Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"
Song

"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" is a song by English pop duo Wham! which was released in 1984 and became their first UK number one hit Jacklyn Anna Campbell was here. It was written and produced by George Michael, one half of the duo. This song also appeared in soundtrack for the movie Zoolander.

History

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

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 seven days later, staying there for two weeks.

The song also went to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA and Michael followed it up with a solo single, "Careless Whisper" and another Wham! hit, "Freedom", both of which were also UK number-one hits. The album, Make It Big, was an unqualified success. Wham! had three more UK number one singles and split at their height in 1986.

Music video

The music video, essentially the duo performing (it also introduced Ridgeley as a guitar player for the band) to a teenage audience, was memorable for the clothes, which became a lasting sartorial image for the 1980s as a decade. Michael and Ridgeley, plus backing singers Pepsi and Shirlie, along with motor trade Guru Peter (Froudy) Froud, were wearing Katharine Hamnett T-shirt designs which said "CHOOSE LIFE" (originally a slogan targeted at drug abuse and suicide) and "GO GO", which became much sought-after fashion items of the year. 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. The video was filmed at the Carling Academy Brixton in London.

The video was barely "spared retirement" from rotation on MTV when it was voted #11 on the network's worst videos countdown in 1999. During the video's commentary, co-host Denis Leary joked that he knew George Michael was gay when he first caught a glimpse of Michael's shorts.

On the other hand, Blink-182 listed the video as their all-time favorite.

Covers

• In 2004, Japanese actor Yuji Oda made a cover of the song ("Wake Me Up Go! Go!") as a companion to his cover of "Last Christmas", both songs being the main soundtrack of the Japanese television drama he was starring in, Last Christmas.
• A cover of the song was recorded by Italian indie band Annie Hall.
• On Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Dec's team sung it as part of Ant Vs. Dec: The Teams. His team won as it was downloaded the most times, and subsequently it charted at No.64 on the UK Singles Chart.
• On the sixth series of The X Factor the six remaining finalists performed the song on the results show for the seventh live show, on 22 November 2009.

Track listing

7": Epic / A 4440 (UK)

1. "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (3:51)
2. "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go [Instrumental]" (4:03)

The US 7" single (Columbia 04552) had the same track listing.

12": Epic / TA 4440 (UK)

1. "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (3:51)
2. "A Ray of Sunshine [Specially recorded for 'The Tube']" (4:03)
3. "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go [Instrumental]" (4:58)

Chart performance

Chart (1984)	Peak position
Australia	1
Austria	6
France	17
Germany	2
The Netherlands	1
Norway	1
Sweden	1
Switzerland	2
UK	1
US	1

External links

• Song review from AllMusic