George Michael – “Fantasy” (Feat. Nile Rodgers)
Before he passed away at the end of last year, George Michael was thinking about his legacy and revisiting his old songs. In 1990, Michael had recorded a track called “Fantasy,” originally intended to be one of the singles from his Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 album. But the song didn’t make it onto the album. Instead, it showed up on a few single releases, and he gave it away as a free cassingle on his 1991 tour. But at the beginning of last year, Michael contacted Chic frontman and production legend Nile Rodgers, who remixed the track, making it just slightly sleeker and more propulsive with his glitchy production touches and chicken-scratch guitar. The new version of “Fantasy” will show up on a reissue of Listen Without Prejudice, which comes bundled with Michael’s MTV Unplugged performance. As the BBC reports, Rodgers has admitted to having “mixed feelings” about working on the song:
You SHOULD have mixed feelings. No one's heart was dragged through emotional ambiguity more than mine.Tears, uncertainty, happiness & #LOVE https://t.co/8cX4efAX1o
— Nile Rodgers (@nilerodgers) September 7, 2017
Thx. I put my heart and soul into doing what @GeorgeMichael would've wanted. #CHOOSEGEORGE @nilerodgers https://t.co/C4Ru7Dkv0V
— Nile Rodgers (@nilerodgers) September 7, 2017
Here’s the new version of the song:
And here’s Michael’s original:
The Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1/MTV Unplugged reissue is out 10/20 on Sony Music.