Careless Whisper

"Careless Whisper" is a 1984 single by George Michael (credited to "Wham! featuring George Michael" in Japan, Canada and the United States), released by Epic Records in the United Kingdom, Japan, and other countries; and by Columbia Records in North America. The song was George Michael's first solo single although he was still performing in Wham! at the time (the song is included on Wham!'s album Make It Big). The song features a prominent saxophone riff, and has been covered by a number of artists since its first release. It was released as a single and became a huge commercial success on both sides of the Atlantic. It reached number one in nearly 25 countries, selling about six million copies worldwide.

Contents
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 * 1 Background
 * 2 Music video
 * 3 Cover versions
 * 4 Track listing
 * 5 Credits and personnel
 * 6 Charts
 * 6.1 Weekly charts
 * 6.2 Year-end charts
 * 7 Certifications
 * 8 See also
 * 9 References
 * 10 External links

Background[edit]
Unlike all the other Wham! singles (except "Wham Rap!" and "Club Tropicana"), it was co-written by Andrew Ridgeley, the other member of the duo. The two had written it together as unknowns three years earlier in Watford, England.[1]

The song went through at least two rounds of production. The first was during a trip Michael made to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where he went to work with producer Jerry Wexler at Muscle Shoals Studio. Michael was unhappy with the version that was originally produced and decided to re-record and produce the song himself, this time coming up with the version that was finally released. The version Wexler produced did, however, see the light of day, but only later on, as a (4:41) B-side "Special Version" on 12", released in the UK and Japan.

The record label Innvervision were going to put out the Jerry Wexler version of Careless Whisper after the Club Fantastic Megamix as far back as 1983. Dick Leahy stated in George Michael's autobiography [2] that while he couldn't stop the release of the Club Fantastic Megamix, he could stop the release of this single on the basis that as a publisher they "have the right to grant the first license of the recording of a tune of which he controls the copyright".[2] He couldn't do anything about the Club Fantastic Megamix because it was already released material. He said: "We knew how big that song could be so it was necessary to upset a few people to stop it."[2]

The officially released a single, a mid-tempo ballad with a saxophone solo by Steve Gregory, was issued in August 1984, entering the UK singles chart at number 12. Within two weeks, it was at number one, ending a nine-week run at the top for "Two Tribes" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It stayed at number one for three weeks, going on to become the fifth best-selling single of 1984 in the United Kingdom; it was outsold only by the two Frankie Goes to Hollywood tracks "Two Tribes" and "Relax," Stevie Wonder with "I Just Called to Say I Love You" and Band Aid with "Do They Know It's Christmas." The song also topped the charts in 25 other countries, including the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in February 1985 under the credit "Wham! featuring George Michael". Spending three weeks at the top in America, the song was later named Billboard '​s number-one song of 1985.

Michael has been critical of the song saying it "was not an integral part of my emotional development" [3] which he found sad because of the song meaning so much to so many people. He went on to say:

Music video[edit]
The music video shows the guilt felt by a man over an affair, and his acknowledgement that his partner was always going to find out. It was taped on location in Miami during June 1984 and features such locales asCoconut Grove and Watson Island. The final part of the video shows Michael leaning out of a balcony at the last floor of Miami's Grove Towers.[4]

Cover versions[edit]
The song has been covered by many other artists, including 2Play (2005), Slinkee Minx (2004), Bananarama (2001) on their Exotica album, Brian McKnight (2007),[citation needed], Seether on their album Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces and Kenny G featuring McKnight (2004) from At Last...The Duets Album.
 * Instrumental group Pieces of a Dream offered their version from the band's 1986 album "Joyride."[5]
 * Irish singer Edward J. Valentine released a version that reached number 47 for 1 week in the Irish music charts in 2008.[6]

Track listing[edit]
All songs written and composed by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.
 * Note: The Extended Mix is identical to the album version from Make It Big.

Credits and personnel[edit]

 * Saxophone – Steve Gregory
 * Bass – Deon Estus
 * Drums – Trevor Morrell
 * Electric piano – Anne Dudley
 * Guitar – Hugh Burns
 * Keyboards – Chris Cameron, Andy Richards
 * Percussion – Danny Cummings
 * Photography – Tony McGee
 * Producer/Arranger – George Michael
 * Composer – Andrew Ridgeley, George Michael

Charts[edit]
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Weekly charts[edit]

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