"Bad Boys" is a song by English pop duo

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 ...

released on 6 May 1983. It was written and co-produced by

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 ...

, one half of the duo, and released on

Innervision Records Innervision Records was an independent record label distributed by Sony Music Entertainment, CBS Records. The label was established around 1981 by Mark Dean and Shamsi Ahmed. Perhaps the most recognizable artist associated with Innervision was ...

. The song is sung from the perspective of a rebellious teenager whose parents are concerned about his late-night activities. Michael, who was only 19 when he composed it (and the character refers to being that age in the song), also penned a

middle eight The 32-bar form, also known as the AABA song form, American popular song form and the ballad form, is a song structure commonly found in Tin Pan Alley songs and other American popular music, especially in the first half of the 20th century. Th ...

in which the "parents" (Michael putting on more "adult" voices) air their concerns, which include late nights and cigarettes and ultimately asking, "Why do you have to be so cruel?" Michael's father was played by Anthony Souter in the music video, who was 18 and made up to look older. English model Gail Lawson also appears in the video, playing the blonde girl Michael and Andrew Ridgeley are with in a convertible car.

Chart performance

It was the third single to be taken from Wham!'s debut album, ''

Fantastic Fantastic or Fantastik may refer to: Music * ''Fantastic'' (Toy-Box album) * ''Fantastic'' (Wham! album) * '' Fan-Tas-Tic (Vol. 1)'', an album by Slum Village * '' Fantastic, Vol. 2'', an album by Slum Village * ''Fantastic'' (EP), an EP by ...

'', and reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart,behind “

Every Breath You Take "Every Breath You Take" is a song by the English rock band the Police from their album ''Synchronicity'' (1983). Written by Sting, the single was the biggest US and Canadian hit of 1983, topping the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart for ei ...

” by

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...

, going on to become the 26th best selling single of 1983. At the time, Wham! was projecting a hard, politically motivated image, with "Bad Boys" one of a number of songs projecting a stance of mood and youthful independence, a "soul boy – dole boy" theme. The single was also released in the United States, peaking at number 60. It was the duo's first time on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

in the US, although they were listed as Wham!-UK. "Bad Boys" became the biggest hit from the debut album, although it would be usurped by "

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 plat ...

" from the album ''Make It Big'' in 1984, which became the first of four UK number-one singles the duo would enjoy. Michael quickly denounced "Bad Boys" as a song he hated, stating it was "like an

albatross Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Paci ...

round my neck". The song was famously omitted from the 1997 compilation album '' The Best of Wham!: If You Were There...'', despite the album including tracks that were not released as singles.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1983 songs 1983 singles Wham! songs Songs written by George Michael Song recordings produced by George Michael CBS Records singles Innervision Records singles Songs about teenagers