Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

"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.[3] 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 Ridgely wearing oversized message T-shirts ("CHOOSE LIFE") created by Katharine Hamnett, starting a craze covered in the 2002 VH1 series I Love the 80s.[4]

"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"
Standard artwork by Peter Saville and Trevor Key
Single by Wham!
from the album Make It Big
Released
  • 14 May 1984 (UK)[1]
  • August 1984 (US)[2]
Format
RecordedNovember 1983
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

The song was ranked number 28 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s.[5]

History

Michael's inspiration for the song was a scribbled note that his (Wham!) partner 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.[6]

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.[7]

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by Andy Morahan.[8] 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". The video was listed in NME's "50 Worst Music Videos".[9]

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 CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[48] 2× Platinum 140,000
Canada (Music Canada)[49] Platinum 100,000^
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[50] Platinum 90,000
Italy (FIMI)[51] Platinum 50,000
Netherlands (NVPI)[52] Gold 75,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[53] Platinum 600,000
United States (RIAA)[54] Platinum 1,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

See also

References
  1. http://www.45cat.com/record/a4440
  2. http://www.45cat.com/record/3804552
  3. "Record News". NME. London, England: IPC Media: 36. 5 May 1984.
  4. Kraszewski, Jon (2017). Reality TV. Taylor & Francis. p. 127.
  5. "VH1: 100 Greatest Songs of the 80's". Rock on the Net. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  6. Connelly, Christopher (25 October 1984). "Wham! A wake-up call to the U.S.". Rolling Stone (433): 48.
  7. "Sleeve designed by Peter Saville: Sleeves 1982-1984". Petersaville.info. Archived from the original on 21 May 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  8. Garcia, Alex S. "mvdbase.com - Wham! - "Wake me up before you go-go [version 1: concept]"". Music Video DataBase. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  9. "50 Worst Music Videos Ever". NME.COM.
  10. "Australia n°1 Hits – 80's". Worldcharts.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  11. "Austriancharts.at – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
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  17. https://www.ukmix.org/showthread.php?63915-Danish-Charts-Archive
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  19. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
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  40. https://66.media.tumblr.com/3c3804de5b8707efafbd076300fa0422/tumblr_o6punq14bQ1uldoqho1_500.jpg
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  48. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2017 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  49. "Canadian single certifications – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". Music Canada.
  50. "Danish single certifications – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go". IFPI Denmark. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  51. "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 online" under "Sezione".
  52. "Dutch single certifications – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 28 November 2019. Enter Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go in the "Artiest of titel" box.
  53. "British single certifications – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". British Phonographic Industry.
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