Well. My goodness. You simply MUST stop everything you’re doing and listen to this NOW.
Apparently, the foot-stomping George Michael dance track “Fantasy”was originally intended for 1990’s Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 but ended up as the B-side of the single “Waiting for That Day. ” Now, it’s been remixed by the incomparable Nile Rodgers and will be released as a single from the upcoming Listen Without Prejudice Vol.1/MTV Unplugged.
Listen to it below. My GOD, what a song. What a star. What a loss.
Via The Guardian via Towleroad:
Where the original is driven by a 90s breakbeat and some even more 90s horns, this new version has been pioneered by Nile Rodgers, who George apparently commissioned before he died. “I hope we make the fans proud of the amount of love we put into it,” Rodgers has said, tweeting to those who expressed mixed feelings about the posthumous nature of the work, “You SHOULD have mixed feelings. No one’s heart was dragged through emotional ambiguity more than mine. Tears, uncertainty, happiness & love”.
A classic Rodgers choppy guitar line sits under a freshly minted pop-house rhythm, as Michael’s voice is pleasantly – and quite radically – mangled, before segueing into the original’s top line. Its status as a B-side rather undersells it – Michael’s secret weapon is a half-sung style of rapping that gets a good airing here, and the “if you ain’t got time for me, I’ll find another fantasy” pay-off is suitably fabulous. The sigh that closes the chorus remains a glorious bit of petulance.
Perhaps there isn’t a Prince-style vault waiting to be raided, and there needn’t be, given the strength of his existing work. Fantasy meanwhile is a reminder that George Michael could invest a dancefloor with sex and wit like few other pop stars.