Last Christmas

7" : EPIC GA 4949 (Gatefold Vinyl)

12" : EPIC TA 4949

CHARTED : 15 DEC 84

HIGHEST CHART POSITION : 2

Number of Weeks : 13

FRONT COVER

"A face on a lover with a fire in his heart"

Last Christmas was written upstairs at George Michael's parents' house as Andrew Ridgley watched Match of the Day on TV.  George stayed up all night to finish the song and Andrew called back in the morning to hear the finished future hit : "suddenly this melody came into my head and I thought God! that would be great for Christmas."

When planning the release of Last Christmas, in was presumed that it was on course to become Wham's fourth UK number one and become the perfect end to a fantastic year for the duo. However, with the release of Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas?, George and Andrew had to settle for number two in the UK charts.

George Michael sang on the charity single, and to show support for the cause, Wham! donated the royalties to their hit to the Ethiopian famine appeal, which resulted in £250,000 going to the charity.

Cleverly, the B-side of the song was Everything She Wants, which gained a life of it's own from Boxing Day onwards. Nobody wants to hear a Christmas song after the turkey is finished off, so radio stations were asked to play the non-seasonal flip side which continued the singles longevity in the charts. This resulted in the single selling over a million, despite the fact it never reached number one. It became the biggest selling single in UK chart history not to reach #1.

U.K BACK COVER

U.K GATEFOLD INSIDE SLEEVE
"But all good things must come to an end, and countless 'WHAM! SPLIT' stories
are realised as 'Rudolph' Ridgeley is struck down by a rabid NME huskey." 

MUSIC VIDEO

One of the great Christmas songs that has stood the test of time, Last Christmas is fondly remembered for its video featuring George and Andrew dressed in chunky knitwear in a winter wonderland. The video, directed by Andy Morahan, saw George and Andrew  accompanying girlfriends to see friends at their home in an unspecified ski resort, although the cable-car that can be seen in two shots is from Saas-Fee, Switzerland. It became clear early on, however, that Andrew's girlfriend had previously been in a relationship with George, and it was to her character the song was aimed. The video also featured the duo's erstwhile backing singers Pepsi and Shirlie and Spandau Ballet bassist Martin Kemp, the boyfriend and future husband of Shirlie Holliman.

7" single

A1. Last Christmas — 4:24

A2. Everything She Wants (Album Version) — 5:07

12" maxi-single

A1. Last Christmas (Pudding Mix) — 6:47
A2. Everything She Wants (Album Version) — 5:07

EUROPEAN 12" MAXI-SINGLE

LAST CHRISTMAS 

(George Michael)

Last Christmas

I gave you my heart

But the very next day you gave it away

This year

To save me from tears

I'll give it to someone special

Once bitten and twice shy

I keep my distance

But you still catch my eye

Tell me baby

Do you recognise me ?

Well

Its been a year

It doesn't surprise me

(Happy Christmas)

I wrapped it up and sent it

With a note saying 'I Love You'

I meant it

Now I know what a fool I've been

But if you kissed me now

I know you'd fool me again

A crowded room

Friends with tired eyes

I'm hiding from you

And your soul of ice

My God I thought you were

Someone to rely on

Me ?

I guess I was a shoulder to cry on

A face on a lover with a fire in his heart

A man under cover but you tore me apart

Now I've found a real love you'll never fool me again

A face on a lover with a fire in his heart

A man under cover but you tore him apart

Maybe next year I'll give it to someone 

I'll give it to someone special

JAPANESE 12" MAXI-SINGLE (FRONT)

JAPANESE 12" MAXI-SINGLE (BACK)

The song gradually sold in Japan, and finally became the best-selling single that did not reach that country's top-10 chart, selling more than 600,000 copies and peaking on the chart at #12 in 1992.  

REISSUES :

A year later, Last Christmas was re-issued for Christmas again (this time without a billed flip-side) and got to #6. A second re-issue at Christmas 1986 - by which time Wham! had split - stalled outside the top 40, as did a third one in 1988. In 2007, the track re-entered the UK Top 20 and hit the UK iTunes Top 10.

1985 REISSUE

1986 REISSUE

1988 REISSUE

EUROPEAN MAXI-SINGLE

Since 1997, the song enters the German Single Charts every year and peaked at #4 in 2007. In the airplay charts the songs enters every year the Top 5.