"Spinning the Wheel" is a song by English singer-songwriter

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...

. The song was co-written and co-produced by Michael and Jon Douglas. It was released on

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

as the third single from Michael's third studio album, ''

Older Older is the comparative form of " old". It may refer to: Music * ''Older'' (George Michael album), 1996 ** "Older" (George Michael song), 1996 * ''Older'' (Lizzy McAlpine album), 2024 ** "Older" (Lizzy McAlpine song), 2024 * "Older" (5 Seco ...

'' (1996), and depicts the worry of a lover whose partner is sexually promiscuous during the period when AIDS was newly discovered and rampant in the West. The song peaked at number two in the United Kingdom, kept off the top by the

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...

' "

Wannabe "Wannabe" is the debut single by the British girl group the Spice Girls, released on 26 June 1996. It was written by the Spice Girls, Matt Rowe and Richard "Biff" Stannard and produced by Rowe and Stannard for the group's debut album, ''Spice ...

". The single also peaked within the top 10 in Denmark, Hungary, Italy, and Spain where it spent three consecutive weeks at number one. The accompanying music video was directed by Vaughan Arnell and Anthea Benton. "Spinning the Wheel" subsequently appeared on both of George Michael's compilations '' Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael'' and '' Twenty Five''.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' praised the Forthright remix of "Spinning the Wheel" as a "hard-driving dance record", noting that the "sleek and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

y interlude" from the ''

'' album had been reconstructed "with a textured

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

sound." He also complimented Michael for breaking "interesting new ground", and that the sophistication of the original recording "remains fully intact, though Forthright darkens the groove to complimentary effect". Sarah Davis from ''

Dotmusic ''Dotmusic'' was a music webzine that existed as a standalone website from 1 June 1995 to December 2003. Initially intended as the web complement to the UK music industry trade magazine ''Music Week'', the site was relaunched in December 1998 as a ...

'' named it the album's "upbeat highlight", adding that it finds Michael "sending out warning signs to an errant partner": "Five o'clock in the morning, you ain't home ... I will not accept this as part of my life... I would rather be alone than watch you spinning the wheel for me". Swedish ''

Göteborgs-Tidningen (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden. Describing itself as independent liberal, was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or " to your rescue". The newspaper awards the cultu ...

'' stated that it is "at least as good" as "

Jesus to a Child "Jesus to a Child" is a song by English singer and songwriter George Michael. Written as a melancholic tribute to his late lover Anselmo Feleppa, it was released in January 1996 by Virgin Records as the first single from his third studio album, ...

" and "

Fastlove "Fastlove" is a song by English singer-songwriter George Michael, released on 22 April 1996 by Virgin Records in the United Kingdom and by DreamWorks Records in the United States as the second single from his third album, '' Older'' (1996). Wri ...

". Elysa Gardner from ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' said that Michael "achieves a light jazz feel n the songthat also makes for good background music".

Paul Lester Paul Lester is a British music journalist, author and broadcaster from Elstree, Hertfordshire. Career He began his career as a freelance journalist, for ''Melody Maker'' in the early 1990s, as well as ''City Limits'', '' 20/20'', '' Sky Maga ...

from ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' said songs like "Spinning the Wheel" "are snazzily produced late-night smoochathons that'll provide horny shop assistants and bank clerks with shag material for months." A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' gave it four out of five, adding that this "balladic" follow-up to two number ones, "could just hit the spot again." Victoria Segal from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' noted its "brassy bleakness". Bob Waliszewski of ''

Plugged In ''Plugged In'' is a 1994 album by Welsh rock musician Dave Edmunds. The album is the last completely new studio album released by Edmunds to feature vocals. On ''Plugged In'', Edmunds returned to the "one man band" approach of his early solo ...

'' said that the singer "demonstrates 'tough love' on 'Spinning the Wheel' as he walks out on an adulterous woman." Ed Morales for ''

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

'' wrote that "the singular swing of the trip-hoppy" song "is compelling".

Music video

A black-and-white music video was produced to promote the single, directed by Vaughan Arnell and Anthea Benton. It features Michael performing with a band in a club and was later made available on Michael's official

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel in 2010. The video has amassed more than 7,8 million views as of August 2023.

Track listings

* Asian, Australian, European, and UK CD EP # "Spinning the Wheel" (radio edit) – 4:57 # "You Know That I Want To" – 4:35 # "Safe" – 4:25 # "Spinning the Wheel" (Forthright edit) – 4:41 * Asian, Australian, European, and UK CD "The Dance Mixes" # "Spinning the Wheel" (Forthright club mix) – 8:11 # "

" (Forthright edit) – 4:23 # "Spinning the Wheel" (Jon Douglas remix) – 6:40

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1996 singles 1996 songs Black-and-white music videos George Michael songs LGBTQ-related songs Music videos directed by Vaughan Arnell Number-one singles in Spain Songs written by George Michael Song recordings produced by George Michael Virgin Records singles