20 Landmark Songs Of The 80s

8. Wham! - Wake Me Up Before You Go Go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIgZ7gMze7A Love him or loathe him, George Michael, firstly as a member of Wham! with Andrew Ridgeley and then as a solo artist in his own right, left his fingerprints all over the 80€™s and helped to define both contemporary boy bands and solo artists - he was a chameleon who dipped into a myriad of musical personas but never sounded as alive or as fun as he did on this record. €˜Wake me up before you go go€™ was an anthem of hedonism and escapism of the 80€™s. The day-glo clothing and iconic €˜Choose Life€™ t-shirts signalled a move away from their moodier leather jackets, and into a much more commercially palatable proposition. There€™s no doubt that it sounds ridiculous in parts - what with all the €˜Jitterbug€™ stuff and the dance routines - but it did the same thing that Pharrell Williams is doing right now with €˜Happy€™; pure feel-good pop that makes no bones about itself. Despite all its fun and humour, the song was a curious mix of sexual hedonism - this was certainly an anthem of onanism, (€œI€™m not planning on going solo€) and how important sex was in a romantic relationship; €œCuddle up, baby, move in tight, we'll go dancing tomorrow night, it€™s cold out there, but it's warm in bed, they can dance, we'll stay home instead.€ Whatever the politics of the tune, Wham also showed the way that boy bands had to go about their business, you could be as good looking as you liked, but tunes, attitude and iconography were required if you were have any chops with the adoring teen audience. And whatever you think of the song, George Michael had those three things in spades.