Robbed hit of the week 3/11/13 - Wham!'s "Bad Boys"...

Wham! - "Bad Boys"
from the album Fantastic (1983)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #60

This week's "robbed hit" was the first American taste of future superstar George Michael, who formed the pop duo Wham! with schoolmate Andrew Ridgeley in the early 80s. Their first album, Fantastic, was a dance record chock full of Nile Rodger-style guitar riffs and George alternating between singing and rapping, and by luck of an appearance on the British chart show Top Of The Pops due to a cancellation, they scored a #3 record in England with "Young Guns (Go For It)", which also charted on Billboard's dance chart at #21.  They followed it up by reissuing their first single, "Wham Rap (Enjoy What You Do)".

For their "hat trick" single, the guys eschewed the rap and went straight for the cheese tray for with discofied teen rebel beat of "Bad Boys", which became their first hit single in the States...

I don't even remember how and when I heard the song first, but I ran and bought the 7" vinyl single straight away and adored it, playing it nonstop miming to the words while doing my schoolwork. When the album came out I bought the cassette and it was a fixture in my boombox.  What was I thinking. Even George disavows the cheeky track (calling himself handsome? I mean he was but really?).  While the song was their biggest as yet in the UK, reaching #2, it puttered out at #60 in America, and #28 on the dance chart, but set the stage for the duo's total dominance with their more pop-influenced sophomore album, Make It Big, and #1 single "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go".

And as much as the lyrics are totally inane, I'm still hooked by the over-the-top production on this. This needs a lipdub video. Or a drag performance. Anything.

And the Fantastic album is an awesome slice of white-boy funk that you can pick up for just 3.99 on Amazon. 

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


...and here are Wham! on Top Of The Pops in 1983 (that's bassist Deon Estus there, as well as original backup singer Dee C Lee who would go on with the Style Council...)...

..and lastly, some other show complete with a dancing chicken lady. Only in Europe...

Tomorrow I'll bring you another Song of the Day, candletime, and my French and German music chart recaps. Good night!