"A Different Corner"

For an icon of my gloriously wasted youth, who has seen better days, and now perhaps wishes he'd turned a different corner...

At the time of its release in April 1986, Michael was still a member of pop duo Wham!, though he and partner Andrew Ridgeley had announced that they would split in the summer after a farewell single, album and concert. Michael had already enjoyed a solo #1 in the UK singles chart in 1984 with "Careless Whisper," and when he went back to the top with "A Different Corner," he became the first solo act in the history of the UK chart to reach #1 with his first two releases, although he was hardly an unknown or new act on either occasion. The song was also credited with being the second #1 (after "I Just Called to Say I Love You" by Stevie Wonder) which was written, sung, played, arranged and produced by the same person. The song reached #7 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first single credited solely to Michael to become an American top-ten hit.

After Simon Bates first aired "A Different Corner" on Radio 1, he rated the song so highly that he immediately played it again from the beginning.

A note on the back of the sleeve proclaims, "This record is dedicated to a memory." (source)