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Wham!
Wham! were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981 consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to 1986. Associated with the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US, the singles " Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", " Careless Whisper", and " Everything She Wants" all topped the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Their 1984 Christmas hit " Last Christmas" has become a staple of the holiday season since its release, with all proceeds from the single going to charity. 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. In 1985, Wham! made a highly publi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Last Christmas
"Last Christmas" is a song by British pop duo Wham!. Written and produced by George Michael, it was released on 3 December 1984 via CBS Records internationally and as a double A-side via Epic Records with " Everything She Wants" in several European countries. The song has been covered by many artists including Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Whigfield, Crazy Frog and Billie Piper. Upon its initial release in 1984, "Last Christmas" spent five consecutive weeks at number two in the UK singles chart—it was held off the top spot at Christmas by Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" (on which Michael also performed). After many chart runs in subsequent years, which included three more weeks at number two, and which saw the recording become part of RCA Records' catalogue, the song finally reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on New Year's Day 2021 (chart week ending date 7 January 2021), more than 36 years after its initial release; in doing so, it became the fifth UK nu ... [...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-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling recording artists of all time. Michael was known as a creative force in songwriting, vocal performance, and visual presentation. Born in East Finchley, Middlesex, Michael rose to fame after forming the pop duo Wham! with Andrew Ridgeley in 1981. He took part in Band Aid (band), Band Aid's UK number-one single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in 1984 and performed at the following year's Live Aid concert. His debut studio album, ''Faith (George Michael album), Faith'' (1987), won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and became one of the List of best-selling albums, best-selling albums of all time, having sold over 25 million copies worldwide. Michael then went on to release a series of multimillion-selling albums, including ''Listen Without ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wham! Discography ...
English musical duo Wham! released three studio albums (three in North America and Japan, two in all other territories), four compilation albums, four video albums, 12 music videos, 14 singles, one promotional single, two remix albums and three documentary films. Albums Studio albums Compilation albums Remix albums Video albums Singles Promotional singles "Last Christmas" re-issue and re-entry positions Music videos Lyric videos (official) Filmography Notes References {{Wham! Discographies of British artists Pop music group discographies discography Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Make It Big
''Make It Big'' is the second studio album by English 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. ''Make It Big'' was certified 4× platinum in the US during the time of its release, and has since been certified 6× platinum in the US. In March 2024, ''Make It Big'' was reissued on vinyl for the first time in 30 years. 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! feat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Everything She Wants
"Everything She Wants" is a single by the British pop duo Wham!, released in 1984 under Epic Records. The song was part of a double A-side release with " Last Christmas". Written and produced by George Michael, a member of the duo, "Everything She Wants" garnered significant acclaim, marking Wham!'s 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. The song was based around a mono 2-bar LinnD ... [...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 early 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 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, featured a guest appearance by the duo's friend Elton John on piano. The song became Wham!'s fourth No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart and their final US top-ten hit. Michael said the lyrics to the son ... [...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 English pop 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 bandmate Andrew 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 George 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, Michael had this to say on the development of the song: It was recorded within two days at Sarm West Studio 2 in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Club Tropicana
"Club Tropicana" is a single by English pop duo Wham!, released on 22 July 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 Michael, Ridgeley and Shirlie Holliman'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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrew Ridgeley
Andrew John Ridgeley (born 26 January 1963) is an English musician, best known for his work in the 1980s in the musical duo Wham! consisting of Ridgeley and George Michael. Associated with the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US, they were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to 1986. Their singles " Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", " Everything She Wants", and " Careless Whisper" all topped the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 2019, Penguin Random House published Ridgeley's memoir ''Wham! George & Me''. Early life Ridgeley was born in Windlesham, Surrey, to Jennifer Jill (née Dunlop; 1943–2009) and Alberto Mario Zacharia (1933–2015), who later changed his surname to Ridgeley. His mother was of English and Scottish descent and his father was Jewish, of Italian, Yemeni and Egyptian origin; his father's family were expelled from Egypt as a result of the Suez Crisis. He has one sibling ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Final (album)
''The Final'' is a greatest hits album released in 1986 to summarise the career of English pop duo Wham!. The album was not initially released in North America, where the album '' Music from the Edge of Heaven'' was released instead. Six songs from that album appear on this compilation. The compilation album coincided with 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 of "Bad Boys", "Careless Whisper" and "I'm Your Man". 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 s ... [...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 on 11 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 Wham! had been fully established. 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 on 18 January 1982 along with "Careless Whisper" on Mex's TEAC 4-track Portastudio, with the resulting 2-song demo tape gaining Wham! their record contract with Innervision Records some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Careless Whisper
"Careless Whisper" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter George Michael. Released as the second single from Wham!'s second studio album ''Make It Big'' (1984), it was written by Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, with Michael producing the song. Although the song was released as part of ''Make It Big'', the single release is credited to either Wham! featuring George Michael (in the United States and several other countries) or solely to George Michael (in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and some nations in Europe). The song has been covered by several artists since its release, including Brian McKnight, Seether, Roger Williams (pianist), Roger Williams, Kenny G and Julio Iglesias, among others. A contemporary pop song with Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul influences, it features a prominent saxophone riff composed by Michael and played by Steve Gregory. It became a commercial success, topping record charts in at least ten countries and selling about 6 million copies worldwide— ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
