The man born as Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou would never have become George Michael without his best mate, Andrew Ridgeley. In 1975, on Georgios's first day at a new school at the age of eleven, twelve-year-old Andrew was assigned to show the new student around. Andrew had trouble pronouncing his name, so he called him "Yog". The two immediately bonded over their shared passion for music and would be lifelong friends until George's untimely passing in 2016. Driven by their love of music, the pair joined a ska band, The Executive, in 1979 before striking out on their own as Wham! in 1981. George heavily relied on Andrew's confidence, support, and style as he came out of his shell. After their huge worldwide success as a duo, George yearned to establish himself as a solo artist, so with Andrew's blessing, Wham! staged their last concert performance as The Final. The third Wham! album, Music from the Edge of Heaven was released in Japan and North America on June 27, 1986, while the rest of the world received a double-album titled The Final a week or so later. The two albums share six songs with some differences, with The Final more of a career-spanning greatest-hits compilation and Music from the Edge of Heaven a collection of singles and B-sides released after Make It Big.
Being a fan of the music of Wham! meant buying Music from the Edge of Heaven on release day. My girlfriend and I had recently made up after a break of a week or two, and some of the album's tracks are forever linked to our, ahem, reunion. (Saw no benefit at the time to buying the album on compact disc at a higher price, but my best girl gifted it to me at Christmas.) The vinyl format of the album has a Hot Side (Side A) made up of the first four tracks and a Cool Side (Side B) containing the last four tracks. We played the Hot Side a lot, to the exclusion of the Cool Side, after an initial listen. We listened to the album again this morning and were up to our necks in the warm waters of nostalgia. Here's my highly subjective ranking and commentary of the album's eight tracks:
08 "A Different Corner"
A drowsy George Michael solo single that seems to lack a melody. Somehow managed to climb up to number 7 on the Hot 100. I guess it's here on the last Wham! album because his solo album was still a year or so away.
07 "Where Did Your Heart Go?"
Released as the final Wham! single in the US five months after the album, the track managed to peak at number 50. It's a slowed-down, smoothed-out cover of a Was (Not Was) track.
06 "Blue"
The sole souvenir from the duo's historic China tour. A decent song, it was originally released in its studio version as the B-side to the "Club Tropicana" single in 1983. It sounded unfished then but George kept polishing it through live performances.
05 "Wham! Rap '86"
The four-year-old original "Wham Rap!" was very much of its time, though it always sounded thin production-wise, like much of Fantastic. Guess George felt the same way, as he beefed it up a bit by combining two mixes of the song for "Wham! Rap '86". It's still got that sharp hook, sticking in my head for days after a single listen.
04 "Battlestations"
A sparse drum machine track featuring George recounting a week in a failing romantic relationship: "We spend more time in battle/than we ever do in bed". The song quickly grew on me but I wasn't fooled - this album was George Michael's first solo album.
03 "The Edge Of Heaven"
Featuring Elton John on piano, this song came out right before the album. Released as a double single in the UK, it featured four of the songs that would eventually be released in North America as the album Music From The Edge Of Heaven. Made it to number 10 stateside with "Blue" as the B-side. Loved it from the first time I heard it. The soaring chorus still lifts me up.
02 "I'm Your Man"
Released more than six months ahead of the album, this should have been an easy US Number One, but it was held off at number 3. This song always makes me go into classic George Michael pose, dancing and clapping my hands. My better half says it looks like I'm having a seizure, but enjoying it.
01 "Last Christmas (Pudding Mix)"
I'm a complete sucker for this song. It is as close to cozy pop perfection as we may ever get until AI cracks the code. While I enjoy playing Whamageddon during the holidays as much as anyone, it's my jam, especially the longer Pudding Mix.
Music From The Edge Of Heaven wasn't much of a cohesive album in 1986, and time hasn't been kind. It plays like a greatest-hits collection, with only three hits included. Some of the songs from Music From The Edge Of Heaven were remastered and included on the Super Deluxe Edition Blu-ray audio of Make It Big. I enjoy hearing "Edge Of Heaven" and "I'm Your Man" before listening to the Super Deluxe Edition Blu-ray audio of George Michael's Faith. To my ears, it makes Faith an even better experience.
It would be several years before I would add a copy of The Final to my CD collection. While shopping at the short-lived import-only CD store in the mall, I spotted The Final and Art of Noise's Daft, two 1986 discs I'd only read about up to that point. Both were nearly $30 apiece, so I bargained with my wife and pledged not to buy any compact discs for the next three months if she'd let me buy these two. She agreed, and I'm happy to report I still have both discs. And a happy wife.
To the chagrin of Wham! fans around the world, an official video of The Final concert at Wembley has yet to be released, with George on record saying the video would never be released because he was extremely unsatisfied with both the quality of the audio and visual recordings. A home video titled Wham! The Final was released, but it was a collection of five of the group's music videos.
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