Fantastic (Wham! album) explained

Fantastic
Type:studio
Artist:Wham!
Cover:Whamfantastic.jpg
Released:1 July 1983
Recorded:1982–1983
Studio:Maison Rouge (London)[1]
Genre:
Length:36:42
Producer:
  • Steve Brown
  • George Michael
  • Bob Carter
Next Title:Make It Big
Next Year:1984

Fantastic is the debut studio album by English pop duo Wham!, released on 1 July 1983.[2] 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" (a medley of songs from the album) was released against the band's wishes by Innervision soon after Fantastic, and whilst they were in proceedings to leave the label.[3]

According to Andrew Ridgeley in his 2019 book Wham! George and Me, it was during the early stages of writing and recording of this album that the pair agreed that George Michael should take sole responsibility for writing the group's material. Before securing their first record deal, they had written songs together, and made their first demos with these songs. When work started in the studio, Michael—according to Ridgeley—started working "at lightning speed", and it quickly became clear that he was by far the better songwriter. Ridgeley would later say that it was not something that he particularly wanted, but there was no doubt it was the way to go to achieve the success they both wanted.[4] Two new songs, "Golden Soul" and "Soul Boy", were written for the album but both were shelved as "neither of them were any good".[5]

The album features a hidden track (played on a honky-tonk-style piano) after the final 20 seconds of "Young Guns (Go for It!)".

In the US, the album was originally released as the group "WHAM! U.K.", due to a conflict with a US group with the same name (Columbia BFC-38911).

Track listing

Reissue

The track listing of the first edition of the CD and the original cassette tape feature three bonus tracks interspersed within the original track listing, consisting of instrumental remixes. This track listing was again used for the 1998 reissue of the CD.

Personnel

Wham!

Additional musicians

Shouting on "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?)"

Handclaps on "Club Tropicana"

Production

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for Fantastic!Chart (1983–85)!Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[6] 6
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[7] 8
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[8] 17
Chart (2024)Peak
position
Greek Albums (IFPI)[9] 70
Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ)[10] 24

Year-end charts

1983 year-end chart performance for Fantastic!Chart (1983)!Position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)69
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11] 37
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[12] 13
UK Albums (OCC)[13] 5
1984 year-end chart performance for Fantastic!Chart (1984)!Position
Japanese Albums Chart (Oricon)[14] 80
UK Albums Chart60

Club Fantastic Tour

See main article: Club Fantastic Tour. Michael and Ridgeley embarked on a UK tour to promote the album in October 1983, opening at Aberdeen's Capitol Theatre, before going on to dates in Scotland, England and Wales, and ending in November at the Centre in Brighton.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Archived copy . 2015-08-23 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150617092706/http://www.philsbook.com/maison-rouge.html . 17 June 2015 .
  2. Web site: BPI certifications.
  3. Book: Davis, S. . 80s Chart-Toppers: Every Chart-Topper Tells a Story . Mainstream Publishing . 2012 . 978-1-78057-411-0 . 2019-06-17 . 264.
  4. Book: Ridgeley . Andrew . Wham! George & Me . 2019 . Penguin . 9780241385807 . 182 . First.
  5. Book: Ridgeley . Andrew . Wham! George & Me . 2019 . Penguin . 9780241385807 . 184 . First.
  6. Book: Kent, David. Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book. St Ives, NSW. 1993. 0-646-11917-6 .
  7. Book: Pennanen, Timo . Sisältää hitin – 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 . 2021 . Wham!. 280. Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava . Helsinki. 9 June 2022.
  8. Web site: Yamachan Land (Japanese Chart Archives) – Albums Chart Daijiten – Wham! . . ja . 30 December 2007 . 26 February 2012 .
  9. Web site: Official IFPI Charts – Top-75 Albums Sales Chart (Combined) – Εβδομάδα: 15/2024 . . 17 April 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240417083127/https://www.ifpi.gr/charts_el.html . 17 April 2024 . live.
  10. Web site: Album Top 40 slágerlista (fizikai hanghordozók) – 2024. 13. hét . . 4 April 2024.
  11. Web site: Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts. 1983. GfK Entertainment charts. de. 5 April 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20211005040410/https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/album-jahr/for-date-1983. 5 October 2021.
  12. Web site: Top Selling Albums of 1983 – The Official New Zealand Music Chart. Recorded Music NZ. 1 February 2022.
  13. Web site: Complete UK Year-End Album Charts . 26 February 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120111074744/http://chartheaven.9.forumer.com/a/complete-uk-yearend-album-charts_post21.html . 11 January 2012 .
  14. Web site: 日本で売れた洋楽アルバムトップ10 (Top-ten international albums on the Japanese Oricon Year-End Charts 1984 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071021034527/http://www2.wbs.ne.jp/~ms-db/oricon/oricon%2084.htm . 21 October 2007 . 21 October 2007.

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