George Michael - Fastlove

What this video is

Released 22 April 1996 as the lead commercial single from George Michael's critically anticipated comeback album Older — his first studio LP in six years — 'Fastlove' arrived at a moment when Britpop (Oasis, Blur) dominated British cultural discourse. Michael conspicuously sidestepped that movement, instead delivering a glossy R&B-funk track interpolating Patrice Rushen's 1982 'Forget Me Nots', signalling…

Why it matters

A landmark in mid-90s prestige British pop-soul, 'Fastlove' demonstrated that post-New Jack Swing R&B aesthetics could be synthesised into mainstream European pop with commercial and critical success. Its interpolation of a classic funk source (Patrice Rushen) prefigured the sample-literacy of…

The director

Vaughan Arnell and Anthea Benton were a British commercial and music video directing duo known professionally as 'Vaughan & Anthea' (abbreviated V&A), who were also a couple in real life. Active through 1996, their credits include George Michael's 'Fastlove'…