Songoftheday 11/9/13 - You put the boom-boom into my heart, you send my soul sky-high when your lovin' starts...

Wham! - "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"
from the album Make It Big (1984)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (three weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 14

Today's Song of the Day was the break-out hit in America for the British pop duo Wham!, who had come on the scene in their native country as a couple of post-disco teen ruffians. They ended up with their first four singles reaching the top ten in the UK, with the highest of them all, "Bad Boys", crossing over to our shores for a minor hit in 1983.

After leaving their initial record label for CBS Records the following year, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley returned with a song supposedly based on a note Ridgeley left for his parents, repeating the "up" by mistake and the "go" as a jolly. The bouncy, soulful tune was nothing like their past hits, but the sunny shiny-brite campy excess was a perfect fit for the middle of the Reagan years in America and Thatcher years at home. With backing singers Pepsi & Shirlie in tow, they were poised to conquer the U.S...

"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" became Wham!'s first American #1 pop hit in November of 1984, while doing the same in Australia, Ireland, Holland, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Canada, and their native England. The clean-cut image also got them a #4 single on the adult-contemporary (easy-listening) format, as well as #27 on the dance club play chart in Billboard. The video was played non-stop on MTV, with their iconic "Choose Life" T-shirts and short shorts

How the hell did anyone not know George was gay? Really? Really?

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In 2009, British TV personality Dec (from Ant & Dec) released a charity single from his TV special covering the song, and it actually charted at #64 there..

In 2013, Glee covered the song with Darren Criss (Blaine) and Chord Overstreet (Sam) singing lead..

..and leaving off with Wham! miming it up for Top Of the Pops in 1984...

Up tomorrow: The best legs of the 80s demands correct treatment.