I Gotta Have Faith--and Now I Finally Do!
I went back in time today. No, not some “Being Erica,” time traveling therapy session. Today I got the George Michael Faith box set my husband ordered for me for Valentine’s Day. I opened the heavy box (to me it was heavy, probably not to normal people) and instantly went back in time to that kid who used to sit in front of the TV hoping and praying MTV would play “Father Figure” just one more time. As I opened the box, I found the photos (all hot, like Hottie McHot-hot kind of hot), a concert poster, CDs, and a record. I never had a George Michael record, but the second I took it out of the sleeve, I remembered my mom pulling out her old records to play for me while she’d do my hair. I don’t even know the last time I saw a record—maybe at a club years ago? But there it was, the album I never got as a kid because it was banned by some city or country or dictator as well as my mother.
Even though I wasn’t allowed to buy the album, I found ways around that. I taped songs off the radio, but then I got my opportunity. I had to make a commercial for a modeling thing to show how I’d handle myself on camera. They said I could write my own script and choose what product I wanted to pretend to promote. I decided to use the album, borrowed my friend Wendy’s tape as my prop, and wore the George Michael sweatshirt my mom bought me for Christmas. The commercial went well (the woman running the camera was a huge George fan, so there were many close-ups of the cover), and it gave me the opportunity to listen to the whole album until I gave it back to Wendy. It was amazing.
Oddly, my mom allowed me to buy the videos, but not the CD, so I had some George stuff, but it was a while before I owned the album. My mom always thought my crush on George was due to the fact she tried to ban him from the house (although she also bought me most of the singles, maybe because they were radio approved?) But as I was looking through the booklet that came in the set today, it reminded me of why I started liking him. Even though I liked the songs, and thought he was cute, I think my big attraction was the fact he talked about the process that went into making the album. That would appeal to a kid whose teachers were already steering her into going into writing. I recall all those interviews and MTV pieces on him that I watched transfixed and about passed out when I realized one of them is included on the DVD.
It’s amazing how just a few pictures, songs, an interview, and a record could completely take me back in time. Now excuse me, I have to go be a kid again.
Even though I wasn’t allowed to buy the album, I found ways around that. I taped songs off the radio, but then I got my opportunity. I had to make a commercial for a modeling thing to show how I’d handle myself on camera. They said I could write my own script and choose what product I wanted to pretend to promote. I decided to use the album, borrowed my friend Wendy’s tape as my prop, and wore the George Michael sweatshirt my mom bought me for Christmas. The commercial went well (the woman running the camera was a huge George fan, so there were many close-ups of the cover), and it gave me the opportunity to listen to the whole album until I gave it back to Wendy. It was amazing.
Oddly, my mom allowed me to buy the videos, but not the CD, so I had some George stuff, but it was a while before I owned the album. My mom always thought my crush on George was due to the fact she tried to ban him from the house (although she also bought me most of the singles, maybe because they were radio approved?) But as I was looking through the booklet that came in the set today, it reminded me of why I started liking him. Even though I liked the songs, and thought he was cute, I think my big attraction was the fact he talked about the process that went into making the album. That would appeal to a kid whose teachers were already steering her into going into writing. I recall all those interviews and MTV pieces on him that I watched transfixed and about passed out when I realized one of them is included on the DVD.
It’s amazing how just a few pictures, songs, an interview, and a record could completely take me back in time. Now excuse me, I have to go be a kid again.
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