Ninety minutes of newly released studio footage show George Michael working in 1992 on The Trojan Souls, a duets project conceived during his dispute with Sony Records and abandoned after his partner Anselmo Feleppa became gravely ill. [1] The footage proves that sustained work occurred. It does not prove that a complete, approved, or releasable album survives.
Michael intended songs for performers including Aretha Franklin, Janet Jackson, Sade Adu, Stevie Wonder, Bryan Ferry, Prince, and Elton John. Yet intention is not participation. The Guardian reported that only the Elton John collaboration, "This Kind of Love," was completed, while the film contains fragments of three songs and footage of musicians developing arrangements under Michael's direction. [1]
That incomplete record is precisely what makes the archive compelling. The video shows a famous singer handling instruments, directing world-class players, and chasing details that finished records normally conceal. It is evidence of creative process. Lost-album mythology converts process into inventory and inventory into a promised release.
Footage and recordings have different custodians
Andros Georgiou, Michael's childhood friend and former collaborator, filmed the sessions and released the unedited video after years of trying to remove unauthorized clips from online platforms. He says the videos are his and is streaming them through a dedicated site. [1] Ownership of footage, however, does not automatically confer authority over musical masters, compositions, performers' contributions, Michael's estate, or a label's contractual interests.
Each layer needs its own record. Archive metadata can establish when and where a scene was filmed. Session logs and surviving tapes can show which performances exist. Mixes and approvals can distinguish a demo from a master. Contracts and copyright records can identify who controls reproduction and distribution. Performer or estate consent can determine whether a duet may be issued.
The project's history makes shortcuts especially dangerous. Michael filed suit against Sony in 1992, alleging that his contract restrained his trade. Georgiou says Sony declined the project and Warner offered financing. Work then slowed as Feleppa's health failed, and Michael abandoned it after Feleppa died in March 1993. [1] Label conflict, grief, and creative fatigue explain why material remained unfinished; they do not resolve present ownership.
Some pieces later escaped the archive. A cover of "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" appeared through Aegean Records in 1998, and Michael rerecorded "This Kind of Love" without Elton John before his death. [1] Those releases show that particular material can move through later stages. They do not authorize the rest of the sessions by analogy.
Georgiou hopes to publish more footage and has imagined a duet version of "This Kind of Love" if Elton John approves. [1] The condition is the story in miniature: desire and possession are not permission.
No verified X post was recovered, so fan excitement cannot be quoted as evidence of rights, completeness, or a release plan. The Guardian's feature supplies a vivid historical record and one participant's account; it does not supply a release authority.
The footage reopens a room, not an album campaign. What survives in that room may be beautiful, fragmentary, disputed, or all three. Before any recording leaves it, the people who own, made, inherited, and approved the work still have to be found in the ledger.
-- CAMILLE BEAUMONT, Los Angeles