Thursday 15 December 2022

tell me baby, do you recognise me—well, it’s been a year, it doesn’t surprise me (10. 387)

Released on this day in 1984 as a Double A-side record under the label Epic in the UK and described as a the apogee and apex of synthpop songcraft, the modern carol written and produced by George Michael for his duo Wham! would go on to be one of the most popular and widely-played Christmas songs, until displaced by “Fairy Tale of New York” in 2015. Composed during the holidays the year before when he and fellow performer Andrew Ridgeley (with that magical chord) while staying with Michael’s parents in Hertfordshire, it was held back from reaching number one on the singles charts by Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” (for which Michael also performed) for a couple of weeks, the group donated all royalties in a related cause to Ethiopian famine relief.