Wham! Bam! Match Those Lyrics! Quiz

Answer: Wham! Rap '86

'Wham! Rap' was Wham!'s debut single. Originally released in 1982, it extolled the virtues of having a good time while unemployed. It did better on re-release in 1983, reaching Number Eight on the UK singles chart. The Unsocial Mix of the song featured copious amounts of swearing. The version I've mentioned here, released in 1986, was a mixture of the original and the Unsocial Mix. In the UK, it was a B-side on 'The Edge of Heaven'.

An explanation for non-British players: 'DHSS', which you can hear chanted in the background, was the British Department of Health and Social Security, later replaced by the Department for Work & Pensions.

Answer: Young Guns (Go for It!)

'Young Guns' was the single that gave Wham! their big break. The now defunct chart show 'Top of the Pops' invited Wham! on as a replacement for a band who had dropped out, after the producer spotted them on 'Saturday Superstore'. Although the song was not in the UK Top 40 at the time, Wham!'s TV appearance made the song rocket up the charts, with its highest position being Number Three in 1982.

The female vocalist on the song is Lynda Haynes, but backing singers Dee C Lee (also of the Style Council) and Shirlie Holliman performed her bit on 'Top of the Pops'.

Answer: Bad Boys

'Bad Boys' was not one of George Michael's favourite Wham! songs; he described it as 'an albatross around my neck', and it was omitted from the 1997 compilation 'The Best of Wham!: If You Were There...' The public, however, loved it as it peaked at Number Two on the UK singles chart in 1982.

Answer: Last Christmas

'Last Christmas' was released as a double A-side with 'Everything She Wants' in 1984 and charted high across Europe, reaching Number Two on the UK singles chart. Wham! donated royalties to the Ethiopian famine, the same cause for which Live Aid were raising money. The song has been covered by several musicians, including Billie Piper (who 'Doctor Who' fans will know as Rose Tyler), Jimmy Eat World and Carly Rae Jepsen.

Fun fact: a social media game known as 'Whamageddon' involves participants seeing how many days they can go in December without hearing 'Last Christmas'. Once one hears the song, one is considered to have lost the game (I lost it in 2018, for instance, when hearing it played on the radio at work).

Answer: Club Tropicana

'Club Tropicana' was released in 1983 and peaked at Number Four on the UK singles chart. The video was filmed in Ibiza at the Pikes Hotel. Some articles about the song have claimed it is a satire of cheap package holidays to sunny destinations, such as Club 18-30 (along the same lines of Blur's 'Girls & Boys', released over a decade later).

(Incidentally, in my student days at Manchester University - my alma mater - we had a cheesy pop night called Club Tropicana, known as 'Club Trop' by the students who frequented it, named in tribute to this song.)

Answer: I'm Your Man

'I'm Your Man' was Wham!'s third UK Number One, released in 1985, and was not featured on any of their albums. It was released towards the end of Wham!'s career; the group split up six months after the single was released. Fittingly, it was the final song George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley performed together at their final concert at Wembley Stadium. Michael later recorded a solo version, which appeared as a B-side on his own Number One hit 'Fastlove'. Lisa Moorish released a cover in 1995 with Michael on backing vocals, and actor Shane Richie also covered it for Children in Need in 2003.

Answer: Everything She Wants

'Everything She Wants' was released as a double A-side with 'Last Christmas' in the UK in December 1984. It was kept off the Number One spot by Band-Aid's 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' (which also featured vocals from George Michael). However, when the song was released in March 1985 in the US, it got to Number One on the 'Billboard' Hot 100. Once the Christmas period was over, 'Everything She Wants' started receiving more airplay on UK radio.

'Everything She Wants' was also Michael's favourite Wham! song, and he regularly performed it at his solo gigs.

Answer: Where Did Your Heart Go?

Unlike the other songs in this quiz, 'Where Did Your Heart Go?' is not a Wham! original - it's actually a cover of a song by Was (Not Was), originally released in 1981. The Wham! version was one of the B-sides to 'The Edge of Heaven' in the UK. In other countries, such as the US, it was released as a single in its own right.

It also appeared on 'The Final', Wham!'s last UK album (American fans got 'Music from the Edge of Heaven' instead, a similar compilation). Like 'Careless Whisper', it features a notable sax solo.

Answer: The Edge of Heaven

'The Edge of Heaven' was Wham!'s final single, released on 18 June 1986, with their farewell gig at Wembley Stadium ten days later. Earlier that year, Wham! had announced their split, with George Michael about to embark on a solo career. The UK version featured three B-sides - an updated version of 'Wham!' Rap', a cover of Was (Not Was)'s 'Where Did Your Heart Go?' and a new song, 'Battlestations'. Elton John played piano on the song; he and Michael would go on to duet on 'Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me' in 1991.

Answer: Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go' - which, incidentally, is my favourite Wham! song - was Wham!'s first UK Number One single. George Michael got the idea for the title from a note Andrew Ridgeley had written to his parents, saying 'wake me up up before you go go'. Ridgeley had accidentally written 'up' twice, so decided to write 'go' twice as well. The video for the song was filmed at Brixton Academy in London.

Owners of small vintage Casio keyboards may also recall that an instrumental version of this song was a demo track on said keyboards. This version was used by Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish in their parody of 'Shine', 'acted' by toys, on an episode of 'The Adam & Joe Show'.