K7 : EPIC 40-86311
CD : EPC 465576 2
CHARTED : 17 NOV 84
HIGHEST CHART POSITION : 1
Number of Weeks : 72
FRONT COVER
Photography Tony McGee / Artwork PSA
Make It Big, the first album Wham! made for their new record label EPIC, was a critical and worldwide commercial success, hitting #1 in both the UK and the USA and spawning four singles, all topping the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.
The album was recorded in the South of France (Studio Miraval, Brignoles), mixed in Marcadet Studios (Paris) and Good Earth Studios (London) during July, August and September of 1984.
All songs were written by George Michael except If You Were There, which was originally done by The Ilsley Brothers, and Careless Whisper, which was co-written by Andrew Ridgeley. George played all the keyboards on Like A Baby and Everything She Wants, and is credited with the lead and backing vocals. Andrew is credited as playing the electric guitar.
Although Pepsi and Shirley sang on the backing vocals, they are not credited as such and only get a mention in the thanks.
The album was recorded in the South of France (Studio Miraval, Brignoles), mixed in Marcadet Studios (Paris) and Good Earth Studios (London) during July, August and September of 1984.
All songs were written by George Michael except If You Were There, which was originally done by The Ilsley Brothers, and Careless Whisper, which was co-written by Andrew Ridgeley. George played all the keyboards on Like A Baby and Everything She Wants, and is credited with the lead and backing vocals. Andrew is credited as playing the electric guitar.
Although Pepsi and Shirley sang on the backing vocals, they are not credited as such and only get a mention in the thanks.
After a radical revision in their leather-clad tough-boy image, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley went to the South of France to record their second album. The result, Make It Big, more than fulfilled the considerable promise of their first record, Fantastic.
Leaving behind the groundbreaking genre experiments in rap - Wham! Rap, Young Guns (Go For It!) - and calypso - Club Tropicana, Make It Big consolidated the band’s musical strengths in one seismic eruption that divided pop music into a before and an after. Before, Wham! was among a host of genial, well-coiffed British pop acts floundering for a distinctive identity ; after, they were international icons, and George Michael was being heralded without hyperbole as the next Stevie Wonder.
No mere sexual innuendo, the title 'Make It Big' was both a statement of purpose and a methodology. Big synths, big drum machine samples, big lyrical themes, big oversize T-shirts with political slogans.
—Rob Horning, PopMatters.
—Rob Horning, PopMatters.
TRACKLISTING
1. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (3:50)
2. Everything She Wants (5:01)
3. Heartbeat (4:42)
4. Like A Baby (4:12)
5. Freedom (5:20)
6. If You Were There (3:38)
7. Credit Card Baby (5:08)
8. Careless Whisper (6:30)
1. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (3:50)
2. Everything She Wants (5:01)
3. Heartbeat (4:42)
4. Like A Baby (4:12)
5. Freedom (5:20)
6. If You Were There (3:38)
7. Credit Card Baby (5:08)
8. Careless Whisper (6:30)
The album dedication reads:
Our special thanks go as ever to both our families and all of our friends, especially to Shirlie, Pepsi, Pat and Cheryl, David, Andros Georgiou and also Dave and John, and Michael Mole. We would also like to thank Simon and Jazz and everybody else at Nomis Management, especially Siobhan without whom we would be lost. Thank you to Dick and Bryan for all their help in the past year and lastly our thanks to Chris and Paul for being wonderful to work with and to everyone who played on the album and made MAKE IT BIG such a pleasure to do.
CASSETTE
FRONT COVER (JAPAN)
PICTURE DISC (JAPAN)
U.S RELEASE :
U.S RELEASE :
Make It Big was released in the U.S.A by Columbia Records, with a different sleeve.
The album entered the Billboard 200 on November 10, 1984.
The following week, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go topped the Hot 100 Singles Chart, and the album jumped to #25.
After Careless Whisper topped the Hot 100 on February 1985, Make It Big finally topped the Billboard 200 on March 02, 1985, for 3 weeks.
Helped by the impressive success of the following releases of Everything She Wants ( #1 in May ) and Freedom ( #3 in September ), the album stayed in the Billboard 200 for 80 weeks.
It was certified 6x platinum in the U.S.A. within weeks of the album's tenth anniversary.
The album entered the Billboard 200 on November 10, 1984.
The following week, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go topped the Hot 100 Singles Chart, and the album jumped to #25.
After Careless Whisper topped the Hot 100 on February 1985, Make It Big finally topped the Billboard 200 on March 02, 1985, for 3 weeks.
Helped by the impressive success of the following releases of Everything She Wants ( #1 in May ) and Freedom ( #3 in September ), the album stayed in the Billboard 200 for 80 weeks.
It was certified 6x platinum in the U.S.A. within weeks of the album's tenth anniversary.
U.S FRONT COVER
U.S BACK COVER
U.S CASSETTE
U.S PICTURE DISC (A SIDE)
U.S PICTURE DISC (B SIDE)
U.S BLUE L.P
A remastered original recording of the album appeared on CD in November 1998.
A remastered original recording of the album appeared on CD in November 1998.
JAPANESE SUPER AUDIO CD
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