Bad Boys is a case in point: wilfully preposterous, extraordinarily camp (“Easy girls – AND LATE NIGHTS! / Cigarettes – AND LOVE BITES!”), it’s a song with its tongue cemented to its cheek that got taken in deadly earnest. Reviled as the apotheosis of craven, weightless 80s pop, Wham!’s early singles were always more knowing than detractors seemed to notice. It’s a sophisticated example of Michael’s way with an irrepressible 60s soul pastiche, with lyrics that played on the duo’s imminent demise: “One last time might be for ever.” 19. The Wham! No 1 no one seems to remember – you certainly don’t hear it as often as the others nowadays – which feels unfair. Michael performing at a Wham! farewell concert in 1986. But it rises beyond pastiche: the melody is gorgeous, Michael’s vocals are superb. The music recalls Mind Games, while the frustrated, sarcastic lyrical tone and the slapback echo-dosed vocals are very Instant Karma!. George Michael – Praying for Time (1990)Īnother shift away from the sound of Faith, Praying for Time is audibly immersed in the oeuvre of John Lennon. It is also a fantastic pop song, which presumably infuriated people even more. It’s neon-hued, incredibly perky and utterly brazen in its desire to be hugely commercially successful: they performed it on Top of the Pops wearing T-shirts that read Number One. If any song embodies what infuriated people about Wham!, Wake Me Up … is it. Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (1984) A gorgeous, heartfelt, harmony-laden but schmaltz-free ballad, it comes with a hint of darkness lurking in the background, as well as what appears to be a reference to Michael’s well-publicised troubles: “I went a little crazy / God knows they can see the child.” 24. Inevitably overshadowed by Last Christmas, 2011’s December Song deserves to be better known. George Michael – December Song (I Dreamed of Christmas) (2011) A great version on Michael’s final album, Symphonica, strips away the synths and replaces them with choral backing vocals and a southern soul organ, revealing the song’s musical roots. George Michael – One More Try (1987)įaith offered an embarrassment of songwriting riches, including the pained balladry of One More Try. Sometimes, the contents of Patience sounded a little too obviously like the work of someone who smoked an enormous quantity of weed, but My Mother Had a Brother – which retold the story of Michael’s closeted gay uncle, who killed himself on the day the singer was born – is tender and yet incredibly powerful. George Michael – My Mother Had a Brother (2004) Wham! rightly had a regard for Blue: it turned up on greatest hits album The Final. Photograph: Mike Maloney/Shutterstockīlue started life as an unfinished near-instrumental hastily bunged on the B-side of Club Tropicana, and gradually developed on stage into a classy, blue-eyed R&B slow jam far better than a lot of songs on their debut album, Fantastic.

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