Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"
Single by Wham!
from the album Make It Big
Released	5 May 1984
Format	12", 7"
Recorded	1984
Genre	New Wave, Post-disco
Length	3:50
Label	CBS Records (US/Canada) Epic Records
Writer(s)	George Michael
Producer	George Michael
Wham! singles chronology
"Club Fantastic Megamix" (1983) "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (1984) "Freedom" (1984)
Make It Big track listing — "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (1) "Everything She Wants" (2) Twenty Five track listing "Everything She Wants" (1) "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (2) "Freedom" (3)

"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. 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.

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 Linn drum because the drummer was late, and it was such a good track that we kept it."	”
—George Michael

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.

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 song also went to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States followed by the number-one singles "Careless Whisper" and "Everything She Wants" and the number-three "Freedom". 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^{[citation needed]}) 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 former disco The Camden Palace (now KOKO) in North London.

Covers

• In 1991, David Tyler CKBE-FM.
• 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.
• In 2004, Westlife performed the song for their Turnaround Tour.
• Finnish singer Vicky Rosti covered the song with the title Riisu pois jo arkipaita.
• 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.
• The song was performed and referenced by Chris Griffin from the Family Guy episode "Jungle Love".
• Mickey and Gloria sang lead vocals for Kids Incorporated's cover of the song in Season 1, Episode 8: New Image.
• Kids Incorporated covered the song again on the 1984 edition of the UCP Telethon.
• This song is also have the music simulation game Wii Music.
• This song is one of the songs on Just Dance 2.
• The line "Wake me up before you go-go" is sung in the punk rock song "Whatever Happened to the 80s" by the Donots.
• In 2010, Selina Ren performed the song on S.H.E's S.H.E is The One world tour
• The Kwartet covered this song on their debut EP, Enter The Cactus.

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
Canada	1
France	17
Germany	2
Ireland	1
The Netherlands	1
Norway	1
Sweden	1
Switzerland	2
UK	1
US	1

External links

• Song review from AllMusic

Preceded by "The Reflex" by Duran Duran	UK number-one single 2 June 1984 - 9 June 1984 (2 weeks)	Succeeded by "Two Tribes" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
	Irish Singles Chart number-one single 9 June 1984 - 16 June 1984 (2 weeks)
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 – 3 September 1984 (2 weeks)	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 RPM Singles Chart number-one single 10 November 1984 – 1 December 1984 (4 weeks)	Succeeded by "Caribbean Queen" by Billy Ocean
Preceded by "Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)" by Billy Ocean	Billboard Hot 100 number-one single 17 November 1984 – 1 December 1984 (3 weeks)	Succeeded by "Out of Touch" by Daryl Hall and John Oates