Everything She Wants

This article is about the Wham! song. For other uses, see Everything She Wants (disambiguation).
"Everything She Wants"

Standard artwork (UK vinyl single pictured)
Single by Wham!
from the album Make It Big
Released December 10, 1984 (UK)
April 17, 1985 (US)
Format 12", 7"
Recorded 1984
Genre Synthpop, dance-pop, new wave[1]
Length 5:01 (Album Version)
5:30 (7" Edit)
6:29 (Remix)
Label CBS
Writer(s) George Michael
Producer(s) George Michael
Certification Gold (RIAA)
Wham! singles chronology
"Last Christmas"
(1984)		 "Everything She Wants"
(1984)		 "I'm Your Man"
(1985)
Make It Big track listing
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"
(1)		 "Everything She Wants"
(2)		 "Heartbeat"
(3)
Twenty Five track listing
"Everything She Wants"
(1)		 "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"
(2)

"Everything She Wants" is a million-selling Gold-certified hit by British pop duo Wham!, originally released in 1984 on Epic Records on a double A-side with "Last Christmas". It was written and produced by George Michael, one half of the duo.

History

Upon release, "Last Christmas" took the majority of the attention and airplay as it was appropriate in early December as Christmas approached. However, the presence of an equally-billed flip side meant that radio stations had something else to play once "Last Christmas" had lost its topicality.

A five-minute song (there also exists a six-and-a-half-minute-long version with an added bridge), "Everything She Wants" is written from the angle of a man rapidly approaching desperation at the material demands of his partner which seems to be coming to a head, despite the amount of work he does to keep her happy. In a twist, the second verse takes the story a step further by revealing that the woman is pregnant but the man cannot find any happiness in the announcement because of the extra pressure a baby will put upon him.[2]

The presence of the Band Aid project meant that the double A-side peaked at number two in the UK Singles Chart, although in the process it became the biggest selling record not to get to number one. However, in the USA, the song did reach the summit of the Billboard Hot 100, and became the third number-one song in a row from 1984's Make It Big album.

Wham! would go on to have two more number-one hits in the UK before splitting at their height in 1986.

Although Michael bemoaned much of Wham!'s material as he began his solo career, "Everything She Wants" remained a song of which he was proud, and he continued to perform it in his shows. Furthermore, Michael remarked in an interview (to promote 25 Live tour) that "Everything She Wants" is his favourite Wham! song.

In 1996, the song was performed at the MTV Unplugged concert.

In 1997, the song was remixed and re-released as "Everything She Wants '97" for the greatest hits album If You Were There.

Capella group Naturally 7 sampled "Everything She Wants" on their 2011 song "Life Goes On", an arrangement that was personally approved by Michael.[3]

Court case

The song was also mentioned in a landmark 1998 sampling copyright decision in the case of Santrayll v. Burrell.[4] Federal Court Judge Peter K. Leisure concluded that MC Hammer had sampled music by another rap group (The Legend). The Legend admitted to sampling Wham!'s "Everything She Wants" (among other songs) and not disclosing the sampled works when filing for copyright registration.

Music video

The official music video for the song was directed by Andy Morahan, and is footage of a live performance in black and white. [5]

Track listing

All tracks written by George Michael. 

7": Epic / QA 4949 (UK)
No. Title Length
1. "Everything She Wants" (Remix) 5:31
2. "Last Christmas" (Pudding Mix) 4:24
12": Epic / QTA 4949 (UK)
No. Title Length
1. "Everything She Wants" (12" Remix) 6:34
2. "Last Christmas" (Pudding Mix) 6:44
7": Epic / 07-5p-336 (Japan)
No. Title Length
1. "Everything She Wants" (Remix)  
2. "Like a Baby"    
3. "Message from Wham!"    

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (1984/1985) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[6] 7
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[7] 5
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[8] 9
Canadian RPM Singles Chart 1
France (SNEP)[9] 21
Germany (Official German Charts)[10] 8
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[11] 6
Norway (VG-lista)[12] 4
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[13] 2
US Billboard Hot 100[14] 1
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[15] 4
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[16] 7
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[17] 12
US Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales[18] 3

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Canada (Music Canada)[19] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[20] Gold 500,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Preceded by
"Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds		 Billboard Hot 100 number one single
19 May 1985 – 1 June 1985 		Succeeded by
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears
Preceded by
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears		 Canadian RPM number-one single
9 June 1985 – 22 June 1985 		Succeeded by
"A View to a Kill" by Duran Duran

References

  1. ↑ "Music genre". allmusic. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
  2. ↑ The complete guide to the music of George Michael & Wham!L Ellis… - 1998 - Music Sales Group
  3. ↑ "POP MUSIC ICON, GEORGE MICHAEL GIVES N7 PERMISSION TO USE ONE OF HIS GREATEST HIT SONGS". Naturally Seven. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  4. ↑ Santrayll v. Burrell, No. 91 Civ. 3166, 1998 US Dist. LEXIS 586.
  5. ↑ Garcia, Alex S. "mvdbase.com - Wham! - "Wake me up before you go-go [version 1: concept]"". Music Video DataBase. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  6. ↑ David Kent (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  7. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Wham! – Everything She Wants" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Wham! – Everything She Wants" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Wham! – Everything She Wants" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Wham! – Everything She Wants". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Wham! – Everything She Wants". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Wham! – Everything She Wants". VG-lista. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Archive Chart: 1984-12-15" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Wham! – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Wham!. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Wham! – Chart history" Billboard Adult Contemporary for Wham!. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Wham! – Chart history" Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs for Wham!. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Wham! – Chart history" Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for Wham!. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Wham! - Awards: AllMusic". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 21, 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  19. ↑ "Canadian single certifications – Wham! – Everything She Wants". Music Canada.
  20. ↑ "American single certifications – Wham! – Everything She Wants". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.