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George Michael – Freedom (US Promo CD Single)

“Freedom” (also known as “Freedom ’90″) is a song written and performed by George Michael, released on Columbia Records in December 1990. The “’90″ added to the end of the title is to prevent confusion with a Wham! song also titled “Freedom“. “Freedom ’90″ was the second US single from the album Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1.

History

The song was a highly-praised confessional project from Michael, acknowledging his fortune and luck from his early days with Wham! – referring directly to Andrew Ridgeley as his “buddy”. The cleverly worded song was initially promoted as describing Michael’s effort to break free from his publishing contract with Sony Music. However, as Michael’s sexuality came to light a few years later with his arrest in a public bathroom in April 1998, the song became equally recognized as a one that describes the struggles of being a closeted homosexual. Michael has since been open about his orientation.

Sampling

“Freedom” interpolates a sample from the James Brown track “Funky Drummer”. Click here to listen to it.

“Funky Drummer” was heavily sampled during the ’90s, and may very well be the most sampled ever.

The Music Video

As if to reinforce the song’s sentiment, Michael refused to appear in the music video – which was directed by David Fincher – and instead recruited a number of supermodels (including Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Tatjana Patitz, Cindy Crawford, and male models John Pearson, Mario Sorrenti, and Peter Formby) to mouth the words. It also featured the destruction of various symbols of Michael’s past, including the famous guitar, jukebox, and leather jacket of the Faith era.

Chart Info

“Freedom ’90″ had contrasting fortunes on each side of the Atlantic – it peaked #28 on the UK Singles Chart, but was a major success on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, reaching #8 and selling over 500,000 copies to earn a Gold certification from the RIAA. It remained in the Billboard Top 40 for twelve weeks in late 1990 and early 1991.

“Freedom” was covered by Robbie Williams and released in 1996, his debut single since leaving Take That. It reached #2 in the UK and has not been included on any of his studio albums since.

Single Information

This was one of two promo cd singles sent to US radio stations to promote the track. It has unique front and back sleeves. The front photo was taken from the commercial CD single and horizontally reversed.

This promo CD features the album version and a shorter version edited by Mike Corbett, who edited songs by other Columbia artists such as Judas Priest and Mariah Carey. I am not a big fan of his editing style, some of the edit points seem a little abrupt and off. To me, this was the case with the “Freedom” edit as well as Mariah Carey’s edits for “I Don’t Wanna Cry” and “Make It Happen”.

Label:

Columbia

Catalog Number:

CSK73559

Track Listing and Details:

1. Freedom (Album Version) (6:30)

Written, arranged and produced by George Michael. Engineered by Chris Porter.

2. Freedom (Edit) (5:19)

Edit by Mike Corbett.

Rip Information:

Source: CD

Format: mp3

Bitrate: 320 kbps

George Michael – Freedom (US Promo CD Single)

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