The Videos of George Michael's Faith

The story is as old as the music business.  Group becomes famous.  Tension grows as egos get bigger.  Group breaks up.  One or two members try to strike out on their own and inevitably fail. 

On very rare occasions, an artist comes along from a group and becomes a true global superstar on their own. In the 1980s, that artist was George Michael.

The Throwback takes a look back at the videos of Faith, Michael's first solo album, in two parts:


Click here for "I Want Your Sex" and "Faith."

Click here for "Father Figure" and "One More Try."

"Father Figure" and "One More Try," George Michael

Following “Faith” and “I Want Your Sex,” Michael’s videos began to focus more the ballads of Faith, showcasing a voice unmatched by any of his peers at the time.   The ballads were much longer than today's ballads, clocking in at close to six minutes, yet they still managed to reach number 1 on the U.S. charts. 

“Father Figure” was the first Michael video to showcase the fashion world – a theme that would be used throughout his career (see “Freedom ‘90”).  The video is shown in slow motion, showing the inner turmoil of a model as she works and falls for Michael and a fashion photographer.  The video requires you to suspend belief in numerous places (Michael as a taxi driver, for example), but even today, it still looks gorgeous and matches the tone of the song shot-by-shot.  

Following “Father Figure,” Michael released “One More Try,” which stripped away all the themes and controversies of his previous videos.  The video simply showcased Michael, his song, and his voice.  As a result, it remains the most timeless of all the Faith singles.

Michael’s success as a solo artist would pave the way for ‘N Sync’s Justin Timberlake and Take That’s Robbie Williams to succeed on their own.  (Williams even did a cover of Michael’s “Freedom” at the start of his solo career.)  Michael is currently in the middle of his Symphonica tour in Europe, where he will be performing his songs as well as covers in an orchestral setting.   


Click here for the first part of our Faith throwback, featuring "I Want Your Sex" and "Faith."

"I Want Your Sex" and "Faith," George Michael

George Michael began his career as part of Wham! – a duo that was best known for teenybopper pop like “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.”  In 1987, Michael released his first solo album, Faith, which he sang, wrote, and produced.  Michael announced to the world that this was not Wham! with the first single, “I Want Your Sex.”

“I Want Your Sex” was considered so controversial at the time that many radio stations refused to play it.  (A version entitled “I Want Your Love” was sometimes played instead.) Even MTV, where just about anything goes these days, refused to play it during the daytime.  Naturally, the controversy surrounding the song made it even more popular, and it would become Michael’s first solo hit.   

Rewatching the video now, it all looks rather tame.  The images today – including the famous scene where Michael writes “explore monogamy” on a woman’s back in lipstick –seem more suggestive than explicit.  The video also establishes the look Michael would use throughout the Faith years – the silly costumes of Wham! were replaced with jeans, leather, and, in later videos, aviator sunglasses.  He looked more rock star than teen star.

A snippet of “I Want Your Sex” begins the next video, “Faith,” perhaps the most iconic Michael video there is.  The look is early rock and roll – with a jukebox centerpiece and Michael dancing around in a “USA” leather jacket, strumming a guitar.  The lighthearted video and pop hook disguises the song’s sad tone:  “Oh but I need some time off from that emotion/time to pick my heart up off the floor/And when that love comes down/without devotion/Well it takes a strong man baby/but I’m showing you the door.”     

Click here for second part of our Faith throwback. 

"Freedom '90," George Michael

These days, George Michael is known more for his scandals than the massive hits he produced in the 80s and 90s.  Indeed, it’s quite easy to forget how great some of those songs were because they’re just not played as much anymore.  It’s been years since I’ve heard “Freedom ‘90” played anywhere – and then, this past weekend, I heard it blaring from a bar jukebox and I was instantly hooked back in.

I was too young at the time to know any of the behind-the-scenes politics at play in the song.  I couldn’t relate to the disillusionment Michael expresses about the music business – in particular, his solo superstardom following 1987’s Faith.  Nor could I have guessed that the song was, in many ways, a veiled coming-out for the then-closeted singer. All I knew was the song had a great hook and chorus and made lip-synching and dancing around an abandoned apartment look like a lot of fun.

Rewatching the video now, it’s interesting to see just how well it was done.  While most videos would suffer without their star, David Fincher (The Social Network, Fight Club) expertly directs the top supermodels of the era, bringing out sides of them we’ll probably never see again.  (When was the last time you saw Naomi Campbell genuinely smiling?)  The video itself becomes iconic through these images while simultaneously destroying the jukebox, guitar, and leather jacket from Michael’s “Faith” video.  It can all seem a bit like a first-world problem rant (“Oh, I’m so famous. Poor me!”), but the song and video together create a universally appealing anthem that remains one of the best of the early 90s.