George Michael – Careless Whisper (Live from Top of the Pops 1984)

“Careless Whisper” – Single by George Michael from the album Make It Big
Released 20 July 1984
Label Epic / Columbia / Sony
Songwriters George Michael, Andrew Ridgeley
Producers George Michael, Jerry Wexler (original)
Charted No. 1 in US, No.1 in UK, No.1 in Netherlands, No.1 in Italy, No.1 in Ireland, No. 3 in Germany

No. 1 at Billboard HOT 100 from February 16 until March 2, 1985

Contrary to popular belief, this song was not based on an actual event in George Michael’s high school dating life, but rather he thought the whole thing up while boarding a bus. It was a fictitious story, but the tune was great and the song was a hit.

George Michael claimed that he got more compliments on his writing of the sax solo at the beginning of the song than on anything else he had ever written. The saxophone part was played by Steve Gregory, a session player based in London. As verified by Chris Porter, who was the engineer on the session, 10 different sax players tried to do the solo before Gregory came up with the sound Michael was looking for.

One of the challenges was getting so many notes in one breath. This was accomplished when Porter slowed down the tape when he recorded Gregory’s solo. When he played the tape back at normal speed, Michael approved it. The result is one of the most famous sax solos in popular music.