Continuing our Eat My Vids series (click to view all in the series), we’re ranking the music videos of artists or bands that were created during the height of the MTV music video era. Today it’s time for one of our favorite pop duos — Wham! Though George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley were only together for a short five years from 1981 to 1986, they produced three albums and 12 music videos, and sold 30 million certified records worldwide during that time period. Of course, Michael would go on to be a star in his own right, but today we’re looking specifically at Wham!
We could go on, but let’s get to what you came here for — our ranking of all of Wham!’s music videos.
11. Everything She Wants (1984)
A great song let down by its video, honestly. This music video is shot in black and white and is just the guys at a live concert spliced together with some close up shots of George singing, and then one random shot of him in a bed with a woman’s hand caressing him. The lyrics to the song could have easily been made into a more story-centric video, so it’s interesting that they went this way.
10. The Edge of Heaven (1986)
In this black and white video, the band performs for an audience while clips of all of their previous music videos are interspersed throughout. Was this their last music video? It seems so, as the end of the video also features the words “Thank You” slowly appearing. Indeed, this song is considered their farewell single, so it makes sense.
9. Where Did Your Heart Go? (1986)
In this stylistic black and white video, we get a lot of close-up shots of George singing the song, interspersed with Andrew and the other band members playing instruments. Though it’s a fairly simple video, it’s more effective than their straight-up concert-style videos.
8. I’m Your Man (1985)
The original video doesn’t have much to write home about — it’s shot in black and white at the Marquee Club in London and just has the guys performing the song on a stage. But the director’s cut, which we’ve featured above, is a bit more fun and features the boys trying to sell tickets to the concert without much luck. It’s a much more humorous take on the video, so it’s not clear why they didn’t just go with the full-length version as the official cut.
7. Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) (1982)
In what may be the first Wham! music video, George sports a leather jacket while going to find Andrew — he’s at his parents’ house getting the business for needing to get a good job. George then takes Andrew out and basically gets him to start having fun, which is essentially what the song is about: do what you enjoy rather than what you’re told.
6. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (1984)
Let’s just be honest, this video isn’t that great. It’s basically a concert-style video with the guys performing on a stage in various outfits. The outfits themselves are really the most interesting part of the video, with the most surprising part coming with a very brief black light moment toward the end. The song is great, but the video is just kinda eh.
5. Bad Boys (1983)
The storytelling is strong in this music video! The video starts with a father coming home from the war (seemingly) to his young son and wife. Everything seems well, but then it’s revealed that the son is actually a bad boy, like the song would suggest — he uses a slingshot to sling rocks at womens’ behinds and bullies other boys, then grows up to be George in a leather jacket still living that bad boy life.
4. Freedom (1985)
Though typically a more clip-show type music video wouldn’t be that interesting, in the case of this song, the circumstances around it actually make it pretty fascinating! Wham! was the first western pop act to visit China as part of their 1985 world tour, and this video shows clips from throughout their 10-day visit to the country, including their concert as well as visits to the Great Wall, playing soccer, and some press conferences. You can feel the joy coming from the pair throughout the clips.
3. Club Tropicana (1983)
The beginning of this music video would have you believe that it’s going to be a cinematic story with a whole “Wham! Presents…” opening, but… it’s really not. That said, if you want to see young George Michael in some white speedos, then this video is the one for you. Otherwise, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. The lyrics in the song say “all that’s missing is the sea,” and yet they filmed parts of it at what looks like the sea. The video is so ridiculous.
2. Careless Whisper (1984)
Interestingly, though this song was written by both George and Andrew and was released under a Wham! album, it’s typically just listed as a George Michael song, and indeed the song is on George’s YouTube channel and not Wham!’s. Still, because it’s originally attributed to the band, we’re including it here. The video features George getting seduced by a woman and cheating on his fiance, and is basically about him feeling guilty about it. Those scenes are interspersed with him alone against a black backdrop with large ropes and chains hanging next to him.
1. Last Christmas (1984)
In this music video featuring one of our all-time favorite Christmas songs, a group of friends heads up to a cottage in the mountains for the holiday. It’s soon revealed to us viewers that George previously dated Andrew’s current girlfriend, and that they spent the previous Christmas there as a couple, where he even gifted her a fancy brooch. Only this time around, his former paramour has gifted the brooch to her new beau Andrew, though she doesn’t seem very into him. It’s a fun video and also in 4K HD for even better viewing!
Which is your favorite Wham! music video? Let us know in the comments!
- Queen wanted to be the first rock band to play in China, but Wham!’s manager Simon Napier-Bell used some cunning tactics to get Wham! in instead. Namely, he made brochures featuring George Michael as wholesome and Freddie Mercury as flamboyant. The band didn’t make any compensation from their two concerts in China, but their visit did attract media attention around the world.
- In nearly all of their music videos, the group features their background singers Shirlie Holliman and Helen “Pepsi” DeMacque. They eventually formed their own duo called Pepsi & Shirlie and released two albums.
- George Michael co-directed the “Where Did Your Heart Go?” music video along with Andy Morahan, who directed a majority of their music videos, and would go on to direct a lot of George’s solo videos as well.
- The duo had their final concert together on June 28, 1986 at Wembley Stadium in London. A total of 72,000 people attended the event, and they had special guests appear with them, including Elton John.
- In the “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” video, the group all wear t-shirts from fashion designer Katharine Hamnett, who was known for political t-shirts with large block letter slogans, with the words “Choose Life” and “GO GO.”
- Queen wanted to be the first rock band to play in China, but Wham!’s manager Simon Napier-Bell used some cunning tactics to get Wham! in instead. Namely, he made brochures featuring George Michael as wholesome and Freddie Mercury as flamboyant. The band didn’t make any compensation from their two concerts in China, but their visit did attract media attention around the world.
- In nearly all of their music videos, the group features their background singers Shirlie Holliman and Helen “Pepsi” DeMacque. They eventually formed their own duo called Pepsi & Shirlie and released two albums.
- George Michael co-directed the “Where Did Your Heart Go?” music video along with Andy Morahan, who directed a majority of their music videos, and would go on to direct a lot of George’s solo videos as well.
- The duo had their final concert together on June 28, 1986 at Wembley Stadium in London. A total of 72,000 people attended the event, and they had special guests appear with them, including Elton John.
- In the “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” video, the group all wear t-shirts from fashion designer Katharine Hamnett, who was known for political t-shirts with large block letter slogans, with the words “Choose Life” and “GO GO.”
