"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" is a song by the English duo

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 mor ...

, 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 Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

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 Katharine E. Hamnett (born 16 August 1947, in Gravesend, Kent) is an English fashion designer best known for her political T-shirts. Early life Hamnett was born on 16 August 1947, the daughter of James Appleton, a group captain. She attende ...

, 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 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 pare ...

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 a live rhythm section. The song, according to Michael, had been done in one take without any drop-ins (overdubs) at all - production-wise, he noted that the two options to him were "either to be like

Trevor Horn Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (wit ...

and go for stunning sounds on your own, or just get a great sound on each instrument and go for a live take". The UK sleeve was designed by Peter Saville, with photography by Trevor Key.

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that "the Motown groove and patent vocals of 'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go' are perfect CHR material which is executed expertly by this British duo." The song entered the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

at number four – after much hype from the duo claiming they would go straight in at number one, which was a rare occurrence then – and climbed to the top spot seven days later, staying there for two weeks. The song also went to the top of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States, holding the top spot for three weeks.

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by

Andy Morahan Andrew Douglas Morahan (born 11 August 1958) is a British commercial, film and music video director. He is the son of director Christopher Morahan and the half-brother of actress Hattie Morahan. Married to Joanna Lewis, he has two children. ...

. It showcases the band performing for an audience of mostly teenagers at

Brixton Academy Brixton Academy (originally known as the Astoria Variety Cinema, previously known as Carling Academy Brixton, currently named O2 Academy Brixton as part of a sponsorship deal with the O2 brand) is a mid-sized concert venue located in South Wes ...

in South London. The band was wearing

t-shirt designs that said "CHOOSE LIFE".

Popular culture

The song was notably used in the gas station sequence in ''

Zoolander ''Zoolander'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by and starring Ben Stiller. The film contains elements from a pair of short films directed by Russell Bates and written by Drake Sather and Stiller for the '' VH1 Fashion Awards'' television ...

''. It was also featured in the opening for the 2016 Primetime Emmy Awards (where Jimmy Kimmel is attempting to get to), the episode "The Unincludeds" in season 13 of '' American Dad!'' and premiere episode of '' Moon Knight''.

Track listing

*Note: The US 7-inch single (Columbia 04552) has identical track listing. It was also released as a CD single in 1999

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

*
Song review from AllMusic
{{Authority control 1984 songs 1984 singles 1985 singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles CBS Records singles Columbia Records singles Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Epic Records singles European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Music videos directed by Andy Morahan Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Iceland Number-one singles in Norway Number-one singles in Sweden RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by George Michael Song recordings produced by George Michael UK Singles Chart number-one singles Wham! songs Songs about dancing