The Jamaica Observer’s Entertainment Desk continues its month-long feature titled ‘Cover Me Good’. It will look at songs covered by Jamaican artistes which became hits.

Singer Tony Curtis was a teenager when British singer George Michael topped the charts worldwide with the hit Faith in 1987.

“ Faith was a song I grew up on and I love the song. George Michael was a great vocalist,” Curtis recalled.

Eleven years later in 1998, Curtis scored big with a cover of Faith, which was produced by then Florida-based Jamaican disc jockey Richard ”Richie D” Martin (2 Bad Productions).

“I was a DJ living in Miami those days and I did a lot of remixes. Back then I used remixes to stand out from other DJs. When I started writing and producing records, I wanted to stand out as well, so I thought remixing / sampling something that was different from anyone at the time would be the way to go for me,” Martin shared in an interview with the Jamaica Observer.

Curtis’s cover of Faith was featured on a rhythm project of the same name. Several other hits were featured on the beat including Girls Everyday by Scare Dem Crew, Yuh Sure by Mr Vegas and Ohh-Ah-Ah by Hawkeye.

The cover version of this popular George Michael song was recorded at the Arrows Recording Studio on Windward Road in East Kingston. Neither Martin nor Curtis expected the song to become a hit.

“The truth is, the original song was already a hit, so I guess it wasn’t hard to see. I was young and excited about writing and producing records and never really thought whether it was going to be a hit or not. I just gave it my 100 per cent,” said Martin.

Said Curtis: “No, I never even thought that it would have become a hit song. I was just singing in the sense of a love music. I had an idea because it was a big song before, so I was thinking that if I sang it good, it may become a great song,” said Curtis.

Prior to his re-working of this song, Curtis had scored some hits with covers of Tony Braxton’s Love Shoulda Brought You Home (produced by Stone Love in 1993), Keith Sweat’s Nobody and R Kelly’s I Believe I Can Fly which was retitled I Can Fly (both were produced by Bankylous Productions in 1997). Faith was, however, his biggest cover, and the first hit song for Martin’s 2 Bad Productions.

“ Faith was a great milestone in my career. I was the first to record a song for Richie D. That song took me to many different countries to perform including Japan, across the Caribbean and the United States. It was a really great song for me and it opened many doors for my career,” said Curtis.

Asked if he was surprised that it became a hit, Martin said, “I actually was. I left the studio track at Stone Love studio and they recorded a few dubs on it and they were playing along with all the songs on the beat. Upon returning to Jamaica a month later, I went to Asylum night club to vibe with Stone Love and they played it and it wasn’t until then I realised it was going to do well.”

Curtis’s cover topped ethnic charts in America, while making it to number one locally on The Star Top 40 and X News Top 40.

George Michael’s original version of Faith was the vehicle that announced the singer’s solo career globally, after his departure from the group Wham. The song made the Top 10 in 16 countries including the United Kingdom (number two) and the United States (number one for four weeks on the Billboard Hot 100). Faith was certified double platinum in Australia, platinum in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands and gold in the United States. It was the top-selling single in America for 1988.

Tony Curtis, real name Curtis O’Brien, is originally from Linstead but moved to St Ann where he won a talent contest that was promoted by Roof International’s Courtney Cole. Teaming with deejay Jigsy King, Curtis scored his first hit with Butterfly in early 1993, which went to number one on the JBC Top 30 chart. Curtis’s other hits include High Grade, Sweet Lady (a cover of the Tyrese hit which was produced by Martin in 1999), Rollin and Your Body’s Calling (produced by Eric Delisser).

George Michael died in December 2016.