Fact #171019
When:
Short story:
Wham! release their second album, Make It Big, in the UK on Epic Records.
Full article:
Johnny Black : This was Wham’s second album and showed an extraordinary progression beyond the first. George Michael had developed a good line in Tamla Motown pastiche, exemplified by the irresistible Wake Me Up before You Go Go. At the time, he even had the instinctive sense to disguise its Motown-ness by switching the group image from young guns in black leather to a sort of 80s equivalent of seminal 60s surfers Jan And Dean in white beach clobber.
That’s been the story all along, combining the right image with the right sound at the right time. So Everything She Wants has a breathless Michael Jackson undertone; Heartbeat has a Spector-ish big sound; Freedom clones The Supremes via Culture Club.
But through it all, there’s no doubt that it’s George Michael at the controls with his sure touch guiding every nuance of melody, every seemingly careless whisper. Everything just as it should be, right down to the double-entendre in the album’s title. An excellent slice of easy listening pop.
(review first appeared in CD Review magazine, October 1987)
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That’s been the story all along, combining the right image with the right sound at the right time. So Everything She Wants has a breathless Michael Jackson undertone; Heartbeat has a Spector-ish big sound; Freedom clones The Supremes via Culture Club.
But through it all, there’s no doubt that it’s George Michael at the controls with his sure touch guiding every nuance of melody, every seemingly careless whisper. Everything just as it should be, right down to the double-entendre in the album’s title. An excellent slice of easy listening pop.
(review first appeared in CD Review magazine, October 1987)