Wham! “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”

WHAM! were an English pop music duo, consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, met at Bushey Meads School in Bushey and formed in 1981.

In June 1982, the debut single was “Wham Rap!”: The record was not playlisted by BBC Radio 1 and only charted at #105.
In October 1982, the second single “Young Guns (Go for It)” stalled outside the UK Top 40, but… the band got lucky when the BBC programme “Top of the Pops” scheduled them, after another act unexpectedly pulled out of the show: Michael wore espadrilles, an open suede jacket, and rolled-up denim jeans and the effect of Wham! on the public (especially teenage girls) was felt from the moment they finished their debut performance on Top of the Pops, when the song shot into the Top 40 and peaked at No. 3 in December.

In 1983, their debut album “FANTASTIC” spent two weeks at No. 1 in the UK album.

In 1984, Wham! returned with their second album “MAKE IT BIG”.
The first single “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” was written and produced by George Michael: Michael’s inspiration for the song was a note that 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-Go” on purpose.
The song became their first US and UK #1 single.

WHAM! became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide, from 1982 to 1986.