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Wham!
Wham! (briefly known in the US as Wham! U.K.) were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981. The duo consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to 1986. Influenced by funk and soul music and presenting themselves as disaffected youth, Wham!'s 1983 debut album ''Fantastic'' addressed the United Kingdom's unemployment problem and teen angst over adulthood. Their second studio album ''Make It Big'' in 1984 was a worldwide pop smash hit, charting at number one in both the UK and the United States. Associated with the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US, the singles from the album—"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Everything She Wants" and "Careless Whisper"—all topped the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 1985, Wham! made a highly publicised 10-day visit to China, the first by a Western pop group. The event was seen as a ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Michael
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musicians of all time, with sales of over 120 million records worldwide. Michael was known as a leading creative force in music production, songwriting, vocal performance, and visual presentation. He achieved seven number-one songs on the UK Singles Chart and eight number-one songs on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Michael won numerous music awards, including two Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, three American Music Awards, twelve ''Billboard'' Music Awards, and four MTV Video Music Awards. In 2015, he was ranked 45th in '' Billboard''s list of the "Greatest Hot 100 Artists of All Time". The Radio Academy named him the most played artist on British radio during the period 1984–2004. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Make It Big
''Make It Big'' is the second and final studio album from British pop duo Wham!, released in 1984. In comparison to their earlier work, Wham! (George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley) had more control over the album's production and Michael would also be credited as a producer. The album was a commercial success, hitting number one in both the US and the UK and spawning four singles, all reaching the top three in the US and the UK. The music video for single "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" had the duo in shirts that read ''Choose Life''. It would be the first of several hits from the album. The second single "Careless Whisper" is technically a Wham! song as it appears on the Wham! album ''Make It Big''. However, when released as a single, it was credited either to ''Wham! featuring George Michael'' (in North America and several other countries) or solely to ''George Michael'' (in the United Kingdom and some European countries) as it became apparent, that at some point in the near futu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Edge Of Heaven
"The Edge of Heaven" is a song by English pop duo Wham!, released on Epic Records in 1986. It was written and produced by George Michael, one half of the duo, and was promoted in advance as Wham!'s farewell single. History With the known desire of George Michael to move into a more adult market, Wham! had announced in the spring of 1986 that Michael and his musical partner Andrew Ridgeley would go their separate ways after a farewell single, album and concert. The album was called ''The Final'' and the concert was held in front of 72,000 fans at London's Wembley Stadium on Saturday 28 June 1986. Prior to the official release date of the single, the song had been performed during their 1985 "Whamamerica!" tour. The single, a five-minute tale of emotional and physical frustration within a relationship, was a slick and upbeat — albeit harder-edged than earlier works — pop tune which featured a guest appearance by Elton John, a friend of Michael and Ridgeley, on piano. It became ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Everything She Wants
"Everything She Wants" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, originally released as a single in 1984 on Epic Records on a double A-side with "Last Christmas". It was written and produced by George Michael, one half of the duo, becoming their third consecutive million-selling number-one hit in the United States. Origin Writing Like most other Wham! songs from this period, it was written by George Michael. He discussed in the Fall 1985 issue of ASCAP In Action: Michael elaborated on the song's lyrics and the meaning behind them in Dick Clark's Countdown radio show: Recording "Everything She Wants" was recorded in August 1984 at Marcadet Studios in Paris using a 3M 32-track recorder and was most likely finished off at Sarm West’s Studio 2 in London after most of ''Make It Big'' had been finished at Studio Miraval in southeastern France over a period of six weeks. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" is a song by the English duo Wham!, first released as a single in the UK on 14 May 1984. It became their first UK and US number one hit. It was written and produced by George Michael. The single was certified platinum in the US, which at the time commemorated sales of over two million copies. The music video features Michael and Ridgeley wearing oversized message T-shirts ("CHOOSE LIFE") created by Katharine Hamnett, starting a craze covered in the 2002 VH1 series '' I Love the 80s''. The song was ranked number 28 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s. History Michael's inspiration for the song was a scribbled note that his bandmate Andrew Ridgeley had left for his parents, intended to read "wake me up before you go" but with "up" accidentally written twice, so Ridgeley wrote "go" twice on purpose. In 1984, George Michael had this to say on the development of the song: It was recorded within two days at Sarm West Studio 2 in London, with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Club Tropicana
"Club Tropicana" is a song by English pop duo Wham!, released in 1983 on Innervision Records. It was written by members George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. History "Club Tropicana" was written in 1981 in Ridgeley's living room, before the band or bandname had been fully established, and was the second Wham! song they came up with after the initial "Wham Rap!". Although only half finished at the time of recording, it became one of the three home demos hastily made on a hired porta-studio which led to their first record contract with Innervision Records. The initial song inspiration came from their excitement over the glamour and escapism of the then burgeoning New Romantic club scene, and George, Andrew and Shirlie's occasional visits to one such club in London, Le Beat Route. The song's lyrical theme was then expanded to also include the hedonism of summery Club 18-30 holidays, whilst musically fusing a Latin jazz rhythm with a groove inspired by the Gap Band's " Burn Rubber o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)
"Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)" is the debut single by English pop duo Wham! on Innervision Records, released in June 1982. It was written by Wham! members George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. History Wham Rap! was the first song written by Michael and Ridgeley following the breakup of their previous band, The Executive, but before they had officially formed (or named) Wham! The genesis of the song began in 1981 and was a result of Ridgeley making up his own words ("Wham! ''Bam!'' I am the man!") while dancing to "Rapper's Delight" with Michael and Shirley in Bogart's nightclub in South Harrow. As they continued to work on the song an ultimatum to Michael from his father inspired the line "Get yourself a job or get out of this house". A demo of Wham Rap! was recorded by local music producer Paul Mex, in January 1982 along with Club Tropicana and Careless Whisper on Mex's TEAC 4-track Portastudio, with the resulting 3 song demo-tape gaining Wham! their record contract with Innervisi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrew Ridgeley
Andrew John Ridgeley (born 26 January 1963) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his work in the 1980s in the musical duo Wham!. Early life Ridgeley was born in Windlesham, Surrey, England, to parents Jennifer John (née Dunlop) and Alberto Mario Zacharia (who later changed his surname to Ridgeley); his mother is Scottish and his father is of Italian/Egyptian descent. Ridgeley grew up in Bushey, Hertfordshire, and attended Bushey Meads School. His mother was a schoolteacher at Bushey Heath Primary School while his father worked for Canon. When George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ... enrolled at school, Ridgeley volunteered to take him under his wing. Career After years of playing in various music groups, mos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Final (album)
''The Final'' is a greatest hits album released in 1986 to summarize the career of British pop duo Wham!. The album was not initially released in North America, where an album entitled ''Music from the Edge of Heaven'' was released instead. Six songs from that album appear on this compilation. The compilation album was followed by the farewell concert of the same name on 28 June 1986, at Wembley Stadium. The CD edition omits "Blue (Armed with Love)" and the extended mixes. A deluxe edition of the album was released on CD/DVD and download in November 2011, with the DVD featuring all of Wham!'s music videos, including the video for " Young Guns (Go for It!)", "Last Christmas", and a remix version of the video for "Everything She Wants". It follows the track listing of the CD, with the exception of "Battlestations", as it was a B-side and not an official single. Background When George Michael guested on the ''Aspel & Company'' talk show on 1 March 1986, he announced that Wham! wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fantastic (Wham! Album)
''Fantastic'' is the debut studio album by British pop duo Wham!, released on 9 July 1983. It reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. It included the previously released singles "Young Guns (Go for It), Young Guns", "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do), Wham! Rap" and "Bad Boys (Wham! song), Bad Boys". "Club Tropicana" was released as a single to coincide with the album's release. Although not on the album, "Club Fantastic Megamix" (a medley of songs from the album) was released against the band's wishes by Innervision Records, Innervision soon after ''Fantastic'', and whilst they were in proceedings to leave the label. According to Andrew Ridgeley in his 2019 book ''Wham! George and Me'' it was during the early stages of writing and recording of this album, that the pair agreed that George Michael should take sole responsibility for writing the group's material. Before securing their first record deal, they had written songs together, and made their first demos with these songs. W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Careless Whisper
"Careless Whisper" is a song written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. Released on the 1984 Wham! album ''Make It Big'', the single release was credited either to ''Wham! featuring George Michael'' (in North America and several other countries) or solely to ''George Michael'' (in the United Kingdom and some European countries) as it became apparent, that at some point in the near future, Michael would be embarking on a solo career. The song features a prominent saxophone riff, and has been covered by a number of artists since its first release. It was released as a single and became a huge commercial success around the world. It reached number one in nearly 25 countries, selling about 6 million copies worldwide—2 million of them in the United States. Background Composition and writing In 1981, Michael was working as a DJ in the Bel Air restaurant near Bushey, Hertfordshire. Michael explained in his autobiography, ''Bare'', that he conceptualised "Careles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Final (concert)
The Final was the farewell concert by English musical duo Wham! It was held at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 28 June 1986. A total of 72,000 people attended the event, which included support artists and special guests, such as Elton John and Simon Le Bon . The concert was preceded by the release of the greatest hits album of the same name. Background Wham! had announced their breakup in 1986. During late February Michael was a guest on the talk show ''Aspel & Company'', he announced that Wham! were to break-up and were to perform one last show. During production rehearsals for the Wembley concert, Wham! performed two warm-up shows in aid of Capital radio’s “Help a London Child” charity on 23 and 24 June at the Brixton Academy in London. 2-15 July 1986. Smash Hits. Publisher EMAP Metro. Retrieved 14 November 2019 In an interview in October 2019, Ridgeley said that the concert was unlikely to be released stating “I would love that to happen, but it was never act ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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