew me away when I heard it. Not exactly to my taste, but it did blow me away.

“I think he’s done a fantastic version and I’m delighted that it’s for such a good cause.”

George Michael will be releasing a new single in March, “True Faith,” which was a hit for New Order in 1987.  He will be donating all money to Comic Relief.

The single will be available for download on March 13 and in stores on March 14. The single is available for pre-order on Amazon U.S. and Amazon U.K.

Comic Relief spends all the money raised by the public to give extremely poor, vulnerable and disadvantaged people in the UK and Africa a helping hand to turn their lives around.

GeorgeMichael.com is giving away 10 copies of the Limited Edition Numbered Collectors Box Set of Faith.  Simply become a follower of http://twitter.com/georgemofficial and retweet “I GOTTA HAVE FAITH” starting at noon GMT on January 31, 2011. Winners will be randomly selected by the GeorgeMichael.com team every hour, on the hour, for 10 hours.

I’m publishing a series of articles on Faith Remastered based on some information I recently received. Obviously, the die-hard fans have already placed their orders. This information is for those who haven’t even heard about Faith remastered.

There are three options:

Faith: Deluxe Edition

The deluxe edition is a limited edition, numbered box set presented in black-and-gold-foiled slipcase, with:

• CD of remastered 10-song album. (See below for song list.)
• CD of remastered 7-inch and 12-inch singles and B-sides. (See below for song list.)
• 180-gram vinyl replica LP.
• DVD with BBC interview, original EPK, and 7 promo videos (approx. 100 mins.)
• 60-page hardbound book with interview, rare photos and memorabilia.
• Memorabilia envelope with 5 art prints, poster, tickets, and Faith tour pass.
• First 2,000 orders receive a specially-designed, numbered art print.

The deluxe edition is available only at GeorgeMichael.com. You can pre-order the deluxe edition now, and it will be shipped January 31, 2011. The cost is $141.57, plus shipping and handling.

Faith: Special Edition

The Faith special edition includes two CDs and a DVD.  The first CD is the remastered Faith, while the second CD has all the remastered 7-inch and 12-inch versions. This edition will be released February 1, 2011. The cost is currently $27.99, plus shipping.

CD One (Remastered Album):

1. Faith
2. Father Figure
3. I Want Your Sex (Parts 1 & 2)
4. One More Try
5. Hard Day
6. Hand To Mouth
7. Look At Your Hands
8. Monkey
9. Kissing A Fool
10. A Last Request (I Want Your Sex Part 3)

CD Two (remastered 7-inch and 12-inch versions / B-sides):

1. Faith (Instrumental) – B-side of 12-inch “Faith” single
2. Fantasy – B-side of “Waiting For That Day” single (all formats)
3. Hard Day (Shep Pettibone Mix) – From original CD album (also track 3 of “Faith” CD single)
4. I Believe When I Fall In Love – B-side of the 7-inch and cassette singles of “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”
5. Kissing A Fool (Instrumental) – B-side of 7-inch and 12-inch singles of “Kissing A Fool”
6. Love’s In Need Of Love Today (live recording) – B-side of 7-inch “Father Figure” single
7. Monkey – 7-inch edit
8. Monkey (A Capella & Beats) – A and B sides respectively of 7-inch “Monkey” single
9. Monkey (Jam & Lewis Remix) – 12-inch single

DVD (running time 110 minutes):

1. “George Michael & Jonathan Ross Have Words” (1987)
2. “Music Money Love Faith” (February 1988)
3. Seven promotional videos (re-synched with remastered audio):
   1. I Want Your Sex
   2. I Want Your Sex (Uncensored)
   3. Faith
   4. Father Figure
   5. One More Try
   6. Monkey
   7. Kissing A Fool.

Faith: 2-CD Remastered Edition

The Faith remastered edition includes two CDs. The first CD is the remastered Faith, while the second CD has all the remastered 7-inch and 12-inch versions. This edition will be released February 1, 2011. The cost is currently $13.85, plus shipping. The only difference with this version and the “special” version is that you don’t get the DVD.

From George Michael’s tell-all canned for being ‘too shocking’:

Jonathan Ross tipped the fallen star to return to the top of the charts after George played him and Cowell his post-prison tracks. ‘One of them, both me and Cowell, our ears went ‘‘boing’’ and Cowell said, ‘‘That’s a No.1.’’ It was very dancy and very electronic.