#62 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown!: Wake Me Up Before You Go Go (1984), by Wham!

We are back again, to the 80's of course, and #62 of the countdown is none other than the stellar 80's pop-hit Wake Me Up Before You Go Go by English new-wave-pop duo Wham! Wham! was originally formed in 1981 by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, and according to wikipedia there was a conflict of band-names in the beginning, and so they were originally known as Wham! UK, but was later just changed back to Wham! as they were madly more successful than the other band of the same name in the USA. Wham! sold over 25 million certified albums worldwide between the years of 1982-1986, and the duo split and went their separate ways in 1986 as well (at which time George Michael began his solo career). Wikipedia states that George Michael was the composer, singer, producer, and occasional instrumentalist of the duo, whilst Ridgeley was more the businessman. An interesting wikipedia direct quote about the duo is as follows:

"Still teenagers, they promoted themselves as hedonistic youngsters, proud to live a carefree life without work or commitment. This was reflected in their earliest singles which, part-parody, part-social comment, briefly earned Wham! a reputation as a dance protest group."

"Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" was appeared as the first track off of their October 1984 release album titled "Make It Big," which would become their first #1 UK Chart hit. Once again, according to their wikipedia page, the song was inspired by a note written by Andrew Ridgeley to his parents that read "Wake Me Up Before You Go" but with the word "up" accidentally written twice, so Ridgeley then wrote "go" twice, one of those divine accidents that leads to the creation of an all time classic 80's pop-song. This song was obviously quite well known, and very fitting for it's very title as being "definitively 80's" and it regained popularity amongst a much younger generation (many who seem to have the false idea that the song was new in 2001) with its appearance in the 2001 Ben Stiller comedy film "Zoolander." On to the next!

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