George Michael “Faith” from his album Faith which was released on this date, October 30th, 1987. The LP was his first debut record after disbanding Wham! “Faith” was the second single from the LP (the first was “I Want Your Sex”) and it was released just a few weeks earlier than the album and hit #1 in late ‘87 to early ‘88 where it remained for four weeks, and then stayed in the top 10 for another 5 weeks, making it the #1 single of the entire year.

I really love this single, with its organ intro that references Wham’s “Freedom” before breaking into a Bo Diddley beat and classic 50′s rock-n-roll guitar. The video became truly iconic, featuring Michael’s ridiculously sexy ass sculpted in Levi’s, perfectly groomed stubble, Ray Bans, black leather jacket and a jukebox (the latter two he’d later set on fire/explode in the video for “Freedom ‘90″). The B-side has “Hand to Mouth,” a smooth blue-eyed soul 80′s crooner with a deep bass line, the vocals recalling the sexy whispers from some of Wham’s slower numbers (ie “Careless Whisper”). “Hand to Mouth” also appeared on Faith.