WHAM!: Last Christmas Unwrapped will feature a world exclusive first broadcast of George Michael performing “Last Christmas” at Wembley Arena in December 2006!
The December treat will feature new interviews with Andrew Ridgeley, Pepsi DeMacque-Crockett and Shirlie Kemp. It will also include archive footage of George Michael.
The special will also include interviews with Mary J Blige, Sir Bob Geldof, Neil Tennant and Sam Smith.
Some of the features are Andrew, Pepsi, Shirlie, and friends revisiting the video location, never-seen-before outtakes from the original 35mm music video footage, and George and Andrew’s personal photographs.
Sony Pictures Entertainment handles distribution outside of the UK.
Will you be watching WHAM!: Last Christmas Unwrapped? Tell us in the comments.
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About Melanie
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
Will you be buying the new “Last Christmas” CD single or vinyl? Tell us in the comments.
Make sure to follow Yours Only George on Facebook and X, and join our mailing list for the latest news on George Michael.
About Melanie
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of George Michael’s “Careless Whisper,” we’ve gathered 10 interesting facts about the timeless classic. New “Careless Whisper” merchandise (Amazon Ad) is available on October 18, 2024.
Co-Written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley: The song was co-written by George Michael and his Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley when they were just 17 years old.
Inspiration on a Bus: George Michael came up with the iconic saxophone riff while riding a bus to his job as an usher at a cinema.
Iconic Saxophone Solo: The famous saxophone solo was played by Steve Gregory. It took 10 different saxophonists to get the sound George Michael wanted.
Multiple Recordings: The song was recorded in several locations, including Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Alabama and Sarm Studios in West London.
Chart-Topping Hit: “Careless Whisper” topped the charts in 25 countries, including the US and the UK.
Personal Experience: The song was inspired by George Michael’s personal experiences from his teenage years.
First Solo Single: Although it was released on Wham!’s album, Make It Big (Amazon Ad), it was also released as George Michael’s first solo single (except in the United States).
Global Success: The song sold more than 6 million copies worldwide and became one of the best-selling singles of all time.
Music Video: The music video was filmed in Miami, Florida, and features George Michael brooding over a failed relationship.
Legacy: “Careless Whisper” remains one of the most beloved ballads of the 1980s and continues to be a staple on classic pop and love song playlists.
“Careless Whisper” products are available on October 18, 2024.
Do you have a favorite part of “Careless Whisper”? Tell us in the comments.
Make sure to follow Yours Only George on Facebook and X, and join our mailing list for the latest news on George Michael.
About Melanie
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of “Careless Whisper” and the arrival of new “Careless Whisper” merchandise (Amazon Ad) on October 18, 2004, we are looking at George Michael’s most popular videos on YouTube.
Have you ever wondered what George Michael’s most popular videos are? Here are the top 10 George Michael (and Wham!) videos on YouTube with the highest views:
1. Careless Whisper
This iconic track was written when George Michael was only 17 years old. In George Michael’s biography, Bare (Amazon Ad), George said of the song, “I was on my way to DJ at the Bel Air when I wrote ‘Careless Whisper’. I have always written on buses, trains and in cars. It always happens on journeys… With ‘Careless Whisper’ I remember exactly where it first came to me, where I came up with the sax line… I remember I was handing the money over to the guy on the bus and I got this line, the sax line… I wrote it totally in my head. I worked on it for about three months in my head.”
“Careless Whisper” (Amazon Ad) has more than 1.2 billion views and has been captivating audiences for 40 years.
2. Last Christmas
“Last Christmas” (Amazon Ad) was written in George Michael’s childhood bedroom. At the age of 21, George Michael produced, performed, and played every single instrument on “Last Christmas.” The classic video was filmed at a Swiss resort called Saas-Fee, and the ex-girlfriend was played by model, Kathy Hill.
The holiday classic by Wham!, which continues to top the holiday charts, has more than 901 million views.
3. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
“Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” was inspired by a note Andrew Ridgeley left his parents. George later saw the note and used the title as inspiration. George Michael talked about “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” (Amazon Ad) in an interview with Rolling Stone in 1984. He said, “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.”
This Wham! hit boasts 496 million views.
4. One More Try
Of the song “One More Try,” George Michael said, “I think this is the best thing I’ve ever done. It’s certainly my best vocal. I actually wrote the whole thing from start to finish in eight hours. We recorded it the same day.”
A StereoGum review describes “One More Try” as “a slow and stately ballad that sprawls elegantly over nearly six minutes. But it’s also a simple song, built on a churchy organ and a heartbeat-thump drum pattern. The lyrics don’t try to be clever, and Michael doesn’t try to sing them in a clever way. Instead, he belts them out, and there’s urgency in his heartbreak and in his hunger.”
This soulful #1 ballad has more than 194 million views.
5. Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me
“Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” (Amazon Ad) a duet with Elton John, was recorded at the final show of George Michael’s Cover to Cover tour at Wembley Arena in London on March 23, 1991. The video was filmed during a concert at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago, Illinois, during George’s Cover to Cover tour on October 19, 1991.
This duet with one of George Michael’s heroes has garnered 183 million views.
6. Freedom ’90
“Freedom ’90” (not to be confused with the Wham! song “Freedom”) was George Michael’s highly autobiographical song about his transition from the top-selling pop of Faith to a more serious Listen Without Prejudice.
At this point in his career, George Michael refused to appear in any videos. The solution? George asked the five models on the January 1990 cover of the British edition of Vogue to star in his video: Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz, Christy Turlington, and Cindy Crawford.
“Freedom ’90” is an iconic video with 145 million views.
7. Father Figure
Of the ballad “Father Figure,” George Michael said: “The initial concept was totally different from the way the song turned out. In fact, the initial concept for ‘Father Figure’ was to make it a kind of mid-tempo dance track. And what happened was I wanted to hear something in my mix so I happened to cut out the snare on the board and suddenly it changed the whole entire mood of the track. Suddenly it seemed really dreamy. And this was halfway through writing it because I was writing the song as I was going along in the studio. And I just thought, well, hey, this is actually much better! So I worked the rest of the feel of the track around this spacey type sound. And it ended up, in my mind, being the most original-sounding thing on the album.”
The video depicts the story of a cab driver played by George Michael and a high-fashion model played by Tania Coleridge.
The sensual “Father Figure” track has 135 million views.
8. Fastlove
Producer Johnny Douglas said of George Michael’s performance in “Fastlove”: “As an artist and studio collaborator, George was unique. He was very uncomfortable with the idea of anybody hearing him mess up, or recording anything that wasn’t 100% perfect. He wasn’t afraid to put as much time as he felt necessary into his craft. He was also the only artist we ever worked with who absolutely refused to have his vocals pitch-corrected. Yet the result of this obsessive attention to detail is the incredible body of work he leaves behind, of which Fastlove is, personally for me, the jewel in the crown of a brilliant artist, sadly missed.”
“Fastlove” (Amazon Ad) is a dance-pop hit with 77 million views.
9. Amazing
The video for “Amazing” was directed by Matthew Rolston and was filmed in London in 2003.
Of the video, George Michael said, “If I’m honest, I’m not very happy with the video. It was done very quickly because my normal director let me down at the last moment actually. And we didn’t have time, the director and I, to really work together before the video, which is what I normally do. I’m normally very involved, and this was very much rushed because I was finishing the album, or had just finished the album, and the single was already on the radio. So, having screwed up the video, we really had to work fast. And you know, I guess it’s okay.”
This song dedicated to then-partner Kenny Goss has more than 56 million views.
10. I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)
“Nobody can emulate Aretha Franklin,” George Michael said of his recording with Aretha Franklin for the song, “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)”. “It’s stupid to try. I just tried to stay in character, keep it simple – it was very understated in comparison to what she did.”
Of George Michael, Aretha Franklin said: “The first time I heard George was with Wham! and I liked it then. He had a very unique sound, very different from anything that was out there. When Clive [Davis], suggested we get together for ‘I Knew You Were Waiting’, I was all ready. It reminded me of Jerry Wexler. We’d go in the studio and cut songs. If we were happy with what we recorded, Jerry would say, ‘Let’s wait until tomorrow. If we feel the same way [then] that we do now, maybe we have a hit.’ ‘I Knew You Were Waiting’ had that. Musically, it does not grow old.”
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About Melanie
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
Chris Smith, John Battsek, Simon Halfon, Gregor Lyon, Alex Black
A Netflix Documentary, Ventureland, Passion Pictures, Library Films, Nemperor Production – Netflix
In 1982, teenagers George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley set out to conquer the world as WHAM! By June of 1986 they played their very last gig at Wembley Stadium having done exactly that. Now for the very first time, told in their own words, the amazing story of how in four years they dominated the charts around the world with timeless and classic pop songs.
Make sure to follow Yours Only George on Facebook and X, and join our mailing list for the latest news on George Michael.
About Melanie
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
Wham! is on the shortlist for the BBCs Ultimate British Group.
On Saturday, October 19, we will celebrate National Album Day. Radio 2 will be crowning the Ultimate British Group.
Wham! is one of 54 artists, spanning from the 1960s to the 2010s. A panel voted from a list of nearly 100 artists to produce a final list of 54.
BBC Sounds will have a special program on Friday, October 11, 2024, with the results. The show will also be broadcast on Radio 2 on Saturday, October 19, from 1-3 p.m.
You can vote for Wham! as Your Ultimate British Group here. You can vote for up to five of your top acts. Voting closes at 4 p.m. on Friday, September 27, 2024.
According to the rules, a British group is defined as an act containing two or members that is made-up wholly of, or where the majority are, people who were born, live or hold British citizenship.
Make sure to follow Yours Only George on Facebook and X, and join our mailing list for the latest news on George Michael.
About Melanie
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
Make sure to follow Yours Only George on Facebook and X, and join our mailing list for the latest news on George Michael.
About Melanie
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
It looks like we are going to be getting a Christmas gift from Wham!
Wham! will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of the song “Last Christmas” and wants to hear “Last Christmas” stories from fans.
Calling All WHAM! Fans
We invite you to help us celebrate the 40th anniversary of Last Christmas! As part of an exciting new project, we want to hear your Last Christmas stories.
Do you have a personal connection to the song? Do you have any videos, photos or stories? Have you ever performed your own version?
This looks like another fun project. A similar call for fans’ help came before the Netflix Wham! documentary.
Make sure to follow Yours Only George on Facebook and X, and join our mailing list for the latest news on George Michael.
About Melanie
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
When George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley as Wham! went to China in 1985, director Lindsay Anderson was charged with the documentary for this historic event.
For the first time, Anderson’s documentary of Wham! in China, If You Were There, will be screened for the public on May 25 and May 31, 2024. Unfortunately, tickets have already sold out.
The 79-minute documentary is described as the following:
In 1985, at the height of their success, WHAM! were invited to be the first western pop group to tour Communist China since the Cultural Revolution. Accepting the offer, the duo made an unlikely approach to Anderson, asking him to direct a documentary record of the tour. However, the collaboration ended awkwardly when his cut of the film was rejected by the band. The film was subsequently re-edited to incorporate more concert footage and released as WHAM! In China: Foreign Skies. Anderson’s cut, titled If You Were There… has never before been screened publicly, making this a not-to-be-missed, potentially once-only opportunity to see it.
Thanks to Andrew Ridgeley, and to Chris Organ and David Austin of George Michael Entertainment for their co-operation in connection with this screening.
According to The Guardian:
The exact sequence of events leading to Anderson’s dismissal are not easy to discern from his papers. Napier-Bell wrote that the first cut of the film was “achingly boring” and that Michael thought a second version appeared to be “scornful” of Wham!.
“It should have been possible for Lindsay – or any director with an ounce of compromise in him – to have adjusted it to what Wham! needed as a promo tool,” says Napier-Bell today. “But he obviously felt it beneath him to compromise with two upstart kids. He was always a difficult old bugger, full of guilt at his own public school education, but suffering from the superiority it had given him.”
Make sure to follow Yours Only George on Facebook and X, and join our mailing list for the latest news on George Michael.
About Melanie
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
Wham!’s Fantastic (sponsored link) and Make It Big (sponsored link) are being rereleased on vinyl today.
Check out our previous post with all the information on these vinyl rereleases.
The Official Wham! Facebook page is celebrating with the following videos:
Will you be buying Fantastic or Make It Big on vinyl? Let us know in the comments!
Make sure to follow Yours Only George on Facebook and X, and join our mailing list for the latest news on George Michael.
About Melanie
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
The Wham! documentary lost to “20 Days in Mariupol” at the BAFTA awards.
Simon Halfon had the following to say about the loss:
You can see the entire list of winners for the BAFTA awards here.
Do you think Wham! should have won best documentary? Let us know in the comments.
About Melanie
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
The New York Times has a new article on Chris Smith, the director of the recent Wham! documentary.
The following part of the article had me chuckling:
Hey, there were plenty of us who didn’t turn up our noses at Wham in the 1980s! Two of us started a fan club in the mid-1980s and eventually started this website in the 1990s!
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
Netflix has added a new video on YouTube with an inside look of the Wham! documentary.
Producers John Battsek and Simon Halfon provide some background information on the making of the documentary WHAM! with Andrew Ridgeley.
You couldn’t have a better best friend than Andrew Ridgeley. He not only encouraged George Michael to start a band, but he also stepped back to let George shine.
The Wham! documentary has been nominated as best documentary at the BAFTA awards which will be on Sunday, February 18, 2024.
Make sure to follow Yours Only George on Facebook and X, and join our mailing list for the latest news on George Michael.
About Melanie
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
Nothing Looks The Same in the Light (Instrumental Remix)
Bonus tracks in Dolby Atmos & Stereo
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?) – single version 3.32
Young Guns (Go For It) – single version 3.43
Young Guns (Go For It) UK 12” mix 5.11
Blue (Armed With Love) 3.56
Bonus tracks in Stereo-only
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?) [Club Mix] 4.20
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?) [Social Mix] 6.45
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?) [Unsocial Mix] 6.38
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?) [Special Club Remix] 3.05
Young Guns (For For It) – Special US 12” Remix 6.53
Going For It 4.39
Bad Boys (12” Extended Club Mix) 4.58
Bad Boys (instrumental) 3.21
Club Tropicana (instrumental) 3.31
Club Fantastic Megamix 3.57
Make It Big BluRay Audio includes:
Dolby Atmos & 96/24 Stereo
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go 3.51
Everything She Wants 5.03
Heartbeat 4.44
Like A Baby 4.15
Freedom 5.02
If You Were There 3.39
Credit Card Baby 5.10
Careless Whisper 6.32
Bonus tracks in Dolby Atmos & Stereo
Careless Whisper (Single Version) 5.03
Freedom (version from The Final) 5.20
Last Christmas 4.26
Everything She Wants (Remix edit) 5.30
Freedom (Long Version) 7.09
Last Christmas (Pudding Mix) 6.45
Everything She Wants (Remix) 6.30
I’m Your Man 4.07
The Edge of Heaven 4.37
Battlestations 5.31
Where Did Your Heart Go? 5.50
Bonus tracks in stereo (only)
A Ray of Sunshine (specially recorded for ‘The Tube’)
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (instrumental) 4.02
Freedom (instrumental) 5.10
Last Christmas (Pudding Mix Edit) 4.47
I’m Your Man (Extended Stimulation)
Do It Right (Instrumental)
I’m Your Man (Acappella)
Blue (Recorded Live in China)
I’m Your Man (version from Music From The Edge Of Heaven version)
Wham! Rap ’86
These versions are currently only available through SDE Shop.
About Melanie
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
Will you be watching on Sunday, February 18, to find out if Wham! won best documentary? Let us know in the comments!
Make sure to follow Yours Only George on Facebook and X, and join our mailing list for the latest news on George Michael.
About Melanie
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
Fantastic (sponsored link) and Make It Big (sponsored link) will be released on vinyl on March 22, 2024. It’s the first time in more than 30 years that they have been released on vinyl.
According to Amazon, the track listing for Wham!’s Fantastic (sponsored link) is:
Bad Boys
A Ray of Sunshine
Love Machine
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?)
Club Tropicana
Nothing Looks the Same In the Light
Come On!
Young Guns (Go for It!)
Wham!’s first album, Fantastic debuted at #1 in the UK in 1983 and sold millions of copies worldwide. Fantastic is available on standard weight black vinyl.
According to Amazon, the track listing for Wham!’s Make it Big (sponsored link) is:
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
Everything She Wants
Heartbeat
Like a Baby
Freedom
If You Were There
Credit Card Baby
Careless Whisper
Wham!’s second album, Make It Big was released in 1984. It is available with the US cover on standard weight black vinyl.
Andrew Ridgeley said: “It’s a wonderful testament to the enduring nature of Wham!’s music that our legions of loyal fans and the younger cohorts of music fans desire to own the music in their original formats.”
George Michael Entertainment added: “We are delighted that these two classic albums are once again available on vinyl for a whole new generation to enjoy.”
Will you be buying Fantastic or Make It Big on vinyl? Let us know in the comments!
Yours Only George is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
About Melanie
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
“It will be the story of Wham! from the early days right the way through to their huge success as one of the biggest bands of the 1980s,” said a source.
“It is very early days but the film is in production and they are casting at the moment for actors to take the role of George.”
“There are several people sniffing around my Wham! film,” he said, “but I’m not sure any of them will come off because they all require Wham! music in them and George controls that. He will have the yes or no on each script presented. George would want control.”
The film, which would concentrate on the band’s heyday from 1983 – 1985, is said to be budgeted at £50m, though it’s unclear whether this would include a fee for music copyright. Michael has yet to comment.
Simon Napier-Bell, the manager of Wham! in the mid 1980s who masterminded the historic Wham! trip to China, later directed “George Michael: Portrait of an Artist” (Amazon Ad) in 2023. It includes interviews with Stevie Wonder, Sanandra Maitreya, Stephen Fry, Kenny Goss, Chris Cameron, Rufus Wainwright, Piers Morgan, and Jo Whiley.
Make sure to follow Yours Only George on Facebook and X, and join our mailing list for the latest news on George Michael.
About Melanie
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
Jazz Summers, a former Wham! manager along with Simon Napier Bell, has a new book entitled Big Life (Amazon Ad).
The Daily Mail has an excerpt of the book, which details how Summers made the “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” video shoot look bigger than it was and how George Michael usually only responded to the name “Yog” when drunk.
Make sure to follow Yours Only George on Facebook and X, and join our mailing list for the latest news on George Michael.
About Melanie
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
Today, a spokesman for George Michael has issued a statement saying that no such reunion is being planned. ‘I wish I could say it was true but these are just rumours. George is touring on his own and he is releasing an album. Yes, this is a denial.’
The Hollywood Reporter is also reporting:
Michael’s longtime manager tells The Hollywood Reporter that the rumor is just that and there is “no truth” to the story.
About Melanie
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
The Mirror is saying that George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley are planning a “one-off pop extravaganza” to mark the 30th anniversary of their first hit, “Wham Rap.”
If you’ve been following George Michael for any length of time, you know that the Wham! reunion story comes around every few years and nothing comes of it. This story is probably a spinoff from George Michael’s comments yesterday about his new song “White Light” premiering on British radio on June 29, 2012, which is 30 years to the day when “Wham Rap” premiered on the British charts.
Still, the Mirror is saying:
“They probably won’t do a long tour or release new material like Take That but they do want to commemorate the event with a big gig… and an even bigger party afterwards!
“Things are still in the early stages but everybody is getting really excited about it.”
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.