They don’t write ’em like that anymore…
You need to give your tympanic membranes plenty of exercise to stay in the peak of physical fitness, and what better way to accomplish some totally ripped eardrums than with another reverberating cluster of melodic sound waves that you can only find in The Nest’s Monday oasis we like to call the Dusty Vinyl Archive. Drill instructor DJ Scratchy is ready to pump you up with another earworm on steroids that’s been collecting more dust over the past few decades than your old pair of legwarmers. Here come the Sponkies with this week’s workout music…
Wham! They’re the band that was such an integral part of the 80’s music scene, that they’re entitled to put an exclamation point after their name. They first rose to fame in the UK in the early 80’s by performing concerts with a little help from some questionably placed shuttlecocks. Then they made it big in 1984 with an album titled…… well, Make It Big. You might be surprised to find out that almost every Wham! song you know came from this one album… including all three of their US #1 hits. You may be even more shocked to learn that Make It Big was the middle child of a scant three albums the duo of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley released under the Wham! umbrella…
Quality…. not quantity. Unless that quantity involves making people think we have large packages…
George Michael was itching to leave the poppy sound and image of Wham! behind and had faith he could recast himself as a more serious artist on his own… meaning that even at the peak of their success, the band’s days were numbered. But before George and Andrew went their separate ways, they did something that very few other bands ever did before officially blowing everything up…. they recorded an official farewell song. Grab a hanky and say goodbye to the boys as you listen to the awesome and completely underrated (not to mention underplayed) 1986 #10 Wham! hit “The Edge of Heaven”…
Leading off their third and final album, Music From the Edge of Heaven (The Final everywhere but the US and Japan), “The Edge of Heaven” might not be recognized as a goodbye tune just by listening to the song… but the video is a clear tribute to Wham!’s legacy and official notice to its fans that the band was closing up shop.
That was great! So when is the next album coming…… hey, WAIT! What!?!?
Of course, I don’t care for the sappiness of fond farewells or shit like that…. I love this song because it’s just a lot of fun to listen to, and I can rarely stay seated while doing so. And though almost every Wham! hit would fit that description, this is my clear favorite from the short-lived but long-lasting Wham! era…
Wham! Bam, thank you ma’am!
I’ll be back with……. what!?!? A Christmas earworm!?!? Say it isn’t so…… next Monday!
please please don’t play Last Christmas…this song is my nightmare :o) I remember all the girls who loved george that that time… they wouldn’t believe that he loves them definitely not…
You have nothing to worry about, because I don’t like that song either. It used to get played a lot at work… and as if the George Michael version isn’t bad enough, they also played a Taylor Swift cover!
nooooooooo…. I’m glad I’ve got thick ear muffs last christmas… LOL
Snorts with piggy laughter. Now we *know* that song. Finally one that we all know here. That’s a hoot. Mom went through a Wham period – we try not to remind her of that – hilarious. XOXO – Bacon
Nobody should be embarrassed to have gone through a Wham period! Hey, I got your card in the mail yesterday! Thanks! It might possibly turn up in an upcoming episode of Shelf Critter Theatre…
Squeals with piggy excitement. Your card was so appropriate – we picked it because of well YOU. XOXO – Bacon
Confession time. Hand in air…yes, I was a Wham! fan. Thanks for a 80’s trip back in time. 😉
LOL, I love that people think George Michael is a guilty pleasure! He must’ve been the Bieber of his time…
Without the douche-baggery gangsta MO. LOL
Sorry, what was that? I was staring at George Michaels ass…
But that’s not where he put the shuttlecock…….. well, at least not until he got backstage…..
I hope he lubed up first…
There’s a video of me on my blog with an important message for you…
I guess I better drop everything and check it out….
Hell yeah, man.
Unfortunately, when I hear George Michael’s voice, Last Christmas comes into my head with Taylor Swft’s version right behind it and it makes me feel a tad nauseous. I really hate that song and it seems to be on every store’s playlist.
I had forgotten all about Edge of Heaven though. I probably hadn’t heard that song in 25 years!
Poor Wham has been reduced to “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” and “Careless Whisper.” Such a shame…. they were much better than that. With the obvious exception of that horrible song that has become a Christmas staple only because it mentions Christmas in the title. I feel lucky this year because I haven’t had to listen to Christmas music! I think the Mecca Radio DJ must be sick or something…
Maybe they’ve realized Christmas music makes people more violent. I know I feel more violent when some of the more annoying Christmas songs come on! I’m glad you’ve been spared this year. I’ve been lucky so far too. I haven’t heard Taylor Swift all week!
I wish I could say that, but they play Blank Space at work way too much for my liking…
BTW, shameless self promotion here, but since I know how much you love my Shelf Critter Theatre productions, last week’s added a new element (literally) and was extra cute!
Remarkably (for me), I actually remember this group and the song. How rare is that? For all that, George Michael has never been a favorite of mine. I don’t even know why not.
I am impressed…. I wouldn’t have pegged you for knowing Wham. They were inescapable in the 80’s, though maybe even George Michael made it to Israel…
Now all I can think about is ‘before you go go’ – almost as bad as Feliz Navidad. I hope that is running around your head now, torturing you…
I must have mentioned to you before how much I hate that fucking song. Everyone I tell that to even just in passing seems to do everything in their power to try and rub my nose in that horrible piece of holiday garbage! 😛
No, it was just a clever guess. Do you know anyone that does like it…??? Merry Christmas to you, too. 🎅
ody N biskit……sum times we iz glad de pea sea haz noe sound…..we think we iz all gonna say … mite bee a good thing we canna heer thiz one; never cared for that dood ore hiz band troo lee….oh kay toonz….. but ehhh ~~ ☺☺☺☺ dood…how R ya feelin bye de way ~~~~~
Ody would like to say he’s feeling just fine… of course, he’s not the one paying the outrageous cost of insulin! Biskit is being quiet as usual, but I’m sure he’d say Hi is he were more social!
Thank you, never heard this before, but the video was great, and of course the music.
Wham was 80’s pop at it’s best. The perfect way to put a smile on your face when there isn’t a squirrel around…
Oh, yes! That music makes happy.
I’ll confess…I had the cassette of the album this song comes from, so I definitely remember it. I loved the whole first half LOL
When I looked up the album for this post, I noticed Last Christmas was on the second half, so you’re good!
Got to love Wham (George Micheals) ! i was crushed when I found out he was gay..booo hoooo!!
I’m sure there are some women he’d go straight for…
I remember this song. I’m glad you won’t be posting Last Christmas…but am wondering what song you have up your sleeve.
It’s something truly oddball that I heard only once before, but never forgot. I’d say it’s likely something most of my readers will have never heard before…
I do remember Wham! and certainly George Michael (even though the fashionable unshaved look he sported back then looked more like a dirty face!)………..but have no recollection of that song….then again I have “selective memory” of that entire time period! Looking forward to a Christmas surprise from you next week……….
Pam
Yeah…. the five o’clock shadow looked a little more like midnight face. At least Boy George had the decency to shave before going on camera…
https://knockedoverbyafeather.wordpress.com/2016/12/13/pop-vs-soda-the-debate-continues/
I solemly swear to under no circumstances bring up the song Felix Nuttel. 😁
I was never a huge Wham fan (I refuse to give them an exclamation mark). This is one of their most recognisable songs, though. DJ Scratchy appears to have started featuring mainstream pop!
It was probably bigger in the UK and thus better known there… here in America, it has been reduced to the “oh, by the way, they also did this” bin behind “Wake Me Up…” “Everything She Wants” and “Careless Whisper.” I’d have long forgotten about this song had VH-1 Classic not re-introduced me to it a few years ago…
I saw you again today in my dreams . You were mine and you held me close and we watched the same show and danced to the songs that we loved. We laughed and you made me breakfast. I wish I hadn’t woken up. Reality is my new nightmare because it reminds me painfully that you are mine no more, you are somewhere living a good life probably moved on and completely forgotten me and meanwhilst I am here swallowed up in your thoughts. I am here wishing I lived your life with you. I am here writing a million poems for you, a million letters which I would never send. I am here missing you sorely and reliving every moment that we had. I am here making a future that will never be true and thinking of.embraces that will never happen. I am here.