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ICON Edition: A Very Special Christmassong:
Last ChristmasIt began in Radlett, a commuter town of 60,000 souls, north-west of Britain's capital, London, where some scenes of Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange were filmed. It's where young Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou (born June 25 1963) and his loving, tightly bound part Greek-Cypriot, part English family moved from their original North London home. George and his best friend, fellow Bushey Meads Comprehensive student Andrew Ridgeley, would do as teenagers do, think about being pop stars and dream of making it big: "I wanted to be loved," admitted George. "It was an ego satisfaction thing." Even so, the pair of dreamers understood that it wasn't going to happen. These things just don't happen.
Yet, as the world knows, these things did happen. As Wham!, the duo who would define the early-'80s. From their first single, 1982's "Wham Rap", to their last, 1986's "The Edge Of Heaven/Where Did Your Heart Go", they sold 25 million records across the globe, they kept each other's friendship and they departed in a blaze of glory before 72,000 people at London's Wembley Stadium on June 26, 1986. Wham! never got old and never lost their exclamation mark, but along the way, George won the first of his three prestigious Ivor Novello Songwriter Of The Year awards in 1985. They had two US #1 singles and a #1 album - titled Make It Big in honour of their Bushey Meads dreams - they became first western band to play China and George began his long but mercifully mostly hush-hush commitment to charity work with a performance on Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas" and by donating all Wham! royalties from their "Last Christmas/Everything She Wants" single to Ethiopian famine relief.
Even when Wham! were in their pomp and George was contributing to his friend and sparring partner Elton John's "Nikita" and "Wrap Her Up", it was plain that George's destiny was solo and that his new, more mature songs were too worldly, too adult to fit into the format of good-time duo. He'd already dipped a toe in solo waters in 1984 with a song he'd written as a 17-year-old ("a very precocious lyric!" he quipped) while riding the number 32 bus home as a teenager. "Careless Whisper" (credited to Wham! Featuring George Michael in the US) not only featured one of the great lines in popular music, "guilty feet have got no rhythm", but showed there was more to George Michael than the instant joy of "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" and"Young Guns (Go For It)". "Careless Whisper" charged to #1 in America and topped the charts in Australia, Canada, France, Holland, Italy, Ireland, South Africa, Switzerland and the UK, amongst others.
Official Site: George Michael
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The Story and The MusicSong:
Santa Claus Is Coming To TownAlbum:
30th AnniversarySong:
Santa Claus Is Coming To TownAlbum:
The Story and The MusicSong:
Winter WonderlandAlbum:
30th AnniversarySong:
Winter WonderlandAlbum:
The Story and The MusicSong:
Do You Hear What I Hear?Album:
30th AnniversarySong:
Do You Hear What I Hear?Album:
The Story and The MusicSong:
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa ClausAlbum:
30th AnniversarySong:
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa ClausAlbum:
ICON Edition: A Very Special ChristmasSong:
I Saw Three ShipsAlbum:
The Story and The MusicSong:
Gabriel's MessageAlbum:
A Very Special Christmas, Vol. 3Song:
I Saw Three ShipsAlbum:
30th AnniversarySong:
Gabriel's MessageAlbum:
The Story and The MusicSong:
Christmas In HollisAlbum:
30th AnniversarySong:
Christmas In HollisAlbum:
The Story and The MusicSong:
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)Album:
30th AnniversarySong:
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)Album:
The Story and The MusicSong:
The Little Drummer BoyAlbum:
30th AnniversarySong:
The Little Drummer BoyAlbum:
The Story and The MusicSong:
Run Rudolph RunAlbum:
30th AnniversarySong:
Run Rudolph RunAlbum:
A Very Special Christmas, Vol. 5Song:
Blue ChristmasAlbum:
30th AnniversarySong:
I Wish Everyday Could Be Like ChristmasAlbum:
The Story and The MusicSong:
The Coventry CarolAlbum:
30th AnniversarySong:
The Coventry CarolAlbum:
The Story and The MusicSong:
Silent NightAlbum:
A Very Special Christmas, Vol. 5Song:
Silent NightAlbum:
30th AnniversarySong:
Silent NightAlbum:
The Story and The MusicSong:
Merry Christmas BabyAlbum:
30th AnniversarySong:
Merry Christmas Baby
Thanks to the generosity of talented friends in the recording industry, the grants generated by the A Very Special Christmas albums have had an enormous impact on Special Olympics Programs around the world.
Bring joy to the world with these holiday favorites — all part of the most successful benefit recording in history. Buy yours now!