In December 1984 Wham! released the single “Last Christmas”. It climbed to #2 UK Singles Chart - and stayed there. Nothing moved past it. At #1 was Band Aid's “Do They Know It's Christmas?” - the charity single in which George Michael himself participated. The irony was total: George Michael was blocking his own song from #1. “Last Christmas” remained the best-selling song never to have reached UK #1 - until 2 January 2021, when, 36 years after release, the single finally hit #1 UK Singles Chart. It is the longest release-to-#1 gap in UK chart history.
How George wrote the song in one night
It all started in February 1984. George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley were at George's parents' house in Bushey, Hertfordshire. George later wrote in the autobiography Bare (1990): “I was sitting in my parents' bedroom watching Match of the Day. It was snowing. I thought: „this is Christmas Day". I got up, went to my own room, sat at the piano. An hour later I had the song”.
This is the only song George wrote alone, without any Ridgeley involvement. Wham! material was usually co-credited (even though George wrote most of it). “Last Christmas” he credited to himself only - the first public admission in the contracts that George was the sole writer of Wham! songs.
The lyric is about a breakup after Christmas. The core idea: “I gave you my heart last Christmas, the very next day you gave it to someone else. This time I'll give it to someone who deserves it”. A simple anti-festive story, based on George's personal experience.
Recording: Advision Studios, London, August 1984
The session took place at Advision Studios in London in August 1984. George Michael again took everything on himself: producer, writer, arranger, every instrument, every vocal part. The only band member who features on the track is Andrew Ridgeley, and only as a backing vocalist. Ridgeley plays no instruments.
The main instrumental hook is sleighbells, recorded on a Yamaha RX11 drum machine with the “Xmas bells” preset. That creates the famous “sonic letter” in the first 8 seconds - instant recognition.
Other instruments:
- Yamaha DX7 - main melodic pad, the main hook (“last Christmas, I gave you my heart”)
- LinnDrum LM-1 - drums
- Moog Source - bass line
- No guitar part. The song holds without it.
- George's vocal - lead and all harmonies
- Ridgeley - only backing on the chorus (his voice is deliberately low in the mix)
“I recorded the song in three hours. I knew it would be a hit. I didn't know it would be the longest-running hit of my career.”
- George Michael, Radio 1 interview, December 1984
The Saas-Fee video, November 1984
The “Last Christmas” video was directed by Andy Morahan (the same director who shot “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”). The shoot took place in Saas-Fee, Swiss Alps, on 10-13 November 1984. Budget - $60,000.
Concept: George, Ridgeley, and their girlfriends spend Christmas at a mountain chalet. George encounters his ex-girlfriend (played by model Kathy Hill) - and realises she is now with another man (played by… Ridgeley). A simple plot, but visually very “Christmas”: snow, red sweaters, a fireplace, a tree.
The clip's key shot: a close-up of George at the fire, looking straight into the camera as he sings “this year, to save me from tears”. That shot is one of the most recognizable in British pop culture. After George's death in 2016, it was this fragment that became the symbolic image of obituary publications.
Sound anatomy
- Key: D-flat major (a rare pop choice), no modulations
- BPM: 108
- Length: 6:43 (12-inch), 4:22 (single edit)
- Album: Music from the Edge of Heaven (1986, North American Wham! compilation)
- Initial UK sales: 1.8 million singles by 1989
- Worldwide by 2024: over 15 million copies
- Spotify streams: ~2 billion by 2024
Band Aid: a charity war between two #1s
In November 1984 Bob Geldof organised Band Aid - a charity supergroup of 37 British pop stars to raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief. “Do They Know It's Christmas?” was recorded on 25 November 1984. Among the vocalists: Sting, Bono, Boy George, Phil Collins, and George Michael.
“Do They Know It's Christmas?” came out on 3 December 1984. “Last Christmas” on 29 November 1984. The two singles landed at the top of the charts simultaneously.
Band Aid turned out to be the bigger story: it raised £8 million for Ethiopia, got massive media support, and ended up at #1 UK Singles Chart for five consecutive weeks. “Last Christmas” stayed at #2 the whole time. Throughout George Michael could watch: his own voice at #1, his own song at #2. And he waived all “Last Christmas” profits - donating them to African charities.
36 years to #1: 2021
From 1984 to 2020 “Last Christmas” never reached #1 UK Singles Chart. Every Christmas it returned to the charts - usually at positions #20-#40, depending on the year - but never to the top.
In December 2020, four years after George's death (25 December 2016), two things happened: (1) Sony Music aggressively promoted “Last Christmas” on streaming services; (2) the COVID-19 pandemic hit new Christmas releases, and listeners defaulted to classics.
On 2 January 2021 “Last Christmas” finally hit #1 UK Singles Chart. 36 years after release. That is the longest release-to-#1 gap in UK chart history. The previous record - Tony Christie's “(Is This the Way to) Amarillo” (1971, #1 in 2005, 34 years).
Why the song endures 40 years
“Last Christmas” works for three reasons:
1. The irony of an “anti-Christmas” theme. Every Christmas song is about joy, but “Last Christmas” is about a breakup after the holidays. That gives listeners with difficult Christmas memories a place for their emotion.
2. Melodic simplicity. The entire chorus is built on one phrase - “last Christmas, I gave you my heart, the very next day you gave it away”. A mantra. You can sing it as many times as you want without losing the effect.
3. George's death. After George's death on 25 December 2016 - the very day he wrote the song about - “Last Christmas” took on a new meaning. It's no longer a song about a breakup. It's a song about saying goodbye to George. By 2024 each Christmas pulls in over 200 million new streams.
What to listen to next
For the George Michael run: “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” (1984) → “Last Christmas” (1984) → “Careless Whisper” (1984) → “Faith” (1987). One unbelievable stretch - five singles in five months in 1984, all either #1 or #2.
For “Christmas songs that outlived their era”, listen to Mariah Carey's “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (1994), The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl's “Fairytale of New York” (1987), and Bing Crosby's “White Christmas” (1942). Four different Christmas hits, each of which outlives every new generation.