I keep getting Emails from people asking me to re-upload the links and music etc. I think people are just getting to those particular pages so are not reading the reason for the dead links.
So I am putting this in place so hopefully people will read it and stop Emailing me about it.
The reason the links are dead is that my account with Media Fire has been closed with all 11,000 files lost. That is why you can not download the things and No I can not re-upload them.
Eventually I will start doing that again when I have found something suitable. In the meantime this blog will be information only blog.
Thank you all
Michaael
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'Bad Boys' was a song by British pop duo Wham! which was a hit in 1983. It was written by George Michael, one half of the duo, and released on Innervision Records.
The song was an energetic but endearing tale of a rebellious teenage lad's struggle against his parents who are concerned about his late-night activities. Although George wrote and sang it from the teenager's perspective (he was himself only 19 when he composed it and the character refers to being that age in the song), he also penned a middle eight in which the "parents" (George putting on more "adult" voices) aired their concerns, which included late nights and cigarettes and ultimately asking"Why do you have to be so cruel?"
It was the third single to be taken from Wham!'s debut album, Fantastic, and reached number 2 in the UK singles chart, going on to become the 26th best selling single of 1983. At the time, Wham! was projecting a hard, politically-motivated image, with Bad Boys one of a number of songs projecting a stance of mood and youthful independence. The single was also released in the United States, peaking at number 60. It was the duo's first time on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, although they were listed as Wham!-UK.
Bad Boys became the biggest hit from the debut album, although it would be usurped by Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go from the album Make It Big in 1984, which became the first of four UK number 1 singles the duo would enjoy. George quickly denounced Bad Boys as a song he hated, stating it was "like an albatross round my neck". The song was famously omitted from the 1997 compilation album If You Were There (The Best of Wham), despite the album including tracks that weren't even released as singles.
Click the link below to download the following: Single Version Album Version 12 inch Extended Vocal Mix Hot Tracks Remix Instrumental Version
'Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)' was a song by British pop duo Wham!, released in 1983 on Innervision Records. It was written by George Michael, one half of the duo.
The song, which had been tentatively released in 1982 when Wham! were unknowns and failed to make any impact, was re-issued in January 1983 after the duo had achieved their breakthrough with 'Young Guns (Go For It!)'.
Although rap was still an underground and almost exclusively American phenomenon in the early 1980s, the title of the song didn't lie - George rapped a number of verses about the joys of living every day to the fullest, which meant that being gainfully employed was not an option, and 'having fun with the boys down the (welfare) line'. The chorus asked the question "Do you enjoy what you do?", which brought about the bracketed section of the title. The video depicted George and Andrew Ridgeley in their leather jackets, combining their moody image with a bright, effervescent choreography.
'Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)' - the full version of which was almost seven minutes long - reached number 8 in the UK singles chart, the second of four hits from Wham!'s debut album Fantastic. The duo would go on to enjoy four UK number 1 hits before splitting at their height in 1986. On the flip side of their farewell single The Edge of Heaven was an updated version of the song, entitled Wham! Rap '86.
The song was explicitly political and indeed revolutionary. It flew in the face of the conventional British Left-wing who were talking about the 'Right to work' at the time.
Click the link below to download the following: Video Single Version Social Mix Album Version '86 Mix Club Mix - B-Side
'Young Guns (Go for It)' (sometimes written with an exclamation mark as Young Guns (Go for It!)) was a song by British pop duo Wham! which was released in 1982 on Innervision Records. It was written by George Michael, one half of the duo.
The song was Wham!'s first hit, although it came with some help from the BBC music programme Top Of The Pops, which invited Wham! on to the show as a last-minute replacement for another act which had pulled out. Wham! were just outside the Top 40 threshold of the UK singles chart at the time, which meant they had not climbed high enough in normal circumstances to get on the show, but they were recruited nonetheless as the highest-placed artists still climbing the charts from outside the 40.
Wham!, who opened the show, were complete unknowns when they were introduced, and became a national phenomenon immediately after, as much for George's appearance and the choreography as for the song itself. 'Young Guns (Go for It)' entered the chart at number 24 the following week, and eventually peaked at number 3 in November 1982.
George wrote the song about a teenage lad's worry that his best friend was getting too committed to a girl when he should have been enjoying his youth and the single life. It featured a middle eight aside in which the girl conversely tried to get her boyfriend to ditch the best friend, prompting a vocal battle, akin to a tug of war, between the girlfriend and the best friend which prompted the "go for it!" aspect of the song, as featured in the title.
On Top Of The Pops, Wham!'s highly-choreographed and energetic performance - made possible because artists mimed to their recordings - became one of the most memorable in the show's long history. George mimed the vocals to his Wham! partner Andrew Ridgely, who "acted" the part of the teenage bridegroom-in-waiting. They were flanked by backing singers Dee C. Lee and Shirlie Holliman.
The song was the first of four socially and politically motivated hits from Wham!'s debut album Fantastic!. They went on to dominate the UK charts and have four number 1 hits, before splitting at their height in 1986.
One of the most talked about lines in the song is the spoken line "Caution pays". Since the line is played at a lower speed than originally recorded, it has been mistakenly thought that the line is "Abortion pays".
Click the link below to download the following: Video 1st TOTP Performance Single Version 12 inch UK Version 12 inch Mix Album Version Lionel Vinyl's Fake Sucker Mix Going For It - B-Side Instrumental Version
Band Aid were a British and Irish charity supergroup, founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in order to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia by releasing the record 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' for the Christmas market. The single surpassed the hopes of the producers to become the Christmas number one on that release. Two subsequent re-recordings of the song to raise further money for charity also topped the charts.
The original was produced by Midge Ure. The 12" version was mixed by Trevor Horn. The name 'Band Aid' was chosen as a pun on the name of a well known brand of adhesive bandage, also referring to musicians working as a band to provide aid and alluding to the fact that any help stemming from their efforts is likened to a band-aid on a very serious wound. The group has formed on three occasions, each time from the most successful British and Irish pop music performers of the time, to record the same song at the same time of year.
The original 1984 Feed The World logo was based on a pencil sketch by Bob Geldof after watching a BBC television news report by Michael Buerk from famine-stricken Ethiopia. Geldof was so moved by the plight of starving children that he decided to try and raise money using his contacts in pop music. Geldof enlisted the help of Midge Ure, from the group Ultravox, to help produce a charity record.
Ure took Geldof's lyrics, and created the melody and backing track for the record. Geldof called many of the most popular British and Irish performers of the time (Kool & The Gang and Jody Watley were the only Americans present at the original recording), persuading them to give their time free. His one criterion for selection was how famous they were, in order to maximise sales of the record. He then kept an appointment to appear on a show on BBC Radio 1, with Richard Skinner, but instead of promoting the new Boomtown Rats material as planned, he announced the plan for Band Aid.
The recording studio gave Band Aid no more than 24 free hours to record and mix the record, on 25 November 1984. The recording took place between 11am and 7pm, and was filmed by director Nigel Dick to be released as the pop video though some basic tracks had been recorded the day before at Midge Ure's home studio. The first tracks to be recorded were the group / choir choruses which were filmed by the international press. The footage was rushed to newsrooms where it aired while the remainder of the recording process continued. Later drums by Phil Collins were recorded, including the memorable opening 'African Drum' beat. But in reality, the introduction of the song features a slowed down sample from a Tears for Fears' track called 'The Hurting', released in 1983.
Tony Hadley, of Spandau Ballet, was the first to record his vocal, while a section sung by Status Quo was deemed unusable, and replaced with section comprising Paul Weller, Sting, and Glenn Gregory. Paul Young has since admitted, in a documentary, that he knew his opening lines were written for David Bowie, who was not able to make the recording but made a contribution to the B-side (Bowie performed his lines at the Live Aid concert the following year). Boy George arrived last at 6pm, after Geldof woke him up by 'phone to have him flown over from New York on Concorde to record his solo part. (At the time Culture Club was in the middle of a US tour.)
The following morning, Geldof appeared on the Radio 1 breakfast show with Mike Read, to promote the record further and promise that every penny would go to the cause. This led to a stand-off with the British Government, who refused to waive the VAT on the sales of the single. Geldof made the headlines by publicly standing up to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and, sensing the strength of public feeling, the government backed down and donated the tax back to the charity. The record was released on 29 November, and went straight to No. 1 in the UK singles chart, outselling all the other records in the chart put together. It became the fastest- selling single of all time in the UK, selling a million copies in the first week alone. It stayed at Number 1 for five weeks, selling over three million copies and becoming easily the biggest-selling single of all time in the UK. It has since been surpassed by Elton John's 'Candle In The Wind 1997' (his tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales) but it is likely to keep selling in different versions for many years to come.
After Live Aid, 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' was re-released in late 1985 in a set that included a special-edition 'picture disc' version, modeled after the Live Aid logo with 'Band' in place of 'Live'. An added bonus, 'One Year On' (a statement from Geldof and Ure on the telephone) was available as a b-side. 'One Year On' can also be found in transcript form in a booklet which was included in the DVD set of Live Aid, the first disc of which features the BBC news report, as well as the Band Aid video.
The original Band Aid ensemble consisted of (in sleeve order):
Adam Clayton (U2) Queen Phil Collins (Genesis, solo) Bob Geldof (The Boomtown Rats) Steve Norman (Spandau Ballet) Chris Cross (Ultravox) John Taylor (Duran Duran) Paul Young Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet) Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17) Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran) Simon Crowe (The Boomtown Rats) Marilyn Keren Woodward (Bananarama) Martin Kemp (Spandau Ballet) Jody Watley (Shalamar) Bono (U2) Paul Weller (The Style Council) James "J.T." Taylor (Kool & the Gang) George Michael (Wham!) Midge Ure (Ultravox) Martyn Ware (Heaven 17) John Keeble (Spandau Ballet) Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet) Roger Taylor (Duran Duran) Sarah Dallin (Bananarama) Siobhan Fahey (Bananarama) Pete Briquette (The Boomtown Rats) Francis Rossi (Status Quo) Robert 'Kool' Bell (Kool & the Gang, whose members were the only Americans to participate) Dennis J. T. Thomas (Kool & the Gang) Andy Taylor (Duran Duran) Jon Moss (Culture Club) Sting (The Police) Rick Parfitt (Status Quo) Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran) Johnny Fingers (The Boomtown Rats) David Bowie Boy George (Culture Club) Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes to Hollywood) Paul McCartney (The Beatles, Wings) Stuart Adamson (Big Country) Bruce Watson (Big Country) Tony Butler (Big Country) Mark Brzezicki (Big Country)
Click the link below to download the following: Video Band Aid Story - 3 Part Documentary Single Version 12 inch Mix by Trevor Horn Standard Mix Feed The World - B-Side One Year On - Feed The World - B-side
'Last Christmas' is a song by British pop duo Wham!, released on Epic Records in 1984, on a double A-side with 'Everything She Wants'. The single was written by George Michael, one half of the duo.
Wham! had been a dominant force in the UK Singles Chart in 1984 and news that they were planning a Christmas single meant that a battle for the coveted Christmas number 1 spot in the UK seemed set to be between Wham! and the year's other big act, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, who had achieved a third number 1 in early December with 'The Power of Love'.
However, the Band Aid project, helmed by Bob Geldof, produced the number 1 single. Wham!'s offering peaked at number 2 for much of the period, although George's involvement in Band Aid meant that Wham! still had an input. Wham! subsequently topped the monies raised by Band Aid by donating all of their 'Last Christmas/Everything She Wants' royalties to the Ethiopian famine appeal. However 'Last Christmas' did make number 1 in various other countries.
The single sold well over a million copies and became the biggest selling single in UK chart history not to reach number 1. A year later, it was re-issued for Christmas again (this time without a billed flip-side) and got to number 6. A second re-issue at Christmas 1986 - by which time Wham! had split - stalled outside the top 40.
The song gradually sold in Japan, and finally became the best-selling single that did not reach that country's top-10 chart, selling more than 600,000 copies and peaking on the chart at number 12 in 1992.
Since 1997, the song enters the German Single charts every year and peaked at number 4 in 2007. In the airplay charts the songs enters every year the Top 5.
In 2007, the track re-entered the UK Top 20 and hit the UK iTunes Top 10.
In 2008, the song re-entered the UK Singles Chart again, this time at number 36 and peaked at number 26.
Due to perceived similarities between 'Last Christmas' and the song 'Can't Smile Without You' as popularised by Barry Manilow, an out of court settlement was reached in which the first year's royalties were donated to the one-year-old "Band Aid" charity.
The video to 'Last Christmas' saw George and partner Andrew Ridgeley accompanying girlfriends to see friends at their home in an unspecified ski resort, although the cable-car that can be seen in two shots is from Saas-Fee, Switzerland. It became clear early on, however, that Andrew's girlfriend had previously been in a relationship with George, and it was to her character the song was aimed. The video also featured the duo's erstwhile backing singers Pepsi and Shirlie and Spandau Ballet bassist Martin Kemp, the boyfriend and future husband of Shirlie Holliman.
'Last Christmas' has been covered by a number of artists. One that I have included here is by Billie Piper. After 'She Wants You' was released in late 1998, the cover of 'Last Christmas', featured as a B-Side on the single, received some airplay. Due to this, a CD Single was released in Europe and charted at number 47 in Sweden. The Single was also released as a promotional Single in the UK, limited to 500 copies and therefore could not chart there. It is one of Billie's most notable songs, although it was not included on The Best of Billie.
'Last Christmas' was also recorded in 2007 by Cascada. It was released on iTunes in November, 2007. The single had only a Digital release but 6 days later it was released on the single/EP 'What Hurts the Most' which was the first single from their second album. The download version made it to number 111 on the UK Singles Charts. However it did make it to number 10 as part pf the 'What Hurts' release. In the UK, despite it being a B-side track, the song is regularly played throughout music channels during the festive season.
Click the link below to download the following: Video Single Version Long Version Pudding Mix Matt Mix DJ Johny Spirit Mix DJ T.I.M Remix Benny Benassi Remix
Billy Piper Version Cascada Singe Version Cascada Video
'Everything She Wants' was a song by British pop duo Wham!, released in 1984 on Epic Records on a double A-side with Last Christmas'. It was written by George Michael, one half of the duo.
Upon release, '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 topicality.
A five-minute song (there also exists a six-and-a-half-minutes-long version with an added bridge), 'Everything She Wants' is written from the angle of a man rapidly approaching desperation at the material demands of his partner which seem to be coming to a head, despite the amount of work he does to keep them happy. In a twist, the second verse takes the story a step further by revealing that the woman is pregnant but the man cannot find any happiness in the announcement because of the extra pressure a baby will put upon him.
The presence of the Band Aid project meant that the double A-side peaked at number two in the UK singles chart, although in the process it became the biggest selling record not to get to number one. However, in the USA, the song did reach the summit of the Billboard Hot 100, and became the third number-one song in a row from 1984's Make It Big album.
Wham! would go on to have two more number-one hits in the UK before splitting at their height in 1986.
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' is his favourite Wham! song.
The song was remixed and re-released as 'Everything She Wants '97' for the greatest hits album If You Were There in 1997.
Cick the link below to download the following: Video Radio Edit Long Version Remix 12 inch Remix 1997 Hot Tracks Mix Todd Terry Club Mix
'Bad Boys' was a song by British pop duo Wham! which was a hit in 1983. It was written by George Michael, one half of the duo, and released on Innervision Records.
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