Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

The Scribbled Note That Launched A Number One

Released on May 14, 1984 in the UK, “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” became Wham!’s first number one in both the UK and the United States, debuting at number four on the UK Singles Chart and reaching the top spot seven days later where it stayed for two weeks. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 on November 17, holding the position for three weeks and finally breaking the duo into the American market after their debut album Fantastic had stalled at number 83 the previous year. What nobody watching that iconic video knew was that the entire song sprang from a sleep-deprived Andrew Ridgeley accidentally writing “Wake me up up” on a note to his mother, then purposely doubling the word “go” to match the mistake.

The track became the eleventh bestselling single of 1984 in the UK with over 790,000 copies sold, eventually surpassing platinum certification in multiple countries. It hit number one in Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Australia, where it also topped the Kent Music chart for four weeks. In the United States, the single sold over two million copies and earned platinum certification, a remarkable achievement for a British pop duo that American radio had largely ignored until then. The song spent twenty weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and competed directly against Prince’s “When Doves Cry” and Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” managing to outlast both on the charts and establishing George Michael as a serious commercial force.

The inspiration came from the most mundane of circumstances. Ridgeley still lived with his parents despite Wham!’s growing success, mainly because they were constantly touring and it made little sense to maintain an empty household. One morning he needed a wake-up call for work, so he scribbled a note for his mother and stuck it on his bedroom door. Half-asleep, he wrote “Wake me up up before you go,” noticed the duplicated word, and decided to finish the sentence with “before you go go” to match the error. George Michael spotted the note during a visit, since he and Ridgeley still recorded all their demos in that bedroom, and immediately saw the rhythmic potential in those accidental repetitions. Michael later explained he wanted to make a really energetic pop record combining the best elements of fifties and sixties music with Wham!’s more uptempo, youthful approach.

The recording happened fast. It was the first track cut for Make It Big at Sarm West Studios in London, specifically Studio 2, over just two days in early 1984. Engineer Chris Porter recalled that unlike standard protocol, they didn’t work from a demo because Michael had the complete song in his head and wanted it recorded with a live band. The track was built around a Linn drum machine programmed by Michael, with session musicians rehearsing all afternoon before capturing the basic track by seven that evening. Lead vocals by George Michael were completed over three days, with backing vocals by Pepsi DeMacque and Shirlie Holliman adding the call-and-response energy. Hugh Burns and Andrew Ridgeley provided electric guitars, Deon Estus played bass, Tommy Eyre handled keyboards, and the horn section featured David Baptiste on saxophone, Colin Graham on trumpet, and Paul Spong. Michael produced and arranged everything himself, marking his debut as Wham!’s sole producer and demonstrating the growing creative imbalance between the two school friends.

“Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” served as the lead single from Make It Big, Wham!’s second studio album released in October 1984 on Epic Records. The album was appropriately titled, reaching number one in both the US and UK and eventually achieving six-times platinum certification in America with global sales exceeding ten million copies. The album spawned three more hit singles including the George Michael solo credit “Careless Whisper,” which became one of the bestselling singles of all time with 1.4 million copies sold in the UK alone, plus “Everything She Wants” and “Freedom.” By the time Make It Big was released, Wham! had essentially become George Michael’s vehicle, with engineer Chris Porter noting that Andrew was still involved in being a pop star and thinking about other ways to enjoy himself, while George had his head down in the music.

The song has been covered across surprisingly diverse genres and platforms. Japanese actor Yuji Oda recorded “Wake Me Up Go! Go!” for the television drama Last Christmas in 2004, while Italian indie band Annie Hall created their own version. The six finalists of The X Factor series six performed it on the results show in November 2009, and Dec’s team from Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway took their version to number 64 on the UK Singles Chart. The song appeared in major films including Zoolander during the infamous gasoline fight scene, Charlie’s Angels during Natalie’s introduction, and The Wedding Singer where Angela Featherstone’s character hilariously mangles the lyrics. Pittsburgh Penguins fans adopted it as a chant for defenseman Alex Goligoski, nicknamed Go-Go, and a Volkswagen commercial in 2023 used it to promote their sit-to-start feature, with a dad delighting his daughter by repeatedly triggering the song’s opening “jitterbug” every time he got in and out of the car.

The real legacy of “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” might be those Choose Life T-shirts designed by political artist Katharine Hamnett that Michael and Ridgeley wore in the video, filmed at Brixton Academy with a teenage audience. The shirts sparked a global fashion craze documented in VH1’s I Love the 80s series, though countless viewers assumed they were anti-abortion slogans rather than Hamnett’s intended anti-war message later adopted by drug prevention and safe sex campaigns. Engineer Chris Porter admitted he initially saw Wham! as just a disposable teen band with no huge future, but by the time they recorded this track his impression had completely changed. The song ranked number 28 on VH1’s list of greatest songs of the eighties, a fitting placement for a track that refuses to disappear from comedies, animated movies, and playlists that need pure, unapologetic joy injected straight into the bloodstream.