Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" is a song by the English duo Wham!, first released as a single in the UK on 14 May 1984.[1] It became their first American and UK number-one hit. It was written and produced by George Michael, one half of the duo. In 2015, the song was voted by the British public as the nation's 13th favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV.[2]
History
Michael's inspiration for the song was a scribbled note left by his Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley for Andrew's parents,[3] originally intended to read "wake me up before you go" but with "up" accidentally written twice, so Ridgeley wrote "go" twice on purpose. Released in May 1984, it heralded the beginning of a softer, sunnier image for Wham!, who had spent the previous year as a moodier, more politically themed duo, with songs about unemployment, young marriage, and battles of will between parents and their children. With the release of "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", they re-emerged with wider smiles, more colourful clothing, and a more positive disposition in interviews.
In 1984, George Michael had this to say on the development of the song:
"I just wanted to make a really energetic pop record that had all the best elements of Fifties and Sixties records, combined with our attitude and our approach, which is obviously more uptempo and a lot younger than some of those records. It's one of those tracks that gets rid of a lot of your own personal influences; it reminds me of so many different records that I couldn't actually nail them down. I'd done a demo at home that just had a bass line and a vocal on it. Usually, I write the record in my head; I know what all the parts are going to be and I sing them to all our musicians. And it was great. ... We actually did it as a rehearsal. We used a Linn drum because the drummer was late, and it was such a good track that we kept it."[4]
The song entered the UK Singles Chart 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.
The UK sleeve was designed by Peter Saville, with photography by Trevor Key.[5]
Music video
The official music video for the song was directed by Andy Morahan.[6] It showcases the band performing for an audience of mostly teenagers at Brixton Academy in South London. The band was wearing Katharine Hamnett T-shirt designs that said "CHOOSE LIFE".
Michael was also seen in luminous gloves, which he later bemoaned as the clip of him always picked out by advertisers whenever "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" went on to a compilation album. An advertisement is tacked onto the end of the video with the text "GO-GO BUY IT! thank you" appearing on a black screen.
Track listing
All songs written and composed by George Michael.
1. |
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" |
3:51 |
2. |
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (Instrumental) |
4:03 |
- Note: The US 7" single (Columbia 04552) has identical track listing.
1. |
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" |
3:51 |
2. |
"A Ray of Sunshine" (Specially recorded for The Tube) |
4:58 |
3. |
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (Instrumental) |
4:03 |
Chart performance
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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See also
References
- ↑ "Record News". NME (London, England: IPC Media): 36. 5 May 1984.
- ↑ Westbrook, Caroline (25 July 2015). "The Nation’s Favourite 80s Number One: 12 more classic 80s chart-toppers which didn’t make the cut". Metro. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
- ↑ "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go by Wham!". Songfacts. ToneMedia. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ↑ Connelly, Christopher (25 October 1984). "Wham! A wake-up call to the U.S.". Rolling Stone (433): 48.
- ↑ "Sleeve designed by Peter Saville: Sleeves 1982-1984". Petersaville.info. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
- ↑ Garcia, Alex S. "mvdbase.com - Wham! - "Wake me up before you go-go [version 1: concept]"". Music Video DataBase. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
- ↑ "Australia n°1 Hits – 80's". Worldcharts.co.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ↑ "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go – WHAM". VRT (in Dutch). Top30-2.radio2.be. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
Hoogste notering in de top 30 : 1
- ↑ "CHART NUMBER 1455 – Saturday, November 17, 1984". CHUM. Archived from the original on 29 July 2007. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
- ↑ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 9612." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 9520." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ↑ "Song title 977 – Wake Me Up Before You Go Go". Tsort.info. Steve Hawtin et al. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
- ↑ "Lescharts.com – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ↑ "The Irish Charts – All there is to know". IRMA. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ↑ "Indice per Interprete: W". HitParadeItalia (in Italian). Creative Commons. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Wham - Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". VG-lista. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ↑ "South African Rock Lists Website SA Charts 1969 – 1989 Acts (W)". Rock.co.za. John Samson. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ↑ "June 1984/ Archive Chart: 2 June 1984" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- 1 2 3 "Make It Big – Awards". Allmusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- ↑ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending NOVEMBER 24, 1984". Cash Box magazine. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
- ↑ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
- ↑ BigKev. "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1980s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
- ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 1984" (in Dutch). ULTRATOP & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
- ↑ "Top Singles – Volume 41, No. 17, January 05 1985". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
- ↑ "Single Top 100 over 1984" (PDF) (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
- ↑ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1984" (in Dutch). Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
- ↑ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1984". Hitparade.ch (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
- ↑ "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1984". Cash Box magazine. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
- ↑ "Top 100 Hits for 1985". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
External links
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