“Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”
Wham! were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981 consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to 1986. They were influenced by funk and soul music and presented themselves as disaffected youth. Wham!’s 1983 debut album, Fantastic, addressed the United Kingdom’s unemployment problem and teen angst over adulthood. Their second studio album, Make It Big in 1984, was a worldwide pop smash hit, charting at number one in both the UK and the United States. In 1985, Wham! made a highly publicized ten-day visit to China, the first by a Western pop group. At that time, the event was seen as a major watershed moment in increasing the friendly bilateral relations between China and the West. The group disbanded in 1986, as Michael was eager to create music that targeted a more sophisticated adult market, rather than catering to the primarily teenage audience they had as a duo.
The feature song, one that I have detested for forty years, was released in 1984. Because they had a huge teenage following, coupled with the fact that I was 34 when the song came out, might have something to do with my disdain for the song! However, all those “crazy” teens contributed to making the song the duo’s first UK and US number one hit. It was written and produced by George Michael. The inspiration for the song came from a scribbled note that his bandmate, Ridgeley, had left for his parents, which was intended to read “wake me up before you go,” but with “up” accidently written twice, so Ridgeley wrote “go” twice on purpose. Michael has said that he “wanted to make a really energetic pop record that had all the elements of Fifties and Sixties records, combined with our attitude and our approach, which is obviously more up tempo and a lot younger than some of those records.” I would suggest that he succeeded in that endeavor.
Pomplamoose (the name derived from a misspelling of the French word for grapefruit, “pamplemousse”) is an American musical husband-and-wife duo composed of multi-instrumentalist Jack Conte and singer-songwriter and bassist Nataly Dawn. Formed in 2008, the duo sold about 100,000 songs online in 2009. They are known for their viral YouTube videos and covers of popular songs. They have a huge following, with more than 1.5 million subscribers and over 430 million views on their YouTube channel. Their videos, as you will witness when watching the one below, mostly take the form of “VideoSongs,” a medium that Conte defines with two rules: 1. What you see is what you hear. (No lip-synching for instruments or voice). 2.If you hear it, at some point you see it. (No hidden sounds). Jack Conte is also one half of Scary Pockets along with Ryan Leman, which is a funk band using rotating musicians, and a band that I have featured several times on my DUTC posts. He is also the CEO of Patreon, which is a monetization platform that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service and sell digital products.
It is clear from their video production of this cover of “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” that they are having a great deal of fun with this song, perhaps to the point of it being a touch “campy,” okay, very “campy.” As soon as I hear the first notes and words, my skin begins to crawl. As they say: “chacun à son goût” (everyone to his taste)!
And now for some music.
Wham! “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” 1984
Pomplamoose. “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” cover August 2014.
Los Angeles 2025
Well I certainly agree that this is one annoying song. One I try to avoid and thank the inventor of the mute button for each time I can’t. I have to say the Pomplamoose cover is a mild improvement on the original. Still very mutable.
Not a favorite song, but one that doesn’t bother me too much. Just so I wouldn’t have to listen to it so much. The cover didn’t add much.
Lee
While most people over 30 hated this song, my husband and I – who were 30 and 29 when it came out in the spring of 1984 – liked it a lot. Yes it’s overly poppy with lame lyrics, but we found it a guilty pleasure. Their follow-up single “Careless Whisper” became one of my favorite songs of all time. The Pomplamoose cover is campy and fun.
Wham! ‘Go Away Before Before I Throw Up.’ Bouncy, upbeat, innocent clean-cut fun, frothy and totally inanely irritating.
So, tell me how you really feel?😂
I still enjoy this song. It’s so upbeat and bouncy and joyful and so well done. About 1984, I needed something positive and mindless. The 80s were so not a good decade. And I couldn’t listen to Pomplamouse. It felt flat and one-dimensional, and actually insulting to the original. Go figure.
I dunno what it is about some pop songs from the 80s (and 90s) but they don’t fit into my ears… I’m the same generation as you, having been 32/33 in ’84. Definitely irritating.