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Everything She Wants

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This article is about the Wham! song. For other uses, see Everything She Wants (disambiguation).
"Everything She Wants"
Song

"Everything She Wants" is a million-selling Gold-certified hit by British pop duo Wham!, originally released in 1984 on Epic Records on a double A-side with "Last Christmas". It was written and produced by George Michael, one half of the duo.

History

Upon release, "Last Christmas" took the majority of the attention and airplay as it was appropriate in early December as Christmas approached. However, the presence of an equally-billed flip side meant that radio stations had something else to play once "Last Christmas" had lost its topicality.

A five-minute song (there also exists a six-and-a-half-minute-long version with an added bridge), "Everything She Wants" is written from the angle of a man rapidly approaching desperation at the material demands of his partner which seems to be coming to a head, despite the amount of work he does to keep her happy. In a twist, the second verse takes the story a step further by revealing that the woman is pregnant but the man cannot find any happiness in the announcement because of the extra pressure a baby will put upon him.[2]

The presence of the Band Aid project meant that the double A-side peaked at number two in the UK Singles Chart, although in the process it became the biggest selling record not to get to number one. However, in the USA, the song did reach the summit of the Billboard Hot 100, and became the third number-one song in a row from 1984's Make It Big album.

Wham! would go on to have two more number-one hits in the UK before splitting at their height in 1986.

Although Michael bemoaned much of Wham!'s material as he began his solo career, "Everything She Wants" remained a song of which he was proud, and he continued to perform it in his shows. Furthermore, Michael remarked in an interview (to promote 25 Live tour) that "Everything She Wants" is his favourite Wham! song.[citation needed]

In 1996, the song was performed at the MTV Unplugged concert.

In 1997, the song was remixed and re-released as "Everything She Wants '97" for the greatest hits album If You Were There.

Capella group Naturally 7 sampled "Everything She Wants" on their 2011 song "Life Goes On", an arrangement that was personally approved by Michael.[3]

Court case

The song was also mentioned in a landmark 1998 sampling copyright decision in the case of Santrayll v. Burrell.[4] Federal Court Judge Peter K. Leisure concluded that MC Hammer had sampled music by another rap group (The Legend). The Legend admitted to sampling Wham!'s "Everything She Wants" (among other songs) and not disclosing the sampled works when filing for copyright registration.[citation needed]

Music video

The official music video for the song was directed by Andy Morahan.[5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by George Michael

7": Epic / QA 4949 (UK)
No.TitleLength
1."Everything She Wants" (Remix)5:31
2."Last Christmas" (Pudding Mix)4:24
12": Epic / QTA 4949 (UK)
No.TitleLength
1."Everything She Wants" (12" Remix)6:34
2."Last Christmas" (Pudding Mix)6:44
  • Also released in a limited edition with a 1985 calendar (WQTA 4949)
7": Epic / 07-5p-336 (Japan)
No.TitleLength
1."Everything She Wants" (Remix) 
2."Like a Baby" 
3."Message from Wham!" 
  • Note: Track 1 plays 7" remix but is labelled only as "Remix"

Chart performance

Chart (1984–85) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart 7
Austrian Singles Chart 5
Canadian RPM Singles Chart 1
French Singles Chart 3
Norwegian Singles Chart 4
UK Singles Chart 2
US Billboard Hot 100[6] 1
US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks[6] 12
US Billboard Adult Contemporary[6] 4
US Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles[6] 7
US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales[6] 3
Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number one single
25 May 1985 – 1 June 1985 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Canadian RPM number-one single
15 June 1985 – 22 June 1985 		Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ "Music genre". allmusic. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
  2. ^ The complete guide to the music of George Michael & Wham!L Ellis… - 1998 - Music Sales Group
  3. ^ POP MUSIC ICON, GEORGE MICHAEL GIVES N7 PERMISSION TO USE ONE OF HIS GREATEST HIT SONGS http://www.naturallyseven.com/tag/let-it-go-life-goes-on/. Retrieved 17 October 2013. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ Santrayll v. Burrell, No. 91 Civ. 3166, 1998 US Dist. LEXIS 586.
  5. ^ Garcia, Alex S. "mvdbase.com - Wham! - "Wake me up before you go-go [version 1: concept]"". Music Video DataBase. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d e Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved 11 December 2007)
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