Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

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"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"
WakeMeUpBeforeYouGoGo.jpg
Standard artwork by Peter Saville and Trevor Key
Single by Wham!
from the album Make It Big
B-side"A Ray of Sunshine"
Released
  • 14 May 1984 (UK)[1]
  • August 1984 (US)[2]
RecordedFebruary 1984 at Sarm West Studio 2, London[3][4]
GenreDance-pop
Length3:50
Label
Songwriter(s)George Michael
Producer(s)George Michael
Wham! singles chronology
"Club Fantastic Megamix"
(1983) 		"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"
(1984) 		"Freedom"
(1984)
Music video
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" on YouTube
Alternative cover
Artwork of the original 1984 U.S. vinyl single
Artwork of the original 1984 U.S. vinyl single

"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.[5] 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 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.[6]

The song was ranked number 28 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s.[7]

History[]

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, 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 LinnDrum because the drummer was late, and it was such a good track that we kept it.[8]

It was recorded within two days at Sarm West Studio 2 in London, with a live rhythm section.[4] The song, according to Michael, had been done in one take without any drop-ins (overdubs) at all - production-wise, he noted that the two options to him were "either to be like Trevor Horn and go for stunning sounds on your own, or just get a great sound on each instrument and go for a live take".[9]

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,[citation needed] 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, holding the top spot for three weeks.

The UK sleeve was designed by Peter Saville, with photography by Trevor Key.[10]

Music video[]

The music video for the song was directed by Andy Morahan.[11] 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".[citation needed]

Track listing[]

All tracks are written by George Michael.

7-inch: Epic / A 4440 (UK)
No.TitleLength
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-inch single (Columbia 04552) has identical track listing.

It was also released as a CD single in 1999

12-inch: Epic / TA 4440 (UK)
No.TitleLength
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[]

Certifications[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[49] 2× Platinum 140,000double-dagger
Canada (Music Canada)[50] Platinum 100,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[51] Platinum 90,000double-dagger
Italy (FIMI)[52] Platinum 50,000double-dagger
Netherlands (NVPI)[53] Gold 75,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[54]
1984 release 		Gold 500,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[55]
2006 release 		Platinum 600,000double-dagger
United States (RIAA)[56] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
double-dagger Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also[]

  • List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1984

References[]

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  2. ^ "Wham! - Wake Me up Before You Go-Go".
  3. ^ "The Soundmaker". muzines.co.uk. April 1985.
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  5. ^ "Record News". NME. London, England: IPC Media: 36. 5 May 1984.
  6. ^ Kraszewski, Jon (2017). Reality TV. Taylor & Francis. p. 127.
  7. ^ "VH1: 100 Greatest Songs of the 80's". Rock on the Net. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  8. ^ Connelly, Christopher (25 October 1984). "Wham! A wake-up call to the U.S.". Rolling Stone (433): 48.
  9. ^ Thomas, David (June 1985). "Making it big as they go-go!" (PDF). Modern Recording & Music. pp. 32–36. Retrieved 1 May 2021 – via worldradiohistory.com.
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  11. ^ Garcia, Alex S. "mvdbase.com - Wham! - "Wake me up before you go-go [version 1: concept]"". Music Video DataBase. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
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  52. ^ "Italian single certifications – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 2 December 2019. Select "2019" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Wake Me Up Before You Go" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
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External links[]

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