Gemini Rising

1980's Sounds - Wham!

Written for;

FORUM

The Soundtrack of Your Life  (18+) Every February, you're invited to chronicle the music that has influenced your life! #1970896 by Jeff

#7 - 1980's Sounds - 2nd British Invasion - Wham!


One of those awesome British bands on MTV was Wham! and my girlfriends and I LOVED George Michael. and Andrew (Ridgeley) but George... ah, we were glued to the TV. Honestly, George Michael was one of the best looking men my friends and I had ever seen in our whole lives. (but then again we were only 14? 15?)

And he could write. He was a teen girl's hearthrob.

Oh course, we all knew we had no chance with him.

That's said, Wham!'s music was infectious. Who didn't want to let go and do the jitterbug? My 9th grade english assignment could wait while I watched "Wake me up before you go-go." And who didn't like the "Choose Life" shirt? We all thought it was cool simply because George and Andy wore it. Heck, 3 Halloweens ago, I found me a Choose Life t-shirt on EBay and went as a Wham! Groupie from the 1980's.

Wham! had a serious side, too. There was Everything She Wants and Last Christmas. My girlfriends and I were STUNNED that Last Christmas didn't make it to #1 back in 1984. or was it 85?

The musical tones and mood of Wham's music made you listen to lyrics and made you want to understand the lyrics. (in a similar fashion to Simon LeBon's lyrics)

This line had me curious: "You make the sun shine brighter than Doris Day"

and who didn't wonder about the D-H-S-S from Wham! Rap. "With the boys that I meet down on the line
I said, D-H-S-S"

Wham! made music fun, serious, pouty, and too drool for. Back then, Wham! was let go and enjoy the ride because sometimes you needed that stop with how the seriousness of your life was going.

In hindsight, I'm very appreciative of the years I had with Wham! Andrew and George enjoyed the music and that enjoyment came through in every song we heard and every video we watched. Wham! Was a good band to escape to when you wanted to escape your life for a little bit back then.

WAKE ME UP BEFORE YOU GO-GO
Wham!



I will be publishing an addendum about Wham! a bit later in the blog. George's death hit all of us girls hard and we were very grateful Andy published a book about his time with Wham!