Puneet Varma (Editor)

Ladies and Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael

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Released
  
1 December 1998

Length
  
147:25

Artist
  
George Michael

Producer
  
George Michael

Recorded
  
1984–1998

Label
  
Epic

Release date
  
1 December 1998

Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael wwwmusicbazaarcomalbumimagesvol3277277295

Ladies & Gentlemen The Best of George Michael (1998)
  
Songs from the Last Century (1999)

Genres
  
Pop music, Pop rock, Dance-pop

Nominations
  
Echo Award for Best International Rock/Pop Male Artist

Similar
  
George Michael albums, Pop music albums

Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael is a greatest hits album by George Michael, released on 1 December 1998.

Contents

The collection of 28 songs (29 songs are included on the European and Australian release) are separated into two halves, with each CD of the double set containing music of a particular theme and mood. The first CD, titled "For the Heart", predominantly contains Michael's hit ballads, while the second CD, "For the Feet", comprises mostly his popular dance tunes.

Ladies & Gentlemen is notable for containing a large number of compilation tracks and duets that have not previously appeared on a George Michael album, including his US and UK number-one duet with Aretha Franklin, "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)", previously available on Aretha Franklin's 1986 album Aretha; "Desafinado", the duet in Portuguese with Brazilian singer Astrud Gilberto; and the Elton John duet "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", from John's 1993 album Duets.

Ladies & Gentlemen was released by Michael through Sony Music Entertainment as a condition of severing contractual ties with the label (Michael departed Sony with a great deal of acrimony and publicity prior to the release of Older in 1996). He would later return to Sony to release his 2004 album Patience, however singles from Older do appear on the album as well.

To date, the album has reached worldwide sales of more than 9 million copies – 3 million in the United States alone.

New songs

Songs appearing on this set which were previously unreleased are:

  • "A Moment With You"
  • "Outside"
  • "As"

    • Songs appearing for the first time on a George Michael album are:

  • "Careless Whisper"
  • "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"
  • "I Can't Make You Love Me"
  • "Desafinado"
  • "A Different Corner"
  • "Too Funky"
  • "Killer / Papa Was a Rollin' Stone"
  • "Fantasy"
  • "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)"
  • "Somebody to Love"
  • "Waltz Away Dreaming", a duet with Toby Bourke, was only included on the cassette and MiniDisc versions of this album.

    • Singles

  • "Outside" was the first single from the album. The song was a humorous look at his arrest shortly before the release of the album for soliciting a policeman in a public restroom.
  • "As", Michael's duet with Mary J. Blige, was released as the second single in many territories around the world. It reached number four on the UK Singles Chart. The track was left off the North American release of the album. There were rumours that Blige's label was uncomfortable with Michael being gay, but this is contradicted by Blige's embracing of her large gay fan base.

    • Notable mixes

    Most tracks are the full, unedited original album version.

  • "Careless Whisper" is the single version.
  • "A Different Corner" was remixed for this compilation.
  • "Fantasy" is the original 1990 version, not the "Fantasy 98" remix which appeared on the 'Outside' singles in the same period.
  • "I Want Your Sex" is presented as "Part II – Brass in Love" only, without the more widely publicised "Part I – Lust" section.

    • DVD release

    A DVD release followed in 1999, featuring 23 music videos from Michael's career.

    Songs

    1Jesus to a Child6:51
    2Father Figure5:39
    3Careless Whisper5:01

    References

    Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA