"Club Tropicana"
Original UK 7-inch vinyl picture sleeve
Single by Wham!
from the album Fantastic
B-side"Blue (Armed with Love)"
Released22 July 1983 (1983-07-22)
StudioMaison Rouge (London)[1]
GenrePost-disco
Length4:28
LabelCBS
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Steve Brown
  • George Michael
Wham! singles chronology
"Bad Boys"
(1983) 		"Club Tropicana"
(1983) 		"Club Fantastic Megamix"
(1983)
Music video
"Club Tropicana" on YouTube

"Club Tropicana" is a single by English pop duo Wham!, released on 22 July 1983 on Innervision Records.[2] It was written by members George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.

History

"Club Tropicana" was written in 1981 in Ridgeley's living room, before the band or bandname had been fully established, and was the second Wham! song they came up with after the initial "Wham Rap!".[3] Although only half finished at the time of recording, it became one of the three home demos hastily made on a hired porta-studio which led to their first record contract with Innervision Records.[4] The initial song inspiration came from their excitement over the glamour and escapism of the then burgeoning New Romantic club scene, and Michael, Ridgeley and Shirlie Holliman's occasional visits to one such club in London, Le Beat Route.[5] The song's lyrical theme was then expanded to also include the hedonism of summery Club 18-30 holidays,[6] whilst musically fusing a Latin jazz rhythm with a groove inspired by the Gap Band's "Burn Rubber on Me".[7]

Synopsis

The song was a mild departure from Wham!'s previous singles, which had all been motivated by social or political issues. "Club Tropicana", however, was a homage to the hedonistic London nightclubs that Michael and Ridgeley used to frequent in the early days of the band.

Chart performance

The song was released in July 1983 and peaked at No. 4 in the UK, going on to become the 39th best selling single of 1983. It was the fourth and final single to be taken from the album Fantastic. Wham! then achieved four UK No. 1 singles before splitting at their height in 1986.

Other releases

The song was also included on the compilation album The Final and on Michael's greatest hits album Twenty Five.[8][9]

B-side

The B-side, "Blue (Armed with Love)", is a semi-instrumental dub track, which was cut once the Fantastic album was finished – Michael was involved as sole producer. Michael and Ridgeley spent the 11 hours they had available putting the track together, but it wasn't fully finished and ended up being released in its incomplete state as a B-side.[10] During their "Club Fantastic" tour in late 1983 and in 1985 in China, they performed a more developed version of this song live, complete with sung verses. This version was released as "Blue (Live in China)" on their 1986 LP Music from the Edge of Heaven as well as the B-side of 1985's single release of "Last Christmas". "Blue" was first available on CD on the compilation So80s 12 in 2019 and on streaming services in 2023 with the edition of The Singles: Echoes from the Edge of Heaven, the duo's last compilation album released.

Music video

A video directed by Duncan Gibbins was made at Pikes Hotel in Ibiza, owned by Tony Pike with scenes of Michael and Ridgeley on the beach, making eyes at bikini-clad girls played by their backing singers Dee C. Lee and Shirlie Holliman. They are also seen relaxing by a pool and sipping cocktails, with Michael lounging on a lilo in white Speedos, along with the famous scene of trumpet-playing taking place in the pool itself. A twist in the sexual tension between the two men and two women is revealed at the end, when it turns out that Michael and Ridgeley are airline pilots and Dee and Shirlie are stewardesses.

It was during this trip to Ibiza that Michael had his first physical homosexual encounter, confirming to himself that he was definitely either homosexual or bisexual. He confided first in Shirlie Holliman and then in Andrew, who both were OK with it.[11]

As of February 2024, the music video has received more than 33.9 million views on YouTube.[12] The music video was used as an homage for Lewis Capaldi's music video for "Forget Me" in 2022.[13]

Track listing

7": Innervision / A 3613 (UK)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Club Tropicana"
4:29
2."Blue (Armed with Love)"Michael3:50
12": Innervision / TA 3613 (UK)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Club Tropicana"
  • Michael
  • Ridgeley
4:29
2."Blue (Armed with Love)"Michael3:54
3."Club Tropicana" (instrumental)
  • Michael
  • Ridgeley
3:31

Charts

Certifications and sales

Certifications for "Club Tropicana"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ)[25]
physical 1997 release 		Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[26] Platinum 600,000‡

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "History". Wham! World. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Wham singles".
  3. ^ Ridgeley, Andrew (2019). Wham! George & Me (First ed.). Penguin. p. 192. ISBN 9780241385807.
  4. ^ Ridgeley, Andrew (2019). Wham! George & Me (First ed.). Penguin. p. 139. ISBN 9780241385807.
  5. ^ Ridgeley, Andrew (2019). Wham! George & Me (First ed.). Penguin. p. 126. ISBN 9780241385807.
  6. ^ Ridgeley, Andrew (2019). Wham! George & Me (First ed.). Penguin. p. 130. ISBN 9780241385807.
  7. ^ Ridgeley, Andrew (2019). Wham! George & Me (First ed.). Penguin. p. 130. ISBN 9780241385807.
  8. ^ Wham! – The Final. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  9. ^ http://www.discogs.com/George-Michael-Twenty-Five/release/881717 Twenty Five – George Michael
  10. ^ "Classic Tracks: George Michael 'Faith' – Sound on Sound".
  11. ^ Ridgeley, Andrew (2019). Wham! George & Me (First ed.). Penguin. p. 193. ISBN 9780241385807.
  12. ^ Whamtv (24 October 2009), Wham! – Club Tropicana, retrieved 1 May 2018
  13. ^ Jon Blistein (12 September 2022). "Lewis Capaldi Busts Out the White Speedo and Recreates Wham!'s 'Club Tropicana' Video for 'Forget Me'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  14. ^ David Kent (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  15. ^ "Wham! – Club Tropicana" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  16. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Wham!". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 280. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  17. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Club Tropicana". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  18. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 43, 1983" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  19. ^ "Wham! – Club Tropicana" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  20. ^ "Wham! – Club Tropicana". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  21. ^ "Wham! – Club Tropicana". VG-lista. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  22. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  23. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Wham! – Club Tropicana" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  24. ^ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1983". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  25. ^ "Japanese single certifications – Wham – Club Tropicana" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 27 March 2021. Select 1997年8月 on the drop-down menu
  26. ^ "British single certifications – Wham – Club Tropicana". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
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