Today's Vinyl Spin: George Michael - Faith

Gotta have faith, faith, faith.... yes, this was the title track to George Michael's first solo album in 1987 after he broke up with Andrew Ridgeley and the duo known as Wham. The album came out on Columbia Records and yielded several top 10 hits including the number one records "Faith," "One More Try," "Monkey" and "Father Figure". 

Faith is a good album if you like cutting edge pop music with a beat that is typically 1980s. Michael at the time was regarded as a teen idol (especially when he was a part of Wham) as his videos were extensively played on MTV and other music channels of the time.

George Michael tried to break out of that mold with subsequent album releases that proved to be mostly successful.

This particular record was not played very often and is in very good condition. The album jacket is still shrink wrapped showing the original $5.00 price that I paid for it at Froggies Books and Records back in the day. I also owned the album on cassette but never got around to getting it on compact disc.

George Michael passed away on December 25, 2016 allegedly from heart failure. He was 53.

"Father Figure" was one of the #1 singles from Faith.

Today's Vinyl Spin - The Beatles "Let It Be"

I revive this blog with a new feature called "Today's Vinyl Spin" in which I highlight any one of my many LPs and 45s collected through the years. I'll try to post at least an album a day, but can't always guarantee that. 

For our first entry it is none other than The Beatles, which I and many others the world over consider the best rock band of all time. John, Paul, George & Ringo made a huge impact on the music scene when they became popular in the early 1960s and carried on as a group until announcing their dissolution in 1970. They released many memorable albums and singles through their all too short career as "The Fab Four".

For today's showcase, I am featuring the last released album of "new music" by The Beatles. It is the Phil Spector meddled recompilation of the "Get Back" sessions that became Let It Be.

On my iTunes this is the 2nd most played Beatles record I have other than the all digital "#1's" from 2004.  What do I like about Let It Be?

Well, all of the songs. The title track is a harder version than the single track, and "Get Back" is captured in its live recorded glory before it was fixed up for single release. Three #1 songs came off this album which included the title "Let It Be", "Get Back" and the group ending single "Long And Winding Road".

The album is perfectly packaged with individual photos on the front and back, track list and a gatefold inside. A red Apple label was issued for this release instead of the standard green one. Nice.

My favorite tracks are "Get Back", "Let It Be", "For You Blue," "Two of Us", "Across the Universe" and "I Me Mine". I always wondered why "Dig It" was so short. Come to find out there is a longer version but it was never officially issued.

My LP is in good, playable condition even though the cover is kind of worn. I also have it on CD and ripped to digital.