W♥M

Christmas 2023: Last Christmas

Read More Wham! Wham!'s "Last Christmas" song is possibly one of the best Christmas pop song. Released in 1984, it dominated the charts and is still very popular even today (especially in Japan and ...

Last Christmas
lastchristmasmovie.com

Longtime readers of W♥M knows that we have a soft spot for Wham!’s “Last Christmas”. The song has been a staple in our holiday playlist since 1984, but semi-recently the song has been making a comeback.

During the start of the pandemic, in November 2019, the romantic comedy Last Christmas, starring Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke. The story is about a Christmas shop clerk who falls in love with a mysterious man (Henry Golding).

Obviously, based on the movie’s title, the story was inspired by George Michael and Wham!’s song of the same name.

The official soundtrack includes 14 Wham! and solo George Michael songs, as well as a previously unreleased song, “This Is How (We Want You to Get High)”… so for George Michael completist, this soundtrack is a must for their collection.

The soundtrack album debuted at number one on the UK Official Soundtrack Albums Chart and at number 11 on the UK Albums Chart in 2019.

P.S. Enjoy a new 4k master of the original “Last Christmas” video on YouTube!

Read More Alanis Morissette The Tony and GRAMMY Award-winning new musical is about a perfectly imperfect American family, based on Alanis Morissette’s memorable ...

Alanis Morissette
alanis.com

The 90s angst You Outta Know singer Alanis Morissette recently covered “Last Christmas” live on the broadcast of “Christmas at Graceland” on NBC. You can watch it on YouTube if you missed it. She’s playing in front of Elvis Presley’s airplane.

Morissette’s latest single “Last Christmas” came out November 3, 2023, on Epiphany / Thirty Tigers.

Tour dates:

Jun 9 2024 Phoenix, AZ, US Talking Stick
Jun 12 2024 Austin, TX, US Moody Center ATX
Jun 14 2024 Dallas, TX, US Dos Equis Pavilion
Jun 16 2024 The Woodlands, TX, US Cynthia Woods
Jun 19 2024 Tampa, FL, US MIDFLORIDA
Jun 20 2024 West Palm Beach, FL, US iTHINK Financial
Jun 22 2024 Alpharetta, GA, US Ameris Bank
Jun 23 2024 Nashville, TN, US Bridgestone Arena
Jun 26 2024 Charlotte, NC, US PNC Music Pavilion
Jun 27 2024 Raleigh, NC, US Coastal Credit Union
Jun 29 2024 Columbia, MD, US Merriweather Post Pavilion
Jul 2 2024 Camden, NJ, US Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
Jul 3 2024 Holmdel, NJ, US PNC Bank Arts Center
Jul 5 2024 Bethel, NY, US Bethel Woods
Jul 6 2024 Hartford, CT, US Xfinity Theatre
Jul 9 2024 Mansfield, MA, US Xfinity Center
Jul 10 2024 Wantagh, NY, US Northwell Health
Jul 13 2024 Toronto, ON, Canada Budweiser Stage
Jul 14 2024 Toronto, ON, Canada Budweiser Stage
Jul 16 2024 Clarkston, MI, US Pine Knob Music
Jul 17 2024 Cuyahoga Falls, OH, US Blossom Music Center
Jul 23 2024 Maryland Heights, MO, US Hollywood Casino
Jul 24 2024 Cincinnati, OH, US Riverbend Music Center
Jul 27 2024 Noblesville, IN, US Ruoff Music Center
Jul 28 2024 Milwaukee, WI, US American Family
Jul 31 2024 Denver, CO, US Ball Arena
Aug 1 2024 West Valley City, UT, US USANA Amphitheatre
Aug 3 2024 Auburn, WA, US White River Amphitheatre
Aug 4 2024 Portland, OR, US Moda Center
Aug 7 2024 Mountain View, CA, US Shoreline Amphitheatre
Aug 8 2024 Palm Desert, CA, US Acrisure Arena
Aug 10 2024 Inglewood, CA, US Kia Forum

Read More Coco & Clair Clair Coco & Clair Clair knew from the moment they met that they were meant to make music together. Similarly, listeners are immediately drawn to the Atlanta-bred duo through their clever …

Coco & Clair Clair
cocoandclair.com

“Last Christmas” is the new holiday single from duo Coco & Clair Clair. The song is reimagined as a trap bass song with an 80s snare. I think my favorite part of the song is the whispering of “Happy Christmas” that starts every line of the start of the song.

It’s short and to the point, but it’s pretty good, I had to rewind to listen again.

We wrote about the duo in March 2023 and said that the “Atlanta-bred duo Coco & Clair Clair is on tour in support of their debut album SEXY. The album’s title actually doesn’t describe their music, as they explained, “It's impactful, but it's a really silly word… And then, none of the songs are actually that sexy.” The duo is fairly new, having met through mutual friends on Twitter in 2014. “We really rely on the other person,” Clair Clair says. “We'll both go write our verses, and then we share them with each other and let the other person edit them. Everything is very much both of our brains combined, which we couldn't do with someone who wasn’t a very good friend because it's such a vulnerable process.” ”

Their debut album got a special Deluxe Edition, which re-released on November 10th, 2023.

ASTN
astnofficial.com

Breakout TikTok singer ASTN released his “Last Christmas” in November 2023. Obviously, listening to his song, it’s done in an R&B style… complete with auto-tune and gospel backing response vocals.

“Last Christmas” follows this year’s acclaimed Where Do We Go From Here? EP, which pop music critics loved. VIBE describing the EP as “a solid introduction into ASTN as he breaks ground in the R&B world,” and V Magazine writing “catchy hooks and captivatingly personal lyrics.”

ASTN will be playing the Warfield, in San Francisco, on December 16, 2023… I’m sure he’ll be singing “Last Christmas”. If he doesn’t play it, it’s a missed opportunity!

Disconnected Souls
disconnectedsouls.com

Cinematic metal band Disconnected Souls recently offered their 2023 rendition of “Last Christmas”. Their version is a little synthy, with some industrial elements thrown in at the end.

Band leader Fletch explains his choice in cover: “If you've followed DS for any length of time, you'll probably know that we love doing reinterpretations of Christmas classics, and therefore it was kinda inevitable that at some point we would find ourselves faced with 'Last Christmas'. To be brutally honest, none of us are big fans of the original! However, we wanted to see what we could do with it and were particularly keen to make one of our friends happy (who had been repeatedly suggesting it). We ended up staying surprisingly accurate to the original music, but focussed on vocal FX / reducing the tempo and adding some more melancholy instrumentation. As always we hope you enjoy and happy holidays!”

Read more Christmas.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

The Last Christmas

Read more Christmas.

Read More Boris Japanese trio Boris will be performing Pink in its entirety to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of their record. That’s not all, you can get a chance to pick up a new Deluxe Edition of Pink …

BORIS
borisheavyrocks.com

Recently Japanese experimental noise band Boris released their two-track Christmas single called Noël, via Sacred Bones. The B-Side is a take on Wham!’s classic “Last Christmas”.

The story behind “Noel” is that it’s a reworking of “Pardon?”, originally from Boris’ New Album (which incidentally celebrated its 10th Anniversary this year). London’s singer-songwriter Lauren Auder worked with French producer Dviance, for “Noel”.

Lauren talked about working on the song, “I’ve been a long-time fan of Boris's work and ‘New Album’ has been particularly influential on my musical style. When this came up, Atsuo from the band proposed I take a shot at making a new version of the track. I was at the time working on my debut full length with my long-time co-writer Dviance and knowing how much he has also been inspired by Boris's work it only made sense for us to work on this one together. I'm extremely excited for this to have come together and hoping to continue this collaboration in the future.”

Both tracks are available exclusively through Bandcamp.

Here’s a photo of Boris when they played Minneapolis in 2014.

Boris at the Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis (12 August 2014)

Read More The Beths Tribune called The Beths, one of the “best up-and-coming bands”, so we were really eager to catch this young New Zealand trio (Elizabeth Stokes, Jonathan Pearce and .... Wham! Wham!'s "Last Christmas" song is possibly one of the best Christmas pop song. Released in 1984, it dominated the charts and is still very popular even today (especially in Japan ....

LUNAR VACATION
lunarvacationband.com

Atlanta’s Lunar Vacation recently shared their version of Wham!’s classic Christmas single “Last Christmas.”

The band’s debut album Inside Every Fig is a Dead Wasp is available on vinyl, CD, and cassette, earlier this month.

That’s not all, the band also announced a full 2022 North American tour, supporting New Zealand’s The Beths.

Tour Dates

Jan 20 - Washington, DC - Black Cat*
Jan 21 - Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts*
Jan 22 - New York, NY - Webster Hall*
Jan 23 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair*
Jan 25 - Montreal, QC - Bar le Ritz PDB**
Jan 26 - Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace**
Jan 28 - Chicago, IL - Metro*
Feb 2 - Calgary, AB - Commonwealth Bar*
Feb 4 - Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret*
Feb 5 - Seattle, WA - Neumos*
Feb 6 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom*
Feb 8 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent*
Feb 10 - Los Angeles, CA - Regent Theater*
Feb 11 - Pioneertown, CA - Pappy & Harriet's*
Feb 12 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar*
Feb 15 - Austin, TX - The Parish*
Feb 16 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada*
Feb 18 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade - Hell*
Feb 19 - Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge*

*w/ The Beths

We caught The Beths a few years ago at Rock the Garden.

The Beths at Rock the Garden (29 June 2019)

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

The Merriest Christmas

Read More Ed Sheeran Musically, “Black and White” is a pop rock ballad… fans of Ed Sheeran (the other One Direction guy) will love it. Sample lyrics: Yeah, I see us in black and white …

Read more Christmas.

ED SHEERAN
edsheeran.com

Two of the world’s biggest recording artists, Ed Sheeran and Elton John, just released their charity single “Merry Christmas”, via Atlantic Records.

Watch the official music video on YouTube (directed by Jason Koenig).

The video features homage to scenes from legacy Number 1 Christmas music videos and iconic Christmas films, plus cameos from Mr Blobby, Jonathan Ross, Big Narstie, Michael McIntyre and The Darkness.

The joyful, fun-filled song will sure be an instant classic… maybe we can hear it every year, you know, right alongside with Wham!’s “Last Christmas” and Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You”.

If you decide to purchase the song, profits from the sale will be donated equally between the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation & The Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Read More ABBA I will confess to liking, no, loving ABBA. As you may have suspected, I actually love eurodisco and especially Swedish music. …

ABBA
abbasite.com

One of the most successful band of all time (we’re talking 17 #1 hits, 400 million albums sold!), ABBA (Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid) is back with a new Christmas single called “Little Things”. The song is taken from their recent Voyage album.

Talking about the holiday single (and music video), the band wrote, “This is the very first Christmas song from ABBA, and no Christmas song would be complete without a festive video!”

They also add, “We think it is impossible to eradicate poverty without the empowerment of women. That's why we support Unicef in protecting girls from sexual violence and empowering them through the Global Child Protection Fund. We have done so for many years with our song Chiquitita and now we have decided to give Unicef a Christmas gift in the form of a second song: Little Things from our album Voyage.”

Although the song (and certainly the music video) was sweet enough, I just felt it wasn’t exactly a “Christmas” song. For me, I want to hear all the things you normally associate with Xmas, including snow, Santa, and presents, etc.

Still, despite my not loving the song, the band is still very successful, as noted with their global launch of Voyage:

● Voyage achieved worldwide sales in excess of 1 million copies in its first week, and has received more than 190 million combined streams to date.
● In the U.K. Voyage became ABBA’s 10th UK Number 1, and their first to top the Official Albums Chart in 40 years. It is 2021’s fastest-selling album to date and registered the biggest first week sales in four years (203,909). It is also the fastest-selling vinyl release of the century.
● In the U.S. – Voyage debuted at #1 on the Top Albums chart, as the band achieved their biggest ever US chart debut. ABBA also claimed the highest sales week in 2021 for a group.
● The album achieved multiple gold and platinum certifications around the world.
● Voyage is the biggest international debut of the year in Japan, Germany, Australia, U.K. & France.

Say what you will, but the world still loves ABBA.

MATT DORRIEN
mattdorrien.com

Los Angeles, by the way of Portland, Matt Dorrien recently shared “Christmas in LA,” a song about his recent life changes, full of melancholy and hope. You can hear it for yourself on YouTube.

Dorrien says, “I wrote and recorded this song less than a month ago after moving to Los Angeles from my home of the last eight years, Portland, Oregon. My wife and I decided to relocate after discovering that my father, who lives with my mother just outside of LA, had been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer. It’s a song of comfort and hope during some pretty uncertain times. I hope it brings some semblance of peace to those feeling similarly lost and burdened by uncertainty as we approach the second holiday of this pandemic.”

Look for Dorrien’s sophomore full-length in 2022.

Live:

Dec. 11th - Portland, OR - Mama Bird’s Winter Wassail @ Polaris Hall *

*w/ Haley Heynderickx, Vetiver, Skyway Man,
Johanna Samuels, Barna Howard & more

MODESTY BLAISE
modestyblaise.net

Named after a famous British comic stripe, Bristol’s Modesty Blaise (not to be confused with the progpop band from Norway), started in 1993 when they scored a hit single called “Christina Terrace” with Edwyn Collins at the helm. Collins had a massive international hit called “A Girl Like You”, and I thought perhaps the band knew him because one of Blaise member, Jonny Collins, was related to the famed singer/songwriter.

Anyway, Modesty Blaise’s new holiday single is called “I’ll Be Home For Xmas”, which they said is like “Wham! meets Frankie Valli / Annette Funicello” … which got me intrigued.

I did end up listening to the song, and it’s pretty good... if you like that uplifting British 60s pop songs.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Kristin Kontrol: Last Christmas

Kristin Kontrol: Last Christmas Read More Kristin Kontrol We are also very excited to see that Dee Dee (from Dum Dum Girls) will be opening for Garbage under her music project Kristin Kontrol. When we saw DDG in 2014 when .… Dum Dum Girls Dum Dum Girls - too cute and popular for this earth ... and CMJ (yet they played some shows). .… …

The news that George Michael died hit us pretty hard on Christmas. We’re still pretty shocked that he’s dead. Obviously, fans from around the world have expressed how much his music meant to them... including James Corden’s heartfelt tribute to Michael.

As previously mentioned, George Michael was my first cassette (Listen Without Prejudice) that I purchased with my own money. And admittedly I’ve lost touch of keeping up with George Michael post-Older, but I still love the music and those great lyrics.

Anyway, the news of George Michael’s death hit Dee Dee (currently as Kristin Kontrol) unexpected too. She actually recorded a cover of Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’, but it was barred from release. The timing felt right, and she posted the link, read more below.

Kristin Kontrol wrote:

December 25, 2016 at 7:48pm

So sad we lost another incredible artist this year. Rest in power, George Michael. A few years ago I recorded a cover of "Last Christmas" as a b-side to an Xmas original. An innocent homage out of love. This was proto-KK as produced by Kurt Feldman (Ice Choir). Was never allowed to release it but f*** it. <3

soundcloud.com/kristinkontrol

We caught KK last year with Garbage at the Skyway Theatre and wrote, “Kristin’s voice has a dreamlike way of getting to you as you listen and even with the dance tunes you get that vibe that you're in the clouds.”

Incidentally, in Dum Dum Girls news, did you all noticed the DDG’s poster in Episode 6 of Netflix’s The OA? In the first few minutes of that episode, we see a trans character Buck Vu (played by Ian Alexander) practicing the movement ... and in the background, you see the poster.

The OA Season 1, Episode 6 (16 Dec 2016)

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

R.I.P. George Michael

Read More George Michaels Wham!'s "Last Christmas" song is possibly one of the best Christmas pop song. Released in 1984, it dominated the charts and is still very popular even today (especially in Japan and Southeast Asia). ....

2016 is not over folks. BBC news confirmed that legendary rock star George Michael is dead. His publicist said, “It is with great sadness that we can confirm our beloved son, brother and friend George passed away peacefully at home over the Christmas period.

The family would ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult and emotional time. There will be no further comment at this stage.”

Like many of you, I grew up listening to Wham!, and their ‘Last Christmas’ song is a staple on radio for many years around this time of the year.

My very first cassette I ever bought was for George Michael’s solo album Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1 (there was never a volume 2), purchased for $7.99 at the Wherehouse Record Store in Fresno. I no longer own the tape, but I used to listen to it all the time, particularly for Side A, which included ‘Playing For Time’ and ‘Freedom! ‘90’.

The record didn’t do that well against his solo debut Faith, which had two massive hit songs ‘Faith’ and the overly sexual ‘I Want Your Sex’. Although the sex thing sold, Michael did somewhat regret it, later addressing it in ‘Freedom! ‘90’ with the lyrics, “Posing for another picture, everybody's got to sell. But when you shake your ass they notice fast. Some mistakes were built to last.”

Needless to say, George Michael, you will be missed.

Below are more deaths for the month of December - for the full death list: Musicians who died in 2016.

December (107)

[25 Dec 2016] George Michael (Wham!), 53, not given

[25 Dec 2016] Red Army Choir (64 members, including Valery Khalilov, L. Kulikov, V. Ermolin, A. Kormilitsyn, VI Shtefutsa, EM Labkovsky, SV Ivanov, PD Bogachev, VP Maystruk, AA Gvozdetsky, BM Mizyuk, YA Lysenko, Y. Shtrunov, IM Pirogov, IS Sobolev, И.Ф. Volkov, OV Filimonov, AN Savitsky, VA Nagorny, VP Kokarev, AA Hristachev, JN Deynekin, VM Bolonenko, VN Antonov, AN Stritenko, AA Toschev VS Buzlov, SP Lapik, VF Orthodox, GU Razgasimov, V. Chekin, MD Mochalina, AA Mogulkin, Y. Savkin, MG Chervov, PD Shchennikov, NI Diakov, AI Egorov, VM Predelin, MI Glinka, PI Tchaikovsky, Professor KP Lisovsky, V. Brodsky, GD Pavlyuchenko, IV Konygina, P.U. Khmelnitski), various ages, plane crash

[24 Dec 2016] Rick Parfitt (Status Quo), 68, shoulder injury

[23 Dec 2016] Heinrich Schiff (Austrian cellist), 65

[23 Dec 2016] Mick Zane (Malice), cancer

[22 Dec 2016] Ruud Merx (Dutch musical composer and trombonist for Johann Strauss Orchestra), 47

[22 Dec 2016] Frank Murray (British band manager for Thin Lizzy and The Pogues), 66, suspected heart attack

[21 Dec 2016] Weston Noble (American music educator and conductor), 94, complications from a fall

[21 Dec 2016] Sam Leach (British concert promoter and talent agent, worked with The Beatles), 81

[21 Dec 2016] Abdul Gafur Hali (Bangladeshi singer, composer and lyricist), 87

[21 Dec 2016] Betty Loo Taylor (American jazz pianist), 87

[19 Dec 2016] Andrew Dorff (American songwriter), 40

[18 Dec 2016] Gustavo Quintero (Colombian singer-songwriter), 76

[18 Dec 2016] Léo Marjane (French singer), 104

[18 Dec 2016] Gordie Tapp (Canadian country singer and entertainer on Hee Haw), 94

[17 Dec 2016] Bob Coburn (Rockline), 68

[15 Dec 2016] Bohdan Smoleń (Polish singer), 69

[15 Dec 2016] Ajit Varman (Indian composer), 69

[14 Dec 2016] Karel Husa (Czech-born American composer), 95

[14 Dec 2016] Arnie Norse (Norwegian singer), 91

[14 Dec 2016] Päivi Paunu (Finnish singer), 70

[14 Dec 2016] Bunny Walters (New Zealand singer), 63

[13 Dec 2016] Betsy Pecanins (American-born Mexican singer), 62,stroke

[13 Dec 2016] Ahuva Ozeri (Israeli singer), 68, cancer

[12 Dec 2016] Lucila Campos (Peruvian singer), 78

[12 Dec 2016] Jim Lowe (American singer-songwriter), 93

[12 Dec 2016] Barrelhouse Chuck (American blues musician), 58, prostate cancer

[11 Dec 2016] Bob Krasnow (Elektra Records), 81

[11 Dec 2016] Joe Ligon (Mighty Clouds of Joy), 80

[11 Dec 2016] Esma Redžepova (Eurovision), 73

[10 Dec 2016] Damião Experiença (Brazilian singer and musician), 81

[07 Dec 2016] Greg Lake (Emerson, Lake & Palmer), 69, cancer

[07 Dec 2016] Elliott Schwartz (composer), 80

[07 Dec 2016] Mohamed Tahar Fergani (Algerian singer), 88

[07 Dec 2016] Junaid Jamshed (musician, television personality and preacher), 52, plane crash

[05 Dec 2016] Big Syke, 48, rapper

[05 Dec 2016] Mona Maraachli, 58, singer, heart attack

[05 Dec 2016] Adam Sagan (Circle II Circle), 35, lymphoma

[04 Dec 2016] Wayne Duncan (Daddy Cool), 72, stroke

[04 Dec 2016] Radim Hladík (Blue Effect), 69, pulmonary fibrosis

[02 Dec 2016] Allan Zavod (Frank Zappa), 71, brain cancer

[02 Dec 2016] Mark Gray, 64, country singer

[02 Dec 2016] Gisela May, 92, German actress and singer

[01 Dec 2016] Micky Fitz (The Business), 60?, cancer

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

I Like Trains: Last Christmas

I Like Trains - Last Christmas

Sally loves Last Christmas, so here's a cover by I Like Trains:

This is an alternative rock band from Leeds, England, who is embarking on a huge tour through the UK in 2011, to support their sophomore album, He Who Saw the Deep (just recently released in October).

The band's been around since 2006, and their debut album, Elegies to Lessons Learnt, was released on Beggars Banquet Records. The band's no stranger to Christmas music, having already released a semi-Christmas song called "The Christmas Tree Ship" on the same-named EP, but "Last Christmas" does not appear on that release.

So, as you listen to I Like Trains' version of "Last Christmas", it's a bit somber. When a song's been slowed down like this, you can really, really hear all the lyrics in its sadness.

You can grab their version of "Last Christmas" via their website.

Below are their entire confirmed 2011 tour dates:

01/12/11 Comet Club – Berlin 01/13/11 Perron 55 – Venlo 01/14/11 Ekko – Utrecht 01/15/11 Botanique Rotonde – Brussels 01/17/11 Karlstorbahnhof – Heidelberg* 01/18/11 Gleis 22 – Munster* 01/19/11 Gebaude 9 – Cologne* 01/21/11 Knust – Hamburg* 01/22/11 Beatpol – Dresden* 01/23/11 Brotfabrik – Frankfurt* 01/24/11 Kranhalle – Munich* 01/26/11 Chelsea – Vienna 01/27/11 Ligera – Milan * support from Delay Trees		01/28/11 Bronson – Ravenna 01/29/11 Rote Fabrik – Zurich 01/30/11 Rocking Chair – Vevey 01/31/11 La Rocher Palmer – Bordeaux 02/02/11 The Hope – Brighton^ 02/03/11 Moles – Bath^ 02/05/11 Norwich Arts Centre – Norwich^ 02/06/11 The Jericho - Oxford^ 02/07/11 Nottingham Bodega - Nottingham^ 02/09/11 Fusion – Sheffield^ 02/10/11 Shipping Forecast – Liverpool^ 02/11/11 The Duchess – York^ 03/10/11 Camden Barfly – London - XFM show ^ support from Napoleon IIIrd

vu () ♥ iliketrains.co.uk

W♥M094: Last Christmas

W♥M094 [download (7min, 6mb)] (alternative)

Part two of We♥Christmas, it's just Sally picking her favorite Christmas song ever.

That's right, Wham!'s "Last Christmas".

Ever since the record came out in 1984, it's become the staple Christmas pop tune ... giving inspirations to various other bands to cover this song. And however they try to create their own version of "Last Christmas", Wham! is still the version. Sappy, cheesy, and very 80s.

Trivia: The single sold over a million copies and became the biggest selling single in UK chart history ... but did not to reach #1.

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Archive of this show at archive.org. More information on podomatic.com

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

W♥M Updates (June 2009)

Gossip - Pop Goes The World

Gossip

I am working on a big article (it probably won't be done until Friday, probably). In the meantime, there's some exciting news coming up: the return of W♥M podcast! There will be at least six episodes before I get around to producing new contents.

I'm no longer endorsing Mypodcast.com, if you look at their forums, there's strong indications that the company is in a lot of trouble maintaining its servers. Garageband is surprisingly pretty good, I have moved Episode #12-32 to Garageband, so if you haven't heard them: check it out.

Also, if you visit news.weheartmusic.com, you may start seeing Google AdSense on the website. Nobody likes adverts, but that's just how things are. The good thing is that it's not terribly intrusive. I doubt I'll make any money for the W♥M fund, as we've all trained ourselves to ignore ads anyway.

Gossip - Careless Whisper

What's coming up as far as review goes, which I'm excited about is: Gossip's Music For Men. I've previously fell in love with Beth Ditto's gospel-yet-boogie-dance version of "Careless Whisper". Their new album is pretty awesome. The full review will go live next week. In the meantime, I've picked out either "Pop Goes The World", "2012" or "Love and Let Love".

The craziest thing: Music For Men will be released digitally on June 23^rd, but the physical CD won't be available until... wait for it.... OCTOBER! I have never seen such a long wait for the CD version for a major release. Usually it's only a short month before the plastic discs comes in. 

 06/18/2009 02:34:34 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com

Last Christmas

Wham! - Last Christmas Wham! The Carpenters-Can't Smile Without You The Carpenters

"Last Christmas, I gave you my heart, but the very next day - you gave it away!"

That very next day, well that's today. In honor of the day after Christmas, Cover Lover presents: "Last Christmas"!

Wham!'s "Last Christmas" song is possibly one of the best Christmas pop song. Released in 1984, it dominated the charts and is still very popular even today (especially in Japan and Southeast Asia). Re-issues after re-issues, song is one of the best-selling single in UK chart history.

All that success lead the music publisher Dick James Music, to sue George Michael for plagiarism for the song "Can't Smile Without You". If you listen to the song by The Carpenters from their 1976 album, A Kind of Hush, it does bear a heavy resemblance - and eventually the matter was settled out of court.

Britt Nicole-Last Christmas

Twelve Girls Band - Last Christmas

I've previously already mentioned Britt Nicole and Twelve Girls Band's version, so be sure to check them out. I will comment that "12 Girls" is a misnomer, that there is actually 13 girls in the band. I have thought about it later and realized that the Chinese are very superstitious about luck and numbers. 12 is lucky, while 13 is not.

Anyway, here are some more covers:

CRAZY FROG www.jamba.de Crazy Frog - Last Christmas As much as I admire and love British culture, I could not understand their love for that Crazy Frog (Europe's love for the Crazy Frog sent him to #1 in the charts - simply by selling ring tones!) If you've never heard of Crazy Frog, it sounds to me that they just remix music by other people and through the brilliant marketing of an animated frog. Thankfully the craze never made it over to the States, and if it does, I'll bet you that Americans will complain about the Frog's penis. If you were wondering about the woman singing on Crazy Frog's housey "Last Christmas", it is by singer Nicole Bolley.	ASHLEY TISDALE ashleytisdale.com ♥ ashleymusic.com Ashley Tisdale-Last Christmas Like many other modern girl pop singers, Ashley Tisdale came out of the Disney school of music... or better known as High School Musical. Hate it or not, it's hard to ignore the impact of HSM on popular culture. In 2006, Tisdale decided to release her studio recording of "Last Christmas" for Warner Brothers Music. The song was eventually released only as a one-track radio promo, and only available as a digital download. However, if physical CD is your thing, you'll find the song as a B-Side on her He Said She Said EP. If you get a chance to listen to the sort-of-whiney version of "Last Christmas", it doesn't really add much to the song. It's definitely more modern and pop.
I'M SO LOOK YOU myspace.com ♥ imsolookyou.blogspot.com I'm So Look You-Last Christmas I'm So Look You is from Japan, I think mostly driven by DJ Muranao. I couldn't make any sense of her myspace or blogspot, as it's mostly written in Japanese, so I can't really tell you much about her. She seems like a young woman with a talent for mixing. Anyway, she recently remixed "Last Christmas", adding a little jingle bells, "Joy to the World", violas, synth, and techno beats to the original song. The vocals are modified enough that you might not recognize that it's George Michaels. She'll be DJing in the Nagoya area, check it out: 12/24/08  domina "パジャマ de オジャマ de KISS!!" 12/31/08  club buddha & R-base cafe "年越しパーティー☆" 01/10/09 GOLDEN CHILD CAFE 01/14/09  SARU 01/24/09  club EDITS "藤澤志保 Release Tour" 01/29/09  domina "HEIDI" 02/01/09 club EDITS "TRASH" 03/13/09 club buddha "LOVE LIFE MUSIC!!!"	HILARY DUFF hilaryduff.com ♥ myspace.com Hilary Duff - Last Christmas Hilary Duff is probably best known as Lizzie McGuire (yet another Disney child star). She ventured into music obviously, and from her first real studio album is actually a holiday album called Santa Claus Lane, released in 2002. The title is a fictional street, as originally referenced in the 1947 song "Here Comes Santa Claus" and probably inspired the poppy "Santa Claus Lane" song on the album. No surprise, but I don't think Duff wrote any of the songs on the album, they were either written for her or established songs. Some of the covers I did recognize is Paul McCarthy's "" and Wham's "Last Christmas". Incidentally, the "chicawah" sound effects on "Last Christmas" made Duff's version very cheesy. The quirky effects are also applied to other songs on her album. Someone should've stopped the mixer/producer from over doing it.
BILLIE billie-piper.net (unofficial) Billie - Last Christmas Billie Paul Piper or better known simply as "Billie" is a British singer and actress. Unlike her teen pop contemporaries, she's not of the Disney music school. However, they're all pretty much interchangeable, aren't they? She dabbled in music, but have only managed to released two albums (strangely securing a "Greatest Hits" album based on the two previous studio albums) and seems to have taken more into acting. Currently, she's better known for playing Rose Tyler next to the Doctor in the television series Doctor Who (2005 to 2006), where she's won numerous awards for "Best Actress" to GQ's "Woman of the Year".	DAM VINH HUNG damvinhhung.ws ♥ myspace.com Dam Vinh Hung-Last Christmas Dam Vinh Hung is a pop singer from Vietnam. It must be hard to be a singer or actor in Vietnam because the state of things in the region is that everything is bootlegged and you can forget about money and royalties from legitimate sales of your records or DVDs. It's gotten to a point that people prefer the bootlegs due to the attractive dirt cheap prices. Anyway, the cover song is sung entirely in Vietnamese and contain the opening dialogue. I'm probably mis-translating it, but he said something to the extent of: My love, do you remember me? I know you don't love me anymore.

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