- Title: UNITED KINGDOM: GEORGE MICHAEL ALBUM 'OLDER' HITS RECORD STORES
- Date: 13th May 1996
- Summary: STAFF RESTOCKING SHELVES
- Embargoed: 28th May 1996 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: United Kingdom
- Reuters ID: LVAAN3ZI80D5Q5NEQ6EXRSVPA8SL
- Story Text: After much hype and anticipation, George Michael's long awaited album hit record stores around the capital on Monday (May 13) drawing queues of fans eager to grab an early copy.
In the wake of the success of the two singles lifted from it so far, pundits tip the album to shoot straight to number one, as did its tracks "Like Jesus to a Child" and "Fastlove".
It is the elusive star's first album since his legal fight to free himself from former label Sony.
Tens of thousands of albums were snapped up on the first day, and HMV records predicted a couple of million sales by the end of 1996.
Half a million copies of Older have been ordered already in England.
"We've been selling hundreds at a time," HMV Public Relations manager Gennaro Castaldo said. "I think it will probably be the best selling album of the year." London's Capital radio devoted a day to the solo artist, once who thrilled teenagers in the cavorting duo "Wham", which split in 1986.
Born Georgios Kyriacos Panayioutou in north London in 1963, the son of Greek Cypriot immigrants has outshone many peers of the past decade and survived to be taken seriously as an artist and musician.
Critics are divided about the album. Some say it is George Michael at his best, others that he has taken no account of changes in musical trends.
Capital Radio Disc Jockey Mick Brown, a self-declared fan called the album "a one-man band". "George has played everything...it shows the six years he's been out of the public eye, he hasn't wasted it," Brown said.
The first single from the album, Jesus to a Child, the aching ballad written after the death of his Brazilian friend Anselmo Feleppa of a brain haemorrhage three years ago, also went straight in at number one in January.
Amid the widespread publicity, 32-year-old Michael has remained aloof from promoting the album.
Instead he hosted a private party in a Paris on Moday for 500 friends to celebrate the launch, flying many over from London to join the celebrations. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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