ABBA Live in Japan es un video con un programa de televisión grabado por el grupo sueco ABBA en Japón en 1978. Ese programa se publicó por primera vez en DVD, íntegro y remasterizado, el 2009. La edición se presenta en una versión estándar y otra limitada con un segundo DVD que contiene un documental con el regreso de Abba a Japón en 1980. El DVD de ABBA en Japón celebra las aventuras de ABBA en Japón en 1978 y 1980. Este especial, es un espectáculo de televisión filmado cuando el grupo visitó Japón en noviembre de 1978. Se ha vuelto a montar a partir del material sin editar. Fernando, que incluyó un par de versos y un coro en la emisión original, se ve ahora en forma completa por primera vez. Y la actuación de 'Summer Night City', presentado originalmente en un formato de pantalla dividida con ABBA en sólo una cuarta parte de la pantalla, ahora la pantalla se centra. Por último, "The Name Of The Game ', que fue editado fuera de la emisión original, se ha reinsertado en su lugar que le corresponde. Cada canción en el especial de televisión se ha sincronizado con la última remasterisaciones estéreo, con excepción de los tres números en vivo: 'Money, Money, Money', 'SOS' y 'Thank You For The Music'. El DVD viene con dos Bonus. La primera es el documental "fly-on-the-wall" de ABBA En Japón, en noviembre de 1978, que cubre la visita del Grupo en el momento de los especiales de televisión. El disco también cuenta con la actuación de "If It Wasn't For The Nights" de la especial, pero con la mezcla original, sonido ligeramente diferentes como se presenta en la emisión - en el momento, la canción no había sido puesto en libertad el registro todavía y fue objeto de nuevas mezclas de ABBA antes de ser finalmente expedidos en el álbum Voulez-Vous. ABBA En Japón también es lanzado una versión de 2 Discos "Limited Special Edition". El contenido del primer disco es idéntico a la versión de disco de una sola. El segundo disco cuenta con un raro detrás de las escenas de documentales de la gira de conciertos de ABBA de Japón en marzo de 1980. El disco también cuenta con dos galerías: una con fotos de la visita en 1978, y uno que ofrece una generosa selección de japoneses individuales y carátulas de discos. Más regalos vienen en la forma de tres tarjetas de fotos de ABBA y la etiqueta de viaje original de la gira de conciertos de ABBA de Japón. Ambas versiones de ABBA en Japón disponen de un folleto ilustrado con un ensayo escrito por Carl Magnus Palm detalla las aventuras de ABBA en Japón y la realización de este especial de televisión.
La fecha de lanzamiento internacional para ABBA en Japón es 26 de octubre de 2009.
"Where Did Your Heart Go?" is a song written by American musicians David Was and Don Was. The song was first recorded and released by the writers' disco-dance-rock band Was (Not Was) as a single in the UK as a double A-side with "Wheel Me Out" in September 1981. The single did not chart. It was featured as the second track on the band's début album Was (Not Was) in August 1981. French editions of the single included the track "It's an Attack!" as the B-side. A live recording of "Where Did Your Heart Go?" was included as a B-side to the 1992 single "Somewhere in America (There's a Street Named After My Dad)". "Where Did Your Heart Go?" was covered by the British pop duo Wham! on 14 October 1986 as one of the three B-sides to "The Edge of Heaven" in the UK, where it reached number 1. The song was also released separately as Wham!'s final single in several territories most notably in the US where it peaked at number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1986. It was produced and re-arranged by George Michael with engineering by Chris Porter. "Where Did Your Heart Go?" was also included on The Final and Music from the Edge of Heaven albums. George Michael's arrangement of "Where Did Your Heart Go?" is relatively faithful to the original Was (Not Was) version making only subtle changes to the song's instrumentation and structure. Michael alters the song by dropping the opening chorus in favour of an instrumental introduction of the chorus melody. The subdued ending is protracted in the Wham! recording, where the Was (Not Was) original quickly fades out after the completion of the final chorus; Michael's arrangement continues for an additional half a minute.
Wham!'s recording of "Where Did Your Heart Go?", while structurally similar to the Was (Not Was) original, leans toward to a soft rock ballad due to changes to the tempo and vocal inflection. Michael's arrangement is more spare and reliant on synthesizers and saxophone to convey the melody. Michael's vocals are less immersed in the backing arrangement in which the bass guitar and drums are markedly quieter in the mix. His vocal is more low-key than Sweet Pea Atkinson's, except for the final line of the third verse, "and drifted out of sight", which is accentuated. The official music video for the Wham! version of the song was directed by George Michael and Andy Morahan.
Make It Big is the second and final 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 George 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. To date, the album has sold over 10 million copies worldwide. 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.
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" is a song by the British duo Wham!, first released as a single in the UK on 14 May 1984. It became their first UK and US number one hit. It was written and produced by George Michael. The single was certified Platinum in the US, which at the time commemorated sales of over two million copies. In 2015, the song was voted by the British public as the nation's 13th favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV. It was also ranked number 28 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s. Michael's inspiration for the song was a scribbled note that his Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley had left for his parents, intended to read "wake me up before you go" but with "up" accidentally written twice, so Ridgeley wrote "go" twice on purpose. In 1984, George Michael had this to say on the development of the song: I just wanted to make a really energetic pop record that had all the best elements of Fifties and Sixties records, combined with our attitude and our approach, which is obviously more uptempo and a lot younger than some of those records. It's one of those tracks that gets rid of a lot of your own personal influences; it reminds me of so many different records that I couldn't actually nail them down. I'd done a demo at home that just had a bass line and a vocal on it. Usually, I write the record in my head; I know what all the parts are going to be and I sing them to all our musicians. And it was great. ... We actually did it as a rehearsal. We used a Linn drum because the drummer was late, and it was such a good track that we kept it. The song entered the UK Singles Chart at number four – after much hype from the duo claiming they would go straight in at number one, which was a rare occurrence then – and climbed to the top spot seven days later, staying there for two weeks. The song also went to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, holding the top spot for three weeks.
The UK sleeve was designed by Peter Saville, with photography by Trevor Key. The music video for the song was directed by Andy Morahan. It showcases the band performing for an audience of mostly teenagers at Brixton Academy in South London. The band was wearing Katharine Hamnett t-shirt designs that said "CHOOSE LIFE". The video was listed in NME's "50 Worst Music Videos".
"Everything She Wants" is a million-selling Gold-certified hit single by British pop duo Wham!, originally released in 1984 on Epic Records on a double A-side with "Last Christmas". It was written and produced by George Michael, one half of the duo, becoming their third consecutive million-selling number one hit in the United States. "Everything She Wants" was recorded in Paris and London after a few other tracks for Make It Big had been finished at Studio Miraval in southeastern France. 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-minute-long version with an added bridge), "Everything She Wants" is written from the angle of a man being disillusioned by the material demands of his female partner, despite the amount of work he does to keep her 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 "if my best isn't good enough, then how can it be good enough for two?" 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 number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and became the third number-one song in a row from 1984's Make It Big album. Wham! had 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" was his favourite Wham! song. In 1996, the song was performed at the MTV Unplugged concert.
In 1997, the song was remixed and re-released as "Everything She Wants '97" for the greatest hits album The Best of Wham!: If You Were There.... The official music video for the song was directed by Andy Morahan, and is footage of a live performance in black and white.
