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"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"
File:WakeMeUpBeforeYouGoGo.jpg
Standard artwork by Peter Saville and Trevor Key
Song by Wham!
from the album Make It Big
Released14 May 1984
Recorded1984
GenreDance-pop
Length3:50
Label
Songwriter(s)George Michael
Producer(s)George Michael
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Alternative cover
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"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.[1] 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.[2] It was also ranked number 28 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s.[3]

History[]

Michael's inspiration for the song was a scribbled note left by his Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley for Ridgeley's parents, 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:

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"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, holding the top spot for three weeks.

The UK sleeve was designed by Peter Saville, with photography by Trevor Key.[5]

The song was featured in the films Rock Odyssey, The Big Picture, Charlie's Angels, Zoolander, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Tween Academy: Class of 2012, Happy Feet Two, Kath & Kimderella, Walking on Sunshine, Zoolander 2, Sausage Party, Sing, The LEGO Batman Movie and The Emoji Movie.

Music video[]

Template:Refimprove section 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.

The video was listed in NME's "50 Worst Music Videos".[7]

Track listing[]

All tracks are written by George Michael.

7": 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" single (Columbia 04552) has identical track listing.

It was also released as a CD single in 1999

12": 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)[44] 2× Platinum 140,000File:Double-dagger-14-plain.png
Canada (Music Canada)[45] Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[46] Gold 500,000^
United States (RIAA)[47] Platinum 1,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

See also[]

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

References[]

  1. "Record News". NME. London, England: IPC Media: 36. 5 May 1984.
  2. 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.
  3. "VH1: 100 Greatest Songs of the 80's". Rock on the Net. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  4. Connelly, Christopher (25 October 1984). "Wham! A wake-up call to the U.S.". Rolling Stone (433): 48.
  5. "Sleeve designed by Peter Saville: Sleeves 1982-1984". Petersaville.info. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  6. Garcia, Alex S. "mvdbase.com - Wham! - "Wake me up before you go-go [version 1: concept]"". Music Video DataBase. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  7. NME.COM. "50 Worst Music Videos Ever". NME.COM.
  8. "Australia n°1 Hits – 80's". Worldcharts.co.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  9. "Austriancharts.at – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  10. "Ultratop.be – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  11. "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
  12. Lwin, Nanda. Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide (2000). Mississauga, Ont.: Music Data Canada
  13. "CHART NUMBER 1455 – Saturday, November 17, 1984". CHUM. Archived from the original on 29 July 2007. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  14. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 9612." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  15. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 9520." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  16. "Song title 977 – Wake Me Up Before You Go Go". Tsort.info. Steve Hawtin et al. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  17. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  18. "Lescharts.com – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  19. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  20. "The Irish Charts – All there is to know". IRMA. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  21. "Indice per Interprete: W". HitParadeItalia (in Italian). Creative Commons. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  22. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Wham - Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  23. "Dutchcharts.nl – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  24. "Charts.nz – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  25. "Norwegiancharts.com – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". VG-lista. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  26. "South African Rock Lists Website SA Charts 1969 – 1989 Acts (W)". Rock.co.za. John Samson. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  27. "Swedishcharts.com – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  28. "Swisscharts.com – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  29. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  30. 30.0 30.1 30.2 "Make It Big – Awards". Allmusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  31. "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.
  32. "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  33. BigKev. "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1980s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  34. "Jaaroverzichten 1984" (in Dutch). ULTRATOP & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  35. "Top Singles – Volume 41, No. 17, January 05 1985". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  36. https://66.media.tumblr.com/3c3804de5b8707efafbd076300fa0422/tumblr_o6punq14bQ1uldoqho1_500.jpg
  37. "Single Top 100 over 1984" (PDF) (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  38. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1984" (in Dutch). Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  39. http://nztop40.co.nz/chart/?chart=3873
  40. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1984". Hitparade.ch (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  41. "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1984". Cash Box magazine. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  42. http://www.uk-charts.top-source.info/top-100-1985.shtml
  43. "Top 100 Hits for 1985". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  44. Cite/URL%5d%5d "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2017 Singles" Check |archiveurl= value (help). Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from [[[:Template:Certification Cite/URL]] the original] Check |url= value (help) on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  45. [[[:Template:Certification Cite/URL]] "[[:Template:Certification Cite/Title]]"] Check |url= value (help). Music Canada. URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  46. [[[:Template:Certification Cite/URL]] "[[:Template:Certification Cite/Title]]"] Check |url= value (help). British Phonographic Industry. URL–wikilink conflict (help) Select singles in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  47. [[[:Template:Certification Cite/URL]] "[[:Template:Certification Cite/Title]]"] Check |url= value (help). Recording Industry Association of America. URL–wikilink conflict (help) If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 

External links[]

Preceded by
"It's Just Not Cricket" by The Twelfth Man
"When Doves Cry" by Prince
Australian Kent Music Report number-one single
16 July 1984 – 13 August 1984 (5 weeks)
27 August 1984 (1 week)
Succeeded by
"When Doves Cry" by Prince
"What's Love Got to Do with It" by Tina Turner
Preceded by
"I Just Called to Say I Love You" by Stevie Wonder
Canadian CHUM number-one single
17 November 1984 – 1 December 1984 (3 weeks)
Succeeded by
"The Wild Boys" by Duran Duran
Canadian RPM Top Singles number-one single
10 November 1984 – 1 December 1984 (4 weeks)
Succeeded by
"Caribbean Queen" by Billy Ocean
Preceded by
"Penny Lover" by Lionel Richie
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary number-one single
15 December 1984 (1 week)
Succeeded by
"All Through the Night" by Cyndi Lauper
Preceded by
"The Reflex" by Duran Duran
Eurochart Hot 100 number-one single
14 July 1984 (1 week)
Succeeded by
"Self Control" by Laura Branigan
Belgian Ultratop 50 Flanders number-one single
21 July 1984 – 11 August 1984 (4 weeks)
Succeeded by
"Two Tribes" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Irish Singles Chart number-one single
3 June 1984 – 10 June 1984 (2 weeks)
Dutch Top 40 number-one single
21 July 1984 – 28 July 1984 (2 weeks)
UK Singles Chart number-one single
2 June 1984 – 9 June 1984 (2 weeks)
Preceded by
"Two Tribes" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Mega Single Top 100 number-one single
4 August 1984 (1 week)
Preceded by
"Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" by Phil Collins
Norwegian number-one single
28/1984 – 36/1984 (9 weeks)
Succeeded by
"I Just Called to Say I Love You" by Stevie Wonder
Preceded by
"Self Control" by Laura Branigan
Swedish number-one single
17 August 1984 (1 week)
Succeeded by
"Sounds Like a Melody" by Alphaville
Preceded by
"Caribbean Queen" by Billy Ocean
US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
17 November 1984 – 1 December 1984 (3 weeks)
Succeeded by
"Out of Touch" by Hall & Oates
Preceded by
"Purple Rain" by Prince & The Revolution
US Cash Box number-one single
24 November 1984 – 1 December 1984 (2 weeks)
Succeeded by
"I Feel for You" by Chaka Khan

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