Everything She Wants

Origin

Writing

Like most other Wham! songs from this period, it was written by George Michael. He discussed in the fall 1985 issue of ASCAP in Action: Michael elaborated on the song's lyrics and the meaning behind them in Dick Clark's Countdown radio show:

Recording

"Everything She Wants" was recorded in August 1984 at Marcadet Studios in Paris using a 3M 32-track recorder, and was most likely finished off at Sarm West's Studio 2 in London after most of Make It Big had been finished at Studio Miraval in southeastern France over a period of six weeks. The song was based around a mono 2-bar LinnDrum loop, originally intended as a guide but it was eventually kept on the finished record. Despite being credited as a Wham! track, it's also a departure in the sense that Michael recorded the track entirely by himself (with engineer Chris Porter in attendance), as opposed to the typical process of involving session musicians and Michael conveying his ideas to them. Apparently, the musicians involved in Make It Big had already flown back to the UK when Michael came around to recording the track en route from Studio Miraval, so it was partly out of necessity he worked on it himself. According to Porter, "I think this was when George started to realise that if he wanted to, he could do everything himself. He could cut out all these other people and their ideas." This would pave the way for "Last Christmas", which followed the same approach.

Michael confirms:

He added that both songs were made on one synthesizer, referring to a Roland Juno-60.

Chart performance

Upon release in the U.K. on 3 December 1984, "Last Christmas" took the majority of the attention and airplay as it was appropriate in early December as Christmas approached. However, the presence of an equally-billed flip-side meant that radio stations had something else to play once "Last Christmas" had lost its seasonal topicality.

"Do They Know It's Christmas?" by the Band Aid project, in which George Michael participated, prevented the double A-side from reaching number one in the UK Singles Chart (although in the process it became the biggest-selling record not to get to number one). In the USA, however, "Everything She Wants" did reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 after being released in February 1985 accompanied by a music video.

The single reached No. 1 in May of that year, becoming the third consecutive chart-topping single from 1984's Make It Big album.

Remarks and performances

Cash Box said that the song is a "probing R&B cut" that is "perfect dance floor material".

Although Michael bemoaned much of Wham!'s material as he began his solo career, "Everything She Wants" remained a song of which he was proud, and he continued to perform it in his shows. Furthermore, Michael remarked in an interview (to promote 25 Live tour) that "Everything She Wants" was his favourite Wham! song.

In 1996, the song was performed at the MTV Unplugged concert.

In 1997, the song was remixed and re-released as "Everything She Wants '97" for the greatest hits album The Best of Wham!: If You Were There....

In September 2011, during the Symphonica Tour, at a concert at SAP Arena, Mannheim, Germany, Michael said that "Understand" featured on Twenty Five was written as a follow-up to "Everything She Wants" with the man in the song realizing that his woman cared a lot more about love than he ever dreamed of.

"Everything She Wants" was featured on the official soundtrack album to Last Christmas released by Sony Music on CD, 2-disc vinyl, and digital formats on 8 November 2019.

Other versions

Rapper Foxy Brown sampled the song on the track "I Can't" from her 1999 album Chyna Doll.

The a cappella group Naturally 7 sampled "Everything She Wants" on their 2011 song "Life Goes On", an arrangement that was personally approved by Michael.

In 2020, Alien Ant Farm recorded a rock remake of the song. Its music video, shot during the COVID-19 pandemic, features cameos from artists like Insane Clown Posse, Hyro the Hero, Charlie Benante of Anthrax, CJ Pierce of Drowning Pool, and several others.

Music video

The official music video for the song was directed by Andy Morahan, and is black and white footage of a live performance. The video also includes an extra verse not present on the Make It Big album.

Personnel

• George Michael – lead and backing vocals, Roland Juno-60 synthesizer, LinnDrum programming
• Andrew Ridgeley – backing vocals

Track listing

• Also released in a limited edition with a 1985 calendar (WQTA 4949)

• Note: Track 1 plays 7" remix but is labelled only as "Remix"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

References

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