Interview with Mark Goodier, Spring 2010.

On IWYS:

"I've never liked it (IWYS) very much. I love Part 2, but Part 1 (I don't like it). You know why I don't like it? Because I was so enamoured with Prince at the time, and it shows on that record so much. I thought it was really naff to be so enamoured with one of your peers."

(Interview with Mark Goodier, Spring 2010).

On Father Figure:

It started off with a rhytm track with a snare, and when you play it like that it sounds a bit like Prince. But I must have been listening to it without the snare and gone, 'Oh my God, that totally changes the record!'

[Edited 9/15/13 17:44pm]

i always thought that track was influenced by kiss

Amazing track...but I say that about almost every GM song

It´s very 80´s, wouldn´t say it´s very Prince, besides the drums, well, maybe it is Prince like. Never thought of GM to be a Prince fan. Didn´t GM refuse Prince his help when he had trouble with his record company or something?

robertlove said:

Amazing track...but I say that about almost every GM song

It´s very 80´s, wouldn´t say it´s very Prince, besides the drums, well, maybe it is Prince like. Never thought of GM to be a Prince fan. Didn´t GM refuse Prince his help when he had trouble with his record company or something?

I don´t really hear any similarities either, except for the drums and maybe the sex lyrics.

As far as I recall, George has always been a Prince fan and Prince gave him props during his "slave" phase. He also mentioned him during an aftershow in 1994 in Berlin (MTV Music Awards). I was at that aftershow (Tränenpalast) and if I remember correctly, George was sitting upstairs and he and Prince briefly talked before the show started.

Naomi Campbell and Jean-Paul Gaultier were standing right next to me, and German singer Herbert Grönemeyer was right behind me.

Not so sure whether Aerosmith were also in the building.

But George and Prince definitely had and still have respect for each other.Regarding the "slave" thing and contract, George kind of dismissed the similarities between his and Prince´s case, saying that the two situations are a bit different.

well, George will always be remembered as the "british Prince"

I have always loved IWYS and always liked George Michael/Wham from day one. Back in the day I also thought IWYS was probably influenced by Prince. I just have fond memories of that track, it reminds me of my first holiday alone with my friends when I was 16, it was played in the local club every night.

I could hear the Prince influence on it, and it's one of the reasons I liked it so much. The vocal layering, especially the lines that have him singing falsetto and an octave lower simultaneously, was very Princely. Also, the sped up Camille-style vocals (also on Hard Day), and the slowed down Bob George-style vocals were dead giveaways, too.

Of course, Prince didn't really pioneer those things as George Clinton and Stevie did them before he did, but obviously he was a master at taking things from other people and making them his own.

I'm definitely with him on Part 2 being significantly better than Part 1. I'm glad Part 2 was chosen for Ladies & Gentlemen so it could have its chance to shine.

The Prince influence was so obvious on that album lol

That's partially why I love it.

I don't think Prince influenced Faith much except for I Want Your Sex and the end of Hard Day which blatantly take from Prince. Still a great song though but not as creative as the rest of the album.

AlexdeParis said:

I'm definitely with him on Part 2 being significantly better than Part 1. I'm glad Part 2 was chosen for Ladies & Gentlemen so it could have its chance to shine.

I'm the exact opposite, I MUCH prefer part 1 and I wish it was on Ladies & Gentlemen. To me the biggest Prince influence is "Hand To Mouth", it sounds like "Computer Blue" or something...

aardvark15 said:

I don't think Prince influenced Faith much except for I Want Your Sex and the end of Hard Day which blatantly take from Prince. Still a great song though but not as creative as the rest of the album.

True lol

Is this why he don't preform it live anymore?

I can hear Prince, back in the day, recording "I Want Your Sex", but the music would be different, of course:)

George said that "Father Figure" had snares before, but he took them out so the groove didn't sound too much like Prince. Now imagine THAT one!

Cinny said:

George said that "Father Figure" had snares before, but he took them out so the groove didn't sound too much like Prince. Now imagine THAT one!

You're right . I've added the bit on Father Figure.

I always thought:

Faith ~ Kiss

Father Figure ~ Adore

IWYS ~ 1999 outtake (though Prince's "Sex,",released a year or two later, had the same kind of vibe as IWYS).

That's okay, doesn't make them any less enjoyable, though I hated on him for a while.

I wish Prince had written IWYS for the SOTT album

I often think "Alphabet street" sounds like Prince's answer song to "I want your sex". He reminds me of George vocally on the verses inparticular.

thesexofit said:

I often think "Alphabet street" sounds like Prince's answer song to "I want your sex". He reminds me of George vocally on the verses inparticular.

possibly, but in true Prince style, it's almost non-detectable

namepeace said:

I always thought:

Faith ~ Kiss

Father Figure ~ Adore

IWYS ~ 1999 outtake (though Prince's "Sex,",released a year or two later, had the same kind of vibe as IWYS).

That's okay, doesn't make them any less enjoyable, though I hated on him for a while.

Not sure about Faith = Kiss and Father Figure = Adore.

As for IWYS, the Prince influence lay in some of GM's vocal style and the synths (same with Hard Day and its sped-up vocal).

I have to retract what I said earlier, he did have some Prince influence but it didn't dominate the album or even the tracks that had some kind of Prince lineage.

Timmy84 said:

namepeace said:

I always thought:

Faith ~ Kiss

Father Figure ~ Adore

IWYS ~ 1999 outtake (though Prince's "Sex,",released a year or two later, had the same kind of vibe as IWYS).

That's okay, doesn't make them any less enjoyable, though I hated on him for a while.

Not sure about Faith = Kiss and Father Figure = Adore.

As for IWYS, the Prince influence lay in some of GM's vocal style and the synths (same with Hard Day and its sped-up vocal).

I have to retract what I said earlier, he did have some Prince influence but it didn't dominate the album or even the tracks that had some kind of Prince lineage.

I didn't use the = sign -- because you're right, I couldn't justify that -- but the ~ sign, as in "similar" or "resembling".

True, those songs are not ripoffs, per se, of the respective Prince songs, but I hear similarities in each. I think the predominance of the singles from that album, which are Prince-influenced IMO (and apparently GM's), lead to overstating the influence on Faith as a whole, which is not insignificant, but not overwhelming.

JoeTyler said:

well, George will always be remembered as the "british Prince"

Huh? I really never heard anyone saying that. Maybe some tracks on "Faith" were Prince influenced (although I think it's just an 80's sound), albums like LWP or Older have nothing to do with Prince.

namepeace said:

Timmy84 said:

Not sure about Faith = Kiss and Father Figure = Adore.

As for IWYS, the Prince influence lay in some of GM's vocal style and the synths (same with Hard Day and its sped-up vocal).

I have to retract what I said earlier, he did have some Prince influence but it didn't dominate the album or even the tracks that had some kind of Prince lineage.

I didn't use the = sign -- because you're right, I couldn't justify that -- but the ~ sign, as in "similar" or "resembling".

True, those songs are not ripoffs, per se, of the respective Prince songs, but I hear similarities in each. I think the predominance of the singles from that album, which are Prince-influenced IMO (and apparently GM's), lead to overstating the influence on Faith as a whole, which is not insignificant, but not overwhelming.

I got cha. I was just stating. It was a dash of Prince, rockabilly, gospel (and good old George; his sound was already established during the Wham days) with that album imho.

robertlove said:

JoeTyler said:

well, George will always be remembered as the "british Prince"

Huh? I really never heard anyone saying that. Maybe some tracks on "Faith" were Prince influenced (although I think it's just an 80's sound), albums like LWP or Older have nothing to do with Prince.

Maybe he meant it in terms of musical diversity?

Timmy84 said:

namepeace said:

I didn't use the = sign -- because you're right, I couldn't justify that -- but the ~ sign, as in "similar" or "resembling".

True, those songs are not ripoffs, per se, of the respective Prince songs, but I hear similarities in each. I think the predominance of the singles from that album, which are Prince-influenced IMO (and apparently GM's), lead to overstating the influence on Faith as a whole, which is not insignificant, but not overwhelming.

I got cha. I was just stating. It was a dash of Prince (singles), rockabilly (Faith), gospel (and good old George; his sound was already established during the Wham days) (One More Try) with that album imho.

You couldn't TELL me Faith wasn't a Prince album back in the 80s, but you're right, that's clear.

I Want Your Sex, not so much. Hard Day, most definitely! And both are top notch dance tracks.