| "Club Tropicana" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Original UK 7-inch vinyl picture sleeve | ||||
| Single by Wham! | ||||
| from the album Fantastic | ||||
| B-side | "Blue (Armed with Love)" | |||
| Released | 22 July 1983 | |||
| Studio | Maison Rouge (London) [1] | |||
| Genre | Post-disco | |||
| Length | 4:28 | |||
| Label | CBS | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) |
| |||
| Wham! singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Club Tropicana" on YouTube | ||||
"Club Tropicana" is a single by English pop duo Wham!, released on 22 July 1983 on Innervision Records. [2] It was written by members George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.
"Club Tropicana" was written in 1981 in Ridgeley's living room, before the band or bandname had been fully established, and was the second Wham! song they came up with after the initial "Wham Rap!". [3] Although only half finished at the time of recording, it became one of the three home demos hastily made on a hired porta-studio which led to their first record contract with Innervision Records. [4] The initial song inspiration came from their excitement over the glamour and escapism of the then burgeoning New Romantic club scene, and Michael, Ridgeley and Shirlie Holliman's occasional visits to one such club in London, Le Beat Route. [5] The song's lyrical theme was then expanded to also include the hedonism of summery Club 18-30 holidays, [6] whilst musically fusing a Latin jazz rhythm with a groove inspired by the Gap Band's "Burn Rubber on Me". [7]
The song was a mild departure from Wham!'s previous singles, which had all been motivated by social or political issues. "Club Tropicana", however, was a homage to the infamous Pikes Hotel Ibiza, frequented by Freddie Mercury and the Wham! boys themselves, the video was shot at Pikes.
The song was released in July 1983 and peaked at No. 4 in the UK, going on to become the 39th best selling single of 1983. It was the fourth and final single to be taken from the album Fantastic . Wham! then achieved four UK No. 1 singles before splitting at their height in 1986.
The song was also included on the compilation album The Final and on Michael's greatest hits album Twenty Five . [8] [9]
The B-side, "Blue (Armed with Love)", is a semi-instrumental dub track, which was cut once the Fantastic album was finished – Michael was involved as sole producer. Michael and Ridgeley spent the 11 hours they had available putting the track together, but it wasn't fully finished and ended up being released in its incomplete state as a B-side. [10] During their "Club Fantastic" tour in late 1983 and in 1985 in China, they performed a more developed version of this song live, complete with sung verses. This version was released as "Blue (Live in China)" on their 1986 LP Music from the Edge of Heaven as well as the B-side of 1985's single release of "Last Christmas". "Blue" was first available on CD on the compilation So80s 12 in 2019 and on streaming services in 2023 with the edition of The Singles: Echoes from the Edge of Heaven , the duo's last compilation album released.
A video directed by Duncan Gibbins was made at Pikes Hotel in Ibiza, [11] owned by Tony Pike with scenes of Michael and Ridgeley on the beach, making eyes at bikini-clad girls played by their backing singers Dee C. Lee and Shirlie Holliman. They are also seen relaxing by a pool and sipping cocktails, with Michael lounging on a lilo in white Speedos, along with the famous scene of trumpet-playing taking place in the pool itself. A twist in the sexual tension between the two men and two women is revealed at the end, when it turns out that Michael and Ridgeley are airline pilots and Dee and Shirlie are stewardesses.
It was during this trip to Ibiza that Michael had his first physical homosexual encounter, confirming to himself that he was definitely either homosexual or bisexual. He confided first in Shirlie Holliman and then in Ridgeley, who both were OK with it. [12]
As of February 2024, the music video has received more than 33.9 million views on YouTube. [13] The music video was used as an homage for Lewis Capaldi's music video for "Forget Me" in 2022. [14]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Club Tropicana" | 4:29 | |
| 2. | "Blue (Armed with Love)" | Michael | 3:50 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Club Tropicana" |
| 4:29 |
| 2. | "Blue (Armed with Love)" | Michael | 3:54 |
| 3. | "Club Tropicana" (instrumental) |
| 3:31 |
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Japan (RIAJ) [26] physical 1997 release | Gold | 50,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI) [27] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
Andrew John Ridgeley is an English musician, best known for his work in the 1980s in the musical duo Wham! consisting of Ridgeley and George Michael. Associated with the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US, they were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to 1986. Their singles "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Everything She Wants", and "Careless Whisper" all topped the US Billboard Hot 100. In 2019, Penguin Random House published Ridgeley's memoir Wham! George & Me.
Wham! were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981 consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to 1986. Associated with the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US, the singles "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Careless Whisper", and "Everything She Wants" all topped the US Billboard Hot 100.
Make It Big is the second studio album by English pop duo Wham!, released in 1984. In comparison to their earlier work, Wham! had more control over the album's production and Michael would also be credited as a producer. The album was a commercial success, hitting number one in both the US and the UK and spawning four singles, all reaching the top three in the US and the UK. Make It Big was certified 4× platinum in the US during the time of its release, and has since been certified 6× platinum in the US. In March 2024, Make It Big was reissued on vinyl for the first time in 30 years.
Pepsi & Shirlie were an English pop duo group formed in London in 1985 by two backing singers for Wham! They released two albums, All Right Now in 1987 and Change in 1991, and their debut single "Heartache" reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart.
"Careless Whisper" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter George Michael. Released as the second single from Wham!'s second studio album Make It Big (1984), it was written by Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, with Michael producing the song. Although the song was released as part of Make It Big, the single release is credited to either Wham! featuring George Michael or solely to George Michael.
Fantastic is the debut studio album by English pop duo Wham!, released on 1 July 1983. It reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. It included the previously released singles "Young Guns", "Wham Rap!" and "Bad Boys". "Club Tropicana" was released as a single to coincide with the album's release. Although not on the album, "Club Fantastic Megamix" was released against the band's wishes by Innervision soon after Fantastic, and whilst they were in proceedings to leave the label.
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" is a song by English pop duo Wham!, first released as a single in the UK on 14 May 1984. It became their first UK and US number one hit. It was written and produced by George Michael. The single was certified platinum in the US, which at the time commemorated sales of over two million copies. The music video features Michael and bandmate Andrew Ridgeley wearing oversized message T-shirts created by Katharine Hamnett, starting a craze covered in the 2002 VH1 series I Love the 80s. The song was ranked number 28 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s.
"Young Guns (Go for It)" (also listed as "Young Guns (Go for It!)" on some releases) is a song by English pop duo Wham! first released as a single in the UK by Innervision Records on 17 September 1982. Written and co-produced by George Michael, the song became Wham!'s first hit both in the UK and internationally after the BBC music programme Top of the Pops invited the duo onto the show as a last-minute replacement for another act which had pulled out, as the show's then-executive producer Michael Hurll had seen them on another programme, Saturday Superstore.
"I'm Your Man" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, released in 1985 on Epic Records in the UK and most of the world, and Columbia Records in the US. It was written and produced by George Michael.
"The Edge of Heaven" is a song by English pop duo Wham!, released on Epic Records in 1986. It was written and produced by George Michael, one half of the duo, and was promoted in advance as Wham!'s farewell single.
"Wham Rap! " is the debut single by English pop duo Wham! on Innervision Records, released on 11 June 1982. It was written by Wham! members George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.
"A Different Corner" is a song written and performed by English singer and songwriter George Michael that was released on Epic Records in 1986.
The Final is a greatest hits album released in 1986 to summarise the career of English pop duo Wham!. The album was not initially released in North America, where the album Music from the Edge of Heaven was released instead. Six songs from that album appear on this compilation. The compilation album coincided with the farewell concert of the same name on 28 June 1986, at Wembley Stadium.
"Club Fantastic Megamix" is a medley single released by Wham! on 25 November 1983, and was the last single release for the duo on Innervision Records. It was mixed by DMC's Alan Couthard and approved by Mark Dean, the manager of Innervision Records. The single was released three months after Wham! had begun proceedings to leave the label, and was disapproved of by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. The single, which consisted of a mix of the tracks "A Ray of Sunshine", "Love Machine" and "Come On" from the album Fantastic, reached number 15 on the UK Singles Chart.
Shirlie Kemp is an English singer, who found fame in the 1980s with Wham! and as part of the duo Pepsi & Shirlie.
Pikes Hotel, now known as Pikes Ibiza, is a luxury hotel in Ibiza, in the Balearic Islands of Spain. It is located in the countryside, 1.6 miles (2.6 km) to the northeast of the town of Sant Antoni de Portmany, and 10.2 miles (16.4 km) to the northwest of Ibiza Town. A 15th-century stone mansion which was a finca, it was converted into a hotel in 1978 by British-born Australian Anthony Pike.
Helen "Pepsi" DeMacque-Crockett is a British pop singer, best known as a backing singer for Wham! and a member of the Pepsi & Shirlie duo in the 1980s.
The Club Fantastic Tour was the debut concert tour by English pop duo Wham!, launched in support of their first studio album Fantastic (1983). It was sponsored by Fila sportswear and spanned two months from October to late November 1983, comprising 30 sold-out shows across England, Scotland and Wales.
The Final was the farewell concert by English pop duo Wham!. It was held at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 28 June 1986. A total of 72,000 people attended the event, which included support artists and special guests, such as Elton John and Simon Le Bon. The concert was preceded by the release of the greatest hits album of the same name.
Wham! is a 2023 documentary film about the English pop duo Wham! consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. The film marks the 40th anniversary of their 1983 debut album Fantastic. Directed by Chris Smith it relies primarily on rare archive footage and audio interviews by the duo, including television appearances, concert footage, private home video, behind-the-scenes outtakes, and family comments all linked together using scrapbooks created by Ridgeley's mother. The film was co-produced by Ventureland / Passion Pictures, Nemperor Production, and Library Films with Altitude Film and Netflix serving as distributors.
