I will be the one who loves you –
Until the end of time
Ladies and gentlemen, there are only six days left in the year! That means, I have just six albums left to do! Thank God and all things that are holy that we are in the home stretch. I can’t tell you how happy I am about this. I will be doing a year in review thing or something but for this Boxing Day I’m ecstatic that the end is in sight. One other thing to note is the last six days of 2014 are being brought to you by the number 7.
One of the biggest albums of all the 1980s was George Michael’s first solo effort after Wham called “Faith.” Released towards the end of 1987,
It charted six top five singles and took the Grammy for Album of the Year. Now you may not peg me for a George Michael kinda gal, but when you are a teenager and you hear a song on the radio called I Want Your Sex, you go out and by the cassette single for it. It was many moons later that I finally got the entire record. As far as pop music goes, “Faith” is one of its masterpieces.
When I was in college I was driving on the street the school was located on; back then it was Montileu Avenue. Just pass the school, houses line both sides of the two lane only street. On this particular, sunny afternoon, a car was backing out of a driveway and they didn’t see me. In my head I’m saying to myself, surely he is going to stop. By the time I laid on my horn, I knew he was coming with confidence. My only play was to swerve to my left in order to miss hitting him. If you have the visual, this meant crossing into the other lane; yes a car was heading right for me. Thankfully they swerved too and any major accident was avoided. Father Figure was playing on my radio when this near tragedy occurred. As you can see, I still haven’t forgotten that. There was an even more frightening almost accident about five years later that would have undoubtedly been fatal if I hadn’t gotten out of the path of an 18 wheeler. That one was near miss that was beyond close. For that occasion, I was listening to a Grateful Dead bootleg from New Year’s Eve, 1990. For that near death experience, Wharf Rat was the song emanating from my car speakers. Now I am leery of both songs.
“Faith” has something for everyone: awesome dance tracks; Hard Day, I Want Your Sex (Parts 1 & 2), Monkey, melodies and beats in a couple of power ballads; One More Try and Father Figure, a light on the sauce title track, a sweet piece of candy in Kissing a Fool and a thoughtful offering in Hand to Mouth. Extra shout outs to the bonus tracks: Hard Day (Shep Pettibone Remix) and A Last Request (I Want Your Sex Part III)”
I’ll say it again, “Faith” is a potpourri of perfect pop, pop rocks. It stands up 27 years later and it stands up tall. For the day after Christmas, “Faith” was the optimal choice for the continued festive happenings and errands.
365, Album of the Day 2014 