#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!

Follow this blog

#63 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown!: "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" by Michael Jackson

We are not worthy, we are not worthy...all hail the late-great King of Pop once again, I told you he would be making a few appearances on this countdown, naturally, and so #63 is.....Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough by the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson. I definitely would have mentioned this before, but I must continue with the discussion on what is to be done about this empty throne??? Who will be the next?? Madonna is no doubt still the Queen of Pop, although I know that Lady Gaga fancies herself to be next in line, yet, she will have to produce a minimum of 4 or 5 more top 20 full studio length albums before she can even be considered I would say. Both MJ and Madonna were so insanely prolific that it will be hard for anyone to fill their royal shoes. I suppose that sports are like that too, the new masters just keep raising the bar higher and higher, but someone will come along eventually, no doubt about that. Back to the song, it comes off of MJ's 1982 release album "Thriller." Now, many of you may already know that Thriller still remains the best-selling album worldwide of all time, having sold around 110 million copies worldwide. In the United States Thriller is tied at #1 best-selling album of all time with the Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) but that is just in the USA, globally (which really is what matters most) Thriller is still #1 bar-none. Stay tuned for more...