Monkey (song)
Monkey is a synthpop song by George Michael, which was released in 1987 on his album Faith and coupled in July 1988 as a single. It was a number -one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and Canada. The song was co-produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and is the first number -one hit, the George Michael has not produced alone.
Formation
The production duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis had produced a remix album for Janet Jackson, released in the UK under the title More Control. Then there was a version of Nasty that Michael liked very much. In his opinion, they had the version although enriched with chords, but without neglecting the funky elements. Michael asked them if they would remix Monkey in the same way, and asked them a demo of the song is available. However, Jam and Lewis decided to completely re- record the song. The basic tracks they recorded in her studio in Minneapolis and then went to Los Angeles where Michael should record the vocals. Because Michael was in the middle of rehearsals for the upcoming tour, he commuted between the rehearsal room and studio, so the recording of the song took about a week to complete. After the song was re-recorded, the producers combined it with samples from the song of the demo version. Back in her studio in Minneapolis, they no longer liked the sound of the drums, the result should sound like a live recording. So Jam played a new drum tracks and Vaughn Halyard, a Synclavier programmer, took corrections on the drum machine. Thus, the result was a kind of live atmosphere that was well suited to the planned music video.
Publication
In the fall of 1987, Monkey appeared on George Michael's Faith album. In the summer of 1988, released as a single, the piece of the fourth number -one hit of the album on the Billboard Hot 100 was It was the first single by CBS, which came simultaneously in six different versions on the market. It was a single version and a remixed by Jam and Lewis Extended Version each as a record, CD and music cassette.