Make It Big

Make It Big is the second studio album from British pop duo Wham!, released in 1984. It was mostly recorded at Studio Miraval in Southern France to escape the press and enable George Michael to work peacefully and mixed at Good Earth Studios in London and Marcadet Studios in Paris. In comparison to their earlier work, the duo had more control over the album's production, as Michael became the sole credited producer, a position he would subsequently hold on all future releases until the group split in 1986. The album was a critical and commercial success, hitting number one in both the UK and the US and spawning four singles, all topping the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

Outside the US, "Careless Whisper" was credited as a George Michael solo effort upon its release as a single, while "Everything She Wants" was released as a double A-side with "Last Christmas" which would later appear on the following album Music from the Edge of Heaven.

It was certified 6× Platinum in the US within weeks of the album's tenth anniversary in 1994.

Critical reception
Make it Big received positive reviews. Christopher Connelly from Rolling Stone wrote, "George Michael's music is an unabashed rehash of Motown", adding "Make It Big is an almost flawless pop record, a record that does exactly what it wants to and has a great deal of fun doing it." Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic writes, "They succeeded on a grander scale than they ever could have imagined, conquering the world and elsewhere with this effervescent set of giddy new wave pop-soul, thereby making George Michael a superstar and consigning Andrew Ridgeley to the confines of Trivial Pursuit."

Track listing

Personnel
George Michael – lead vocals, background vocals, keyboards
Andrew Ridgeley – guitar, background vocals
Hugh Burns – guitar
Deon Estus – bass guitar
Trevor Murrell – drums, Oberheim DMX (track 1)
Tommy Eyre – keyboards
Andy Richards – keyboards
Anne Dudley – keyboards
Danny Cummings – percussion
Colin Graham – trumpet
David Baptiste – saxophone
Steve Gregory – saxophone
Pepsi & Shirlie – background vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

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The Big Tour

Wham! embarked on a world tour to promote the album in December 1984, opening at Whitley Bay's Ice Rink, before going on to dates in Japan, Australia, United States, United Kingdom, the British Dependent Territory of Hong Kong and China, ending in April 1985 at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Canton.

See also
Wham! discography

References

Category:1984 albums
Category:Wham! albums
Category:Columbia Records albums
Category:Epic Records albums
Category:Albums recorded at Studio Miraval