wham! Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Wham! “Make It Big”

sfilzen — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 14:56:46 +0000

Wham! “Make It Big” released 35 years ago today, October 23rd, 1984. Wham!’s second album was a massive smash and I absolutely loved it (this is my original copy from ‘84) – it went to #1 all over the world, including in the US and the UK. Fantastically crafted 80′s pop in the spirit of 60′s Motown (see the girl-group, wall-of-sound inspired “Heartbeat” in particular), Make It Big spawned four hit singles including the infectious dance track “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” (#1 UK and US), “Careless Whisper” (#1 UK and US) whose sad 80′s sax still brings up the heartbreak of 13 year-old puppy love (long-story short, I got ditched at a junior high school dance and this song came on and it was ugly), “Freedom” (#1 UK, #3 US) which is notable for its video recorded while Wham! was on tour in China (1984/85 height of Cold War tensions), and “Everything She Wants” (#2 UK, #1 US), which Wham! released as a double-A side along with “Last Christmas” which, while not on Make It Big, can also count as a hit single, reaching #2 in the UK and #25 in the US (#5 on the US Holiday 100 chart, which I didn’t know existed until now).

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Wham! “Freedom”

sfilzen — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 19:04:47 +0000

Wham! “Freedom” released in the UK 35 years ago today, October 1st, 1984. This 12″ single has Long Mix of “Freedom” on Side A; the single version went to #1 in the UK and upon its 1985 release in the US, went to #3 there. From what I can tell, the difference between the Long Mix and the single version is a longer intro and a lot more prominent horns. I remember seeing the video for “Freedom” on MTV a lot during the summer of ‘85 and hearing that it was a really. big. deal. as Wham! had toured China and the video contains a montage of footage shot there. China was still a pretty closed country in the mid-80′s during the height of the Cold War and a Western pop group being allowed to perform to its citizens was, as weird as it seems now, pretty monumental. The B-side to this 12″ single has the track “Heartbeat,” which is a kind of 60′s girl-group inspired pop song, complete with a faux wall of sound musical backdrop. Also on Side B is an instrumental version of “Freedom” which is OK I suppose but really one of the best parts of Wham! was George Michael’s voice (though he does come in toward the end of the song on the chorus for a bit).

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George Michael “Faith”

sfilzen — Tue, 30 Oct 2018 16:05:44 +0000

George Michael “Faith” from his album Faith which was released on this date, October 30th, 1987. The LP was his first debut record after disbanding Wham! “Faith” was the second single from the LP (the first was “I Want Your Sex”) and it was released just a few weeks earlier than the album and hit #1 in late ‘87 to early ‘88 where it remained for four weeks, and then stayed in the top 10 for another 5 weeks, making it the #1 single of the entire year.

I really love this single, with its organ intro that references Wham’s “Freedom” before breaking into a Bo Diddley beat and classic 50′s rock-n-roll guitar. The video became truly iconic, featuring Michael’s ridiculously sexy ass sculpted in Levi’s, perfectly groomed stubble, Ray Bans, black leather jacket and a jukebox (the latter two he’d later set on fire/explode in the video for “Freedom ‘90″). The B-side has “Hand to Mouth,” a smooth blue-eyed soul 80′s crooner with a deep bass line, the vocals recalling the sexy whispers from some of Wham’s slower numbers (ie “Careless Whisper”). “Hand to Mouth” also appeared on Faith.

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Wham! Featuring George Michael “Careless Whisper”

sfilzen — Mon, 26 Dec 2016 14:49:07 +0000

Wham! Featuring George Michael “Careless Whisper” 1984. Yet another pop culture icon gone in 2016, this time it’s George Michael at age 53 on Christmas Day. “Careless Whisper,” from Wham!’s Make It Big album and co-written by Andrew Ridgeley, hit #1 in 25 countries, spending 3 weeks at the top in the UK in late summer ‘84 and #1 in the US in late winter ‘85, from February 16th to March 2nd. The b-side to this 45 is an instrumental version of “Careless Whisper,” the ubiquitous 80′s wailing saxophone solo (performed by Steve Gregory) out front and center.

While 1984 was amazing for pop music, the ‘84-’85 school year was a particularly rough one (not that dissimilar to 2016, though thankfully my schooldays are looonnggg gone) and “Careless Whisper” transports me back to a time of true misery, its inclusion on the junior high dance soundtrack when I sat at the cafeteria table watching the boy I crushed on and a good friend sway in time to the music = the cherry on the top of the shit sundae that was 8th grade. Preceding that moment of first heartbreak were months of relentless bullying by a mean girl and her little gaggle of acolytes because of my hair (new wave Simon LeBon-insipired) and attitude (fuck you, mean girl). I grew up in a really small town in rural Wisconsin. So small that my 8th grade class had a total of like 30 kids and our junior high consisted of half the upstairs hallway in the high school building, 3 classrooms for math, science, English and social studies. No escape or place to hide. (I eventually escaped completely by transferring at the end of the year to the big city school where life got infinitely better and I found myself being able to dance again.)

I feel so unsure
As I take your hand and lead you to the dance floor
As the music dies, something in your eyes
Calls to mind the silver screen
And all its sad good-byes

I’m never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it’s easy to pretend
I know you’re not a fool

Should’ve known better than to cheat a friend
And waste the chance that I’ve been given
So I’m never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you

Time can never mend
The careless whispers of a good friend
To the heart and mind
Ignorance is kind
There’s no comfort in the truth
Pain is all you’ll find

I’m never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it’s easy to pretend
I know you’re not a fool

I should’ve known better than to cheat a friend
And waste the chance that I’ve been given
So I’m never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you

Never without your love

Tonight the music seems so loud
I wish that we could lose this crowd
Maybe it’s better this way
We’d hurt each other with the things we’d want to say

We could have been so good together
We could have lived this dance forever
But no one’s gonna dance with me
Please stay

And I’m never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it’s easy to pretend
I know you’re not a fool

Should’ve known better than to cheat a friend
And waste the chance that I’ve been given
So I’m never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you

(Now that you’re gone) Now that you’re gone
(Now that you’re gone) What I did’s so wrong, so wrong
That you had to leave me alone

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Wham! “Fantastic”

sfilzen — Thu, 17 Nov 2016 20:03:42 +0000

Wham! “Fantastic” 1983, Innervision Records, US edition, released during the brief time they were known as Wham!UK in the US because of a naming conflict. I needed a serious mood booster today so this debut album of ridiculously upbeat new wave/post-disco pop will hopefully do the trick. Fantastic made it to #1 on the UK charts, buoyed by the the inclusion of the ‘82 single “Young Guns (Go For It!),” which eventually hit #3 on the UK charts after Wham!’s appearance on Top of the Pops. Also released as singles: “Bad Boys” (#2 on the UK charts and the first Wham! single to chart in the US at #60), the funk-inspired disco track “Club Tropicana” (#4 in the UK) and my favorite track from Fantastic “Wham Rap (Enjoy What You Do).” “Wham Rap” is so unbelievably silly and amazing. George Michael, in a delightfully white British way, “raps” about the joy of living life, regardless of money and politics. I’m already starting to smile.

You got soul on the dole
You’re gonna have a good time
Down on the line
You got soul on the dole
You’re gonna have a good time
Down on the line

I said get
Get
Get on down
I said get
Get
Get on down
I said get
Get get on down
I said get
Get
Get on down

Hey everybody take a look at me,
I’ve got street credibility,
I may not have a job,
But I have a good time,
With the boys that I meet “down on the line”

I said D. H. S. S.
Man the rhythm that they’re givin’
Is the very best

I said b one b two
Make the claims
On your name
All you have to do

Well…
Folks can be a drag
If work ain’t your bag
And when you let them know
You’re more dead then alive
In a nine to five
Then they say you’d got to go

And…
Get yourselves a job
Or get out of this house
Get yourself a job
Are you a man or a mouse
A finger in each ear
You pretend not to hear
Gotta get some space
Get out of this place
[Chorus:] Wham!
Bam!
I am!
A man!
Job or no job
You can’t tell me that I’m not
Do!
You!
Enjoy what you do?
If not
Just stop!
Don’t stay there and rot!

In the streets
In the cars
On the underground
If you listen real hard
You can hear the sound
Of a million people
Switching off for work
Well listen Mr. Average
You’re a jerk

Not me
You can’t hold me down
Not me
I’m gonna fool around
Gonna have some fun
Look out for number one
You can dig your grave
I’m staying young!
[Chorus]
If you’re a pub man
Or a club man
Maybe a jet black guy
With a hip hi-fi
A white cool cat
With a trilby hat
Maybe leather and studs
Is where you’re at
Make the most of everyday
Don’t let hard times
Stand in your way
Give a wham
Give a bam
But don’t give a damn
‘Cos the benefit gang
Are gonna pay

Now reach up high and touch your soul
The boys from Wham! will help you reach that goal
It’s gonna break your mama’s heart (so sad)
It’s gonna break your daddy’s heart (too bad)
Just throw the dice and take my advice
‘Cos I know that you’re smart
Can you dig this thing? (Yeah!)
Are you gonna get down? (Yeah!)
Say Wham! WHAM!
Say Bam! BAM!

Do you want to work? – no
Are you gonna have fun? – yeah
Said one, two, three, rap, c’mon everybody,
Don’t need this crap!
Enjoy what you do?
Everybody say wham! – wham!
Everybody say wham! bam! – wham! bam!
Enjoy what you do?

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Wham! “Make It Big”

sfilzen — Mon, 16 Feb 2015 17:57:00 +0000

Wham! “Make It Big” 1984. I’m declaring it George Michael Day. On this day in 1985 the single “Careless Whisper” began its three week run at #1 on the US charts and then in 2002 thieves stole over $170,000 in valuables from George Michael’s home and then drove off in his Aston Martin DB7. So February 16th has some mixed karma for George.

Wham! were perfect for the mid-1980s MTV generation: catchy, fabulously good-looking, British, danceable yet able to invoke tears of desperation and heartbreak. “Careless Whispers” was the #1 song when we had an 8th grade dance and I was just suffering the pain of my first dashed boy crush. I had to watch him dance to this song with one of my best friends while I sat, devastated, at the cafeteria table in the school lunchroom and pretend that it just. didn’t. bother. me. But then “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” came on and we danced with abandon, wishing in the dead of a midwestern February winter that we, too, could wear short-shorts and have a mop of sun-kissed feathered hair.

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