You put the boom-boom into my heart

Continuing my trip up the list of the most streamed songs for each year.  

1984 : Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - Wham!

Part of me is surprised at this one - but hey, it's always nice to see George!  It's his only appearance on the list despite his repertoire featuring considerably more deserving tracks - surely "Faith", "Freedom 90", "Careless Whisper", "Outside" and "A Different Corner" all rank way higher in the "they should win" stakes?  But since when did deserving something count for anything?  So here we are and it's gonna take a pretty special track to convince me that George doesn't deserve his one entry on the list...

I don't remember the video but, unlike the previous two entries, I doubt I'm going to have to give a complex write-up of the nonsense going on - I suspect "George and Andrew prance around having a good time" is going to cover it.  Yup - pretty much!  It's 3:50 of cheesy prancing, with them starting off in Katharine Hamnett's CHOOSE LIFE teeshirts and then changing clothes a few times for no obvious reason.  And George has soooo much make-up on!

Wikipedia has surprisingly little on the song - George wanted to write a pure pop song, so he did and they recorded it in one take.  It got to #1 in both the UK and the US (being their first in both countries) and plenty of other countries as well.  And that's really all it has to say about it - no in-depth analysis of the lyrics (unsurprisingly!), no clue as to why it won the year and no talk of any cover versions.  secondhandsongs.com also offers up slim pickings - James Last (a perfectly dreadful "mash-up") and the obligatory Glee version (which adds absolutely nothing) are the only ones I recognise.  

YouTube offers up Pomplamoose as its top option - it starts well but doesn't really go anywhere (not that the original really goes anywhere either!).  It seems like a tricky song to give a new spin to - even Leo Moracchioli doesn't manage to do very much with his metal cover (although it does feature innovative use of a Dustbuster).  It very much feels as though this song just exists and no-one really has anything to say about it or do with it!

So what was the competition like in '84 - I'm expecting some 80's classics to come out of the woodwork.  The top selling songs of the year were Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" (no points for guessing this), Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called To Say I Love You" (his only UK #1 - spending six weeks there), Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "Relax" and "Two Tribes" (both still sounding good even after all those years), George Michael's "Careless Whisper" (a far better track imho) and Wham!'s "Last Christmas" (ditto).  Wham! also have "Freedom" at #10 before this track at #11 - it's fair to say they sold a few records in '84.

It's all feeling pretty classic 80s so far, isn't it - what other tracks are thrown up from the charts?  Big Country's "Wonderland" (I love that track!), Queen's "Radio Gaga" and "I Want To Break Free", Fiction Factory's "Feels Like Heaven" (so 80s, but so cool!), Echo & The Bunnymen's "Killing Moon", Thompson Twins' "Doctor! Doctor!", Madonna's "Holiday" and "Like A Virgin", Nik Kershaw's "Wouldn't It Be Good" and "The Riddle", Van Halen's "Jump", The Weather Girls' "It's Raining Men", Sade's "Your Love Is King", Depeche Mode's "People Are People" and "Master And Servant", Phil Collins's "Against All Odds", Duran Duran's "The Reflex", Kenny Loggins's "Footloose", The Smiths' "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now", Bronski Beat's "Smalltown Boy", Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time", Prince's "When Doves Cry" and "Purple Rain", Black Lace's "Agadoo", Ray Parker Jr's "Ghostbusters", U2's "Pride (In The Name Of Love)", Alphaville's "Big In Japan", John Waite's "Missing You" (a fine slice of cheese) and Tears For Fears's "Shout".  Some 80s bangers there - and a Black Lace track.

The top selling track in the US this year was Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson's "Say Say Say" and, if you don't know it, I can assure you it's a shit track.  Most of the top twenty have already been seen, except for Yes's "Owner Of A Lonely Heart", Deniece Williams's "Let's Hear It For The Boy", Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark" and The Pointer Sisters' "Jump For My Love" - a definitely more US kinda mix.

I can't say I love this track and I do feel that Band Aid, Frankie Goes To Hollywood or any of the other Wham!/George tracks are more obvious and deserving winners - and I've found nothing on the internet that suggests why this took the year.  But take it, it did - so I'll just say thank you George for some wonderful tracks, but maybe this one ain't quite so wonderful.

1983 - An unexpected but enjoyable winner
1985 - A fine track from a fine year