"altogether in 1985. Now signed to Epic Records, except in the US and some other countries where they were on Epic sister label Columbia Records, Wham returned in 1984 with a new album and an updated pop image. These changes helped to propel Wham's next single, ""Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"", into the top ten of several countries around the world. It became their first US and UK #1 single, accompanied by a video of the duo with Pepsi and Shirlie, all wearing Katharine Hamnett T-shirts with the slogans ""CHOOSE LIFE"" and ""GO GO"". The next single from the"
"Andrew Leaver, and David Mortimer (later known as David Austin). Michael formed the duo Wham! with Andrew Ridgeley in 1981. The band's first album ""Fantastic"" reached No. 1 in the UK in 1983 and produced a series of top 10 singles including ""Young Guns"", ""Wham Rap!"" and ""Club Tropicana"". Their second album, ""Make It Big"", reached No. 1 on the charts in the US. Singles from that album included ""Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"" (No. 1 in the UK and US), ""Freedom"", ""Everything She Wants"", and ""Careless Whisper"" which reached No. 1 in nearly 25 countries, including the UK"
"first album. Michael died from heart and liver disease at his home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire on Christmas Day 2016. He was 53. Wham! Wham! were an English pop duo consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, formed in London in 1981. 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 for young people and teen angst over adulthood. Their second studio album ""Make It Big"" in 1984 was a worldwide pop smash hit, charting number one in both the UK and the United States. The singles"
"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"", ""Wham! Rap"" and ""Bad Boys"". ""Club Tropicana"" was also released as a single, as was ""Club Fantastic Megamix"". In the U.S., this album was originally released as the group ""WHAM! U.K."", due to a conflict with a U.S. group with the same name (Columbia BFC-38911). The album also features a hidden track (played on a honky-tonk-style piano), which is included in the final 20"
"the duo Wham! with an unusual mix of disco, soul, ballads and even rap, who had eleven top ten hits in the UK, six of them number ones, between 1982 and 1986. New Romantic emerged as the dominant force in the singles charts at the beginning of the 1980s. Originally part of the new wave music movement in London nightclubs including Billy's and The Blitz Club towards the end of the 1970s and influenced by David Bowie and Roxy Music, it further developed glam rock fashions, gaining its name from the frilly fop shirts of early Romanticism. Among the commercially"
"with Paul Weller in The Style Council, and was replaced by Pepsi DeMacque. Holliman and DeMacque would later record as Pepsi & Shirlie. Wham followed up ""Young Guns (Go for It)"" with a reissue of ""Wham Rap (Enjoy What You Do)"", ""Bad Boys"" and ""Club Tropicana"". By the end of 1983, Wham were competing against pop rivals Culture Club and Duran Duran as one of Britain's biggest pop acts. Their debut album ""Fantastic"" spent two weeks at No. 1 in the UK album charts in 1983, but the album only had modest success in the US. However, notoriety and increased"
"commercial starring Naomi Campbell. Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) ""Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)"" is the debut single by British pop duo Wham! on Innervision Records, released in 1982. It was written by Wham! members George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. Although rap was still an underground and almost exclusively American phenomenon in the early 1980s, Michael rapped—as the title implies—a number of verses about the joys of living every day to the fullest, reveling in unemployment and celebrating government assistance from the Department of Health and Social Security (the initials ""DHSS"" are repeatedly chanted during the song). The"
"a solo single, ""Careless Whisper"". Then after, Wham! had their second American number one song with ""Everything She Wants"". ""Freedom"" was number one in the UK for three weeks, and featured on the album ""Make It Big"", which was issued at the same time. Unusually for the time, it was released in mono sound. ""Freedom"" was the 10th biggest-selling single of 1984. This song also reached number 3 on the ""Billboard"" Hot 100 in the US in September 1985. The music video, coinciding with the 1985 US release, features the band touring around Beijing, China. The melody of the song"
"the United States, peaking at number 60. It was the duo's first time on the ""Billboard"" Hot 100 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"" from the album ""Make It Big"" in 1984, which became the first of four UK number-one singles the duo would enjoy. George quickly denounced ""Bad Boys"" as a song he hated, stating it was ""like an albatross round my neck"". The song was famously omitted from the 1997 compilation album """","
"of artists since its first release. It was released as a single and became a huge commercial success on both sides of the Atlantic and on both sides of the Pacific. It reached number one in nearly 25 countries, selling about 6 million copies worldwide—2 million of them in the United States. Unlike most of the other Wham! singles (except ""Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)"" and ""Club Tropicana""), it was co-written by bandmate Andrew Ridgeley. The two had written it together as developing artists three years earlier in Watford, England. Michael and Ridgeley wrote the song when they were"
"them previously on another programme: ""Saturday Superstore"". Wham! were just outside the top 40 threshold of the UK Singles Chart at the time, which meant they had not climbed high enough in normal circumstances to get on the show, but they were recruited nonetheless as the highest-placed artists still climbing the charts from outside the top 40. The song entered the chart initially at number 73, went up to number 48, then dropped to number 52 and the week after that, it jumped to number 42. Their appearance on ""Top of the Pops"" broke the record wide open and on"
"unrequited love"". Wham! already had two number one songs in the UK Singles Chart in 1984 and news that they were planning a Christmas single meant that a battle for the coveted Christmas number one spot in the UK seemed set to be between Wham! and the year's other big act, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, who had achieved a third number one in early December with ""The Power of Love"". However, the Band Aid Single helmed by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, produced the number one single ""Do They Know Its Christmas"" Wham!'s offering peaked at number two for much"
"already enjoyed a solo number one on the UK Singles Chart in 1984 with ""Careless Whisper"", which was credited as Wham! featuring George Michael in the US. After radio DJ Simon Bates first aired ""A Different Corner"" on Radio 1, he rated the song so highly that he immediately played it again from the beginning. Michael went back to the top of the UK chart with ""A Different Corner"", becoming the first solo act in the history of the UK chart to reach number one with his first two releases, although he was hardly an unknown or new act on"
"all go to number 1, following Gerry & The Pacemakers twenty years earlier; however, it would be their last. Their album ""Welcome to the Pleasuredome"" also reached number 1. Wham! had their first number 1 single this year after four earlier top 10 hits, the upbeat ""Wake Me Up Before You Go Go"". This would soon be followed by their second, ""Freedom"" later in the year, and their second album Make It Big also reached the top. One of the members of the band, George Michael, also released a solo single this year, the ballad ""Careless Whisper"" co-written by his"
"The Best of Wham!: If You Were There... The Best of Wham!: If You Were There... is the second UK-released compilation, released in 1997 to summarize the career of British pop duo Wham!. It peaked at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart. The end of the album features a hidden track that was first heard on their debut album, ""Fantastic"". Many Wham! fans consider this compilation vastly inferior to the band's previous compilation, 1986's ""The Final"", not only due to the non-inclusion of ""Bad Boys"", but also discarding ""Careless Whisper"" and ""A Different Corner"". Although the latter two songs"
"Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) ""Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)"" is the debut single by British pop duo Wham! on Innervision Records, released in 1982. It was written by Wham! members George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. Although rap was still an underground and almost exclusively American phenomenon in the early 1980s, Michael rapped—as the title implies—a number of verses about the joys of living every day to the fullest, reveling in unemployment and celebrating government assistance from the Department of Health and Social Security (the initials ""DHSS"" are repeatedly chanted during the song). The explicitly political song flew"
"and was simply promoted as a Wham single. Wham used a video edited together from footage of their tour in China for ""Freedom""'s US single release. Their second album, ""Make It Big"", climbed to #1 on the album charts and the band set off on an arena tour at the end of 1984. The double A-side single ""Last Christmas/Everything She Wants"" became the highest-selling single ever to peak at No. 2 in the UK charts. It stayed at No. 2 for five weeks and, to date, is the 24th best-selling single of all time in the United Kingdom, selling over"
"one hit in the UK for Wham! in 1984 (number 3 in the US in 1985). It was the second US single from the album ""Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1"", and had contrasting fortunes on each side of the Atlantic—it peaked number 28 on the UK Singles Chart, but was a major success on the US ""Billboard"" Hot 100, reaching number 8 and selling over 500,000 copies to earn a Gold certification from the RIAA. It remained in the ""Billboard"" top 40 for 12 weeks in late 1990 and early 1991. In Canada, Michael achieved another chart-topper. As of October"
"with their song ""Sometimes"" reaching number two in the autumn; this success would be followed by many more hits throughout the decade. After four successful years, the band Wham! split up in the spring. Made up of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, they finished with a farewell concert at Wembley Stadium, a greatest hits album ""The Final"" which reached number 2, and the single ""The Edge of Heaven"", their fourth and final number 1. George Michael also reached number 1 this year with a solo release, ""A Different Corner"", and went on to have a highly successful solo career. The"
"was first broadcast in the spring of 1963. By late June, it had risen to No. 4 on Billboard's R&B chart and No. 5 on Billboard's pop chart. According to ""The Book of Golden Discs"", it sold over one million copies. The popularity of ""Memphis"" led to bookings at larger venues, at least one tour in the UK, and performances with Chuck Berry. Still in 1963, Mack released ""Wham!"", another guitar instrumental. It reached No. 24 on Billboard's Pop chart in September. Although ""Memphis"" was Mack's biggest hit, many associate the faster-paced ""Wham!"" (and the lesser-known, but lightning-fast ""Chicken-Pickin""' from"
"the only British act in the 1980s to have three No. 1 singles in both the UK and the US. Simon Napier-Bell has admitted that he fabricated a story in 1984 that Ridgeley had been hit on the nose by somebody in a nightclub in order to get publicity for Wham in British tabloid newspapers. After days of tabloid headlines, it was later revealed that the bandages on Ridgeley's face were because he had cosmetic surgery on his nose. Wham had two UK No. 1 singles in 1984 and were competing that year with pop rivals Duran Duran to be"
"When George Michael was enrolled at the school, Ridgeley volunteered to take him under his wing. After years of playing in various music groups, the most notable being the Executive, Michael and Ridgeley formed Wham. They then approached various record labels with a homemade tape (which took 10 minutes to record in Ridgeley's living room) and signed with Innervision Records. The band left Innervision after the first album and signed with CBS. Wham enjoyed worldwide success from 1981 to 1986, selling more than 28 million records worldwide. Wham made their US debut appearance on Dick Clark's ""American Bandstand"" and became"
"them after another act unexpectedly pulled out of the show. Wham's first manager was Bryan Morrison. The effect of Wham on the public, especially teenage girls, was felt from the moment they finished their debut performance of ""Young Guns (Go for It)"" on Top of the Pops. Michael wore espadrilles, an open suede jacket, and rolled-up denim jeans. Ridgeley stood behind him, flanked by backing dancers Dee C. Lee and Shirlie Holliman. Afterwards, the song shot into the Top 40 at No. 24 and peaked at No. 3 in December. The following year (1983), Dee C. Lee began her work"
"Wham!'s ""Last Christmas"" (No. 2, 1984). Examples of songs not explicitly tied to Christmas have included children's songs such as ""Mr Blobby"" (No. 1, 1993) and the theme from ""Bob the Builder"" (No. 1, 2000), novelty songs such as Benny Hill's ""Ernie"" (No. 1, 1971) and South Park's ""Chocolate Salty Balls"" (No. 2, 1998), ""He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"" from an ensemble of Liverpudlian celebrities in commemoration of the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster (No. 1, 2012), and several examples of standard pop fare that would likely be just as popular outside the holiday season. ""Bohemian Rhapsody"" is the only recording"
"eight on the UK Singles Chart, the second of four hits from Wham!'s debut album ""Fantastic"". Uncharacteristically for Wham!, the Unsocial Mix of the song contains multiple repetitions of the swear words ""damn"", ""bullshit"", ""shit"" and ""crap"". All versions include ""don't need this crap"". These lines were included to illustrate the band's then-rebellious image, and future songs by Wham! would mostly refrain from using this type of language (although ""Battlestations"" does include an instance of ""bullshit""). Both the Social Mix and the ""Fantastic"" album version have different verses from the Unsocial Mix; thus, there are three different sets of verse"
"a CD single in 1999 Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go ""Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"" is a song by the British 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. In 2015, the song was voted by the British public as the nation's 13th favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV. It was also"
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go ""Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"" is a song by the British 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. In 2015, the song was voted by the British public as the nation's 13th favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV. It was also ranked number 28 on VH1's"
"was Buzzcocks-inspired pop punk. The band's big breakthrough came with their second single for Subway, ""Whole Wide World"", which reached No. 2 on the UK Independent Chart in 1986. Dickson and McCulloch also moonlighted in BMX Bandits at this time. The band were signed by former Wham! co-manager Jazz Summers' label Raw TV with further indie hits (and minor UK Singles Chart hits) following during 1987 and 1988. Over the course of six singles (the first three collected in 1986 on a U.S. only compilation, ""Hang Ten""), they gradually developed a more complex rock guitar sound, which culminated in their"
"the last of Franklin's 17 top 10 hits on the ""Billboard"" Hot 100. For Michael, it became his third consecutive number-one in the UK since going solo, following 1984's ""Careless Whisper"" (though the single was actually from the Wham! album ""Make It Big"") and 1986's ""A Different Corner"". In the US, it was Michael's fourth number-one hit, counting his Wham! days. Producer Narada Michael Walden had the unique distinction of knocking himself out of the US number-one spot, having knocked ""Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"" out of the top. The single was the first Michael had recorded as a solo"
"Wham album was ""Careless Whisper"", but it featured only George Michael in the music video. The single was also promoted as ""Wham featuring George Michael"" in many markets but, unlike any Wham single except ""Wham Rap!"" and ""Club Tropicana"", it was also co-written with Andrew Ridgeley. The song, about a remorseful two-timer, had more emotional depth than previous releases. It reached No. 1, selling over 1.3 million copies in the UK. ""Careless Whisper"" marked a new phase in Michael's career, as his label Columbia/Epic began to somewhat distanced him from the group Wham's playboy image. The next single was ""Freedom"""
"on June 17, the same week Branigan's version debuted at no. 24. The following week, Raf's single had climbed to no. 2. Branigan's single, however, had leapt to no. 1. In their third week, Raf's version supplanted Branigan's at number 1, but she regained the top spot in the fourth week and the two versions would remain there, Branigan at no. 1 and Raf at no. 2, for three more weeks. In their 7th week on the charts, Raf fell to no. 3, below ""Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"" by Wham!, while Branigan held at no. 1. Their eighth"
"the top ten highest selling albums in UK chart history. It spawned the number 1 single ""I Just Can't Stop Loving You"" (a duet with Siedah Garrett), the number 3 title track and the number 3 ""The Way You Make Me Feel"". The year also saw George Michael launch his solo career post-Wham! with the album ""Faith"" and its title track, which reached number 2. The race for the Christmas number one single had many contenders this year. Rick Astley released a cover of ""When I Fall In Love"", and the 1956 Nat King Cole version was re-released at the"
"widespread recognition. Instead, McLaren persuaded Ashman, drummer David Barbarossa and bassist Leigh Gorman to leave Adam behind, and form a new group under McLaren's management. Thirteen year old Annabella Lwin joined the group as its vocalist, and the band became Bow Wow Wow. Bow Wow Wow signed with EMI Records in July 1980. Their first single, ""C·30 C·60 C·90 Go!"", for which Ashman shared songwriting credit with McLaren, Barbarossa and Gorman, holds the distinction of being the world's first-ever cassette single. It reached No. 34 on the UK Singles Chart and stayed on the chart for seven weeks, despite its"