An unfinished George Michael song that was originally supposed to be a duet with Elton John could finally be released – if the late star’s cousin/ former manager gets his way, that is.
The track is called This Kind Of Love and its existence has been known for some time. It was originally recorded in the early 1990s as part of an album called Trojan Souls, which saw the singer duet with a number of artists, including Stevie Wonder, Bryan Ferry, Sade, Anita Baker and Elton. The project ran aground after Michael fell out with Sony and to this day remains in the vaults.
Now Michael’s ex-manager, a relation named Andros Georgiou, has made a film that takes its title from the album. With a somewhat aggrandising subtitle of ‘The Greatest Album That Was Never Made’, it can already be seen online. Georgiou, though, is looking for wider distribution, and in an interview with The Sun’s Bizarre column has been talking about his plans for the film – which includes the release of This Kind Of Love.
“I got this incredible interview with Elton that no one has seen and I’m saving that for when the film gets snapped up by a streamer like Apple,” Georgiou told the paper. “Elton said on the film, ‘I will literally do anything for George. I know at 21 he got the Ivor Novello award, and no one had ever done that before. When I got the call, before anything was said, I said yes.’
“We focused on finishing that song first because we knew Elton was going to come in. I’ve got George singing the track and Elton singing the track so the dream is to make another track. I would have to ask Elton’s permission to put the vocals together. I’m sure Elton would say yes because he was blown away by the song and was a huge supporter of George.”
Getting Elton’s permission would probably be the easiest part. More tricky would be getting the Michael estate to sign off on the project, along with all the respective record labels involved.
Elton was a friend, collaborator and cheerleader of the late singer, who died in December 2016. He once described him as “one of the most brilliant songwriters this country's ever produced, and certainly one of the best vocalists ever.” The two artists’ live duet of Elton’s Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me was a UK Number One in late 1991.
