Careless Whisper

7" : EPIC A 4603

12" : EPIC EPCA 12.4603
CHARTED : 04 AUGUST 84
HIGHEST CHART POSITION : 1
Number of Weeks : 21

FRONT COVER

Photography Tony McGee / Design Peter Saville Associates  

"Time can never mend the careless whisper of a good friend"

Unlike all the Wham! singles (except Wham! Rap), Careless Whisper was co-written by Andrew Ridgeley. The two had written it together as unknowns three years earlier, when Michael, aged 17, was working as a cinema usher in Watford, England. In a June 2006 interview on London radio station Magic 105.4, Michael said that he wrote it "in his head" during work and that he recalls coming up with the saxophone riff whilst boarding a number 32 bus on the way home. Originally the riff had words, but Michael declined to state them, saying that they were very poor lyrics. George claims that he has gotten more compliments on his writing of the sax solo at the beginning of the song than on anything else he has ever written.

The song went through at least two rounds of production :
The first was during a trip Michael made to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, in 1983. He went there to work with the legendary producer Jerry Wexler at the venerable Muscle Shoals Studio. Michael was unhappy with the version that was originally produced, and decided to re-record and produce the song himself, this time coming up with the version that was finally released. The version Wexler produced did, however, see the light of day, but only later on, as a B-side "Special Version" on 12", released only in Japan. 

August 1983 : George with Jerry Wexler, the veteran soul producer, who produced one of the three rejected versions of Careless Whisper. This picture was snapped on a Tenessee river boat.

 

 A mid-tempo ballad with a soulful production standard and a remarkable saxophone solo (played by Steve Gregory), the single was issued in August 1984, entering the UK singles chart at number twelve. Within two weeks, it was at number one, ending a nine-week run at the top for Two Tribes by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. It stayed at number one for three weeks, later going to the top of the charts in seventeen other countries, including the USA's Billboard Hot 100 in February 1985, although in the United States, it was credited as "Wham! featuring George Michael". This was Epic Records first million selling single and it was George Michael's biggest selling single in the UK, either as a solo artist or with Wham! selling 1,365,995 copies.
In the UK, this won the Ivor Novello award for being the Most Performed Work in 1984.

It went on to become the 5th best-selling single of 1984 in the UK, being outsold only by the two Frankie Goes to Hollywood tracks Two Tribes and Relax, Stevie Wonder with I Just Called To Say I Love You, and Band Aid with Do They Know It's Christmas?.
It reached number one in nearly 25 countries, selling about six million copies worldwide. 
 

MUSIC VIDEO

George's first solo video, directed by Andy Morahan, shows the guilt felt by a man over an affair, and his acknowledgement that his partner was always going to find out. 

The part of the singer's partner was played by model Lisa Stahl who recalled to Q magazine June 2009: "While filming, they lost footage of our kissing scene so we had to reshoot it, which I didn't complain about. I know George has a boyfriend now, but that day, there were no boys on his mind. I'm no longer in touch with George, although I went to his concert recently but I didn't try to meet him backstage. I didn't want to look like a hanger on." 
The video was taped on location in Miami during June 1984 and features such locales as Coconut Grove and Watson Island.

A first version of the video was edited with the Jerry Wexler version, and featured Andrew as a cameo. But that version was deemed too rancy, so George decided to shoot additional scenes in studio in London. 

As George declared : "I am always very careful what fans see. I thought the video needed some changes".

Equally newsworthy was the extortionate expense as the video shoot went £ 17.000 over budget when George called in his hairdresser sister Melanie to calm his frizzy mane, which had been aggravated by Miami's intense humidity !

TOTP 23/08/1984

7" U.K SINGLE

A. Careless Whisper [Single Mix] — 5:04
B. Careless Whisper [Instrumental] — 5:02

12" U.K MAXI-SINGLE

A. Careless Whisper [Album Version] — 6:30
B. Careless Whisper [Instrumental] — 4:52

12" JAPANESE MAXI-SINGLE

A. Careless Whisper [Album Version] — 6:30
B. Careless Whisper [Special Version] — 4:42
B. Careless Whisper [Instrumental] — 4:52

CREDITS
Saxophone - Steve Gregory
Bass - Deon Estus
Drums - Trevor Morrell
Guitar - Hugh Burns
Keyboards - Chris Cameron
Percussion - Danny Cummings
Producer / Arranger - George Michael
Composer - Andrew Ridgeley, George Michael

POSTCARD

12" UK Front Cover

12" UK Back Cover

CARELESS WHISPER

(George Michael / Andrew Ridgeley)

I feel so unsure

As I take your hand and lead you to the dance floor
As the music dies

Something in your eyes

Calls to mind a silver screen
And all those sad goodbyes

I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though its easy to pretend

I know you're not a fool

I should have no better than to cheat a friend

And waste the chance that I'd been given
So I'm never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you

Time can never mend
The careless whisper of a good friend
To the heart and mind
Ignorance is kind
There's no comfort in the truth
Pain is all you'll find

7" U.S Front Cover (Style A)

12" U.S Back Cover (Style A)

Tonight the music seems so loud
I wish that we could lose this crowd
Maybe it's better this way
We'd hurt each other with the things we want to say
We could have been so good together
We could have lived this dance forever
But now who's gonna dance with me
Please stay

Now that you've gone
Now that you've gone
Now that you've gone
Was what I did so wrong
So wrong that you had to leave me alone 

12" Japanese Front Cover

12" Japanese Back Cover

7" U.S Front Cover (Style B)

7" U.S Back Cover (Style B)