it’s one of the most recognizable songs

in history but behind Careless Whisper

lies a hidden story of heartbreak

mistakes and a melody that almost

disappeared george Michael used to say

that many of his songs were born while

he was on the move in cars planes trains

even buses he found inspiration in those

quiet moments when his mind could wander

freely and Careless Whisper one of his

most iconic songs has one of the most

vivid origin stories of them all george

remembered it perfectly he was just 17

years old getting on a bus to go to work

as he paid the driver out of nowhere a

haunting saxophone melody popped into

his head it wasn’t just a passing

thought that melody stayed with him

looping in his mind for months like a

ghost he couldn’t shake off one

afternoon when he visited his best

friend and musical partner Andrew

Ridgely he heard Andrew playing around

with a rhythmic guitar riff immediately

George knew this was it it was the

perfect match for the melody that had

been haunting him for so long he grabbed

a pen and started working on the lyrics

drawing directly from memories of his

own life when George was around 12 years

old he had his first major crush on a

girl named Jane he met her at a skating

rink where his sister used to hang out

but young George was a shy chubby kid

with big glasses and he didn’t think he

stood a chance with her years later at

16 things had changed he looked

different he had more confidence and he

was singing in a local sca band called

The Executives

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he started dating a girl named Helen but

fate had a twist in store jane his

childhood crush came back into his life

this time she was interested in him the

problem George never broke up with Helen

instead he found himself juggling two

relationships at once something that

eventually led to heartbreak and

Careless Whisper tells that story a

romance that falls apart because of

betrayal the lyrics especially the image

of two people dancing together for the

last time capture that bittersweet pop

guilty moment when the truth comes out

he even thought about naming the song

Guilty Feet but in the end Careless

Whisper felt more poetic more mysterious

and it captured the feeling of regret he

was trying to

express careless Whisper was actually

one of the first three songs George and

Andrew wrote for Wham alongside Club

Tropicana and Wham Rap it helped them

land their first recording contract but

strangely enough while the other two

songs were polished and prepared for

Wham’s debut album Careless Whisper was

set aside george believed Careless

Whisper could be a massive hit the only

thing he doubted was himself at one

point he even considered giving the song

to another artist thinking he wasn’t

good enough to deliver it but before

George could release anything there was

a problem he and Andrew were stuck in a

terrible contract with their first label

Innervision Records even though Wham was

successful they barely made any money

and had very little say over their music

when George decided he wanted Careless

Whisper to be his first solo single

Innervision tried to claim the rights a

legal battle followed one that taught

George a hard but important lesson about

the importance of owning his music and

protecting his creative freedom

eventually he broke free and signed with

Epic Records finally putting Careless

Whisper out into the world on his own

terms

believe it or not the version of

Careless Whisper we all know today

wasn’t the first one George recorded the

first attempt happened with legendary

producer Jerry Wexler the man behind

icons like Ray Charles Artha Franklin

and Bob Dylan um is uh is produced by

Jerry Wexler i went over to Marshall

Scholes studio where a lot of the famous

Atlantic records i.e artha Franklin

Percy Sledge Ray Charles i mean that I

actually had to sing in the same booth

that they sang in and actually to the

same producer that they sang to so if I

sound nervous on my single you

understand why but things didn’t go

smoothly george was so nervous that he

showed up drunk to the recording session

the result a version that didn’t capture

the magic he was hoping for a few weeks

later George made a bold decision he

would re-record the song himself taking

full control using the musicians he

trusted most it was a risky move but it

paid

off now let’s talk about one of the most

unforgettable parts of the song that

iconic saxophone solo george had a very

specific sound in mind but no matter how

many saxoponists they tried and there

were eight of them no one could get it

right finally Steve Gregory came in when

he heard what George wanted he realized

the solo wasn’t as simple as it sounded

while George was away Gregory asked the

engineer to slow down the tape allowing

him to record the part a semmit tone

lower when they sped it back up to

normal speed it created a slightly

unnatural tone one that made the solo

sound haunting unique and impossible to

replicate perfectly live when George

returned to the studio and heard it he

immediately knew “That’s it that’s the

sack solo I want.” Careless Whisper was

included on Wham’s second and final

album but in the UK it was released

under George Michael’s name only the

record label thought the song didn’t

quite fit Wham’s upbeat teenage dance

image so they framed it as George’s

first step toward his solo career even

so in the rest of the world the cover

still said “Wam!” featuring George

Michael interestingly there are two

music videos for the song one made with

the original Jerry Wexler version and

another with the re-recorded version

George produced himself careless Whisper

went on to become George Michael’s most

famous and most successful song and yet

George himself always said he never

fully understood why people connected to

it so deep still admiration for the song

came from all corners

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i never want to dance

again got

no it’s easy to pretend i know you’re

not a fool shouldn’t know better than a

cheater and waste the chance that I’ve

been given so I’m never going to dance

again the way I dance with you

in 1985 Smokeoky Robinson even sang it

with George at the legendary 50th

anniversary celebration of the Apollo

Theater

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careless

today Careless Whisper stands as one of

the greatest ballads of the 1980s a

timeless emotional anthem of love guilt

and regret even if its own creator never

completely understood the magic he

captured

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