Wham! / Fantastic & Make It Big deluxe editions issued on SDE-exclusive blu-ray

Only via the SDE shop: Quick Pre-order link!

Deluxe editions of Wham!’s two studio albums – 1983’s Fantastic and 1984’s Make It Big – will be issued for the very first time via two SDE-exclusive blu-ray audio releases which feature 96/24 hi-res stereo mixes of the original recordings and Dolby Atmos spatial audio, along with a generous selection of bonus tracks in both Atmos and stereo. Both albums will also be reissued on limited edition coloured vinyl (and black vinyl) at the same time.

These albums need no introduction; Wham!’s 1983 debut Fantastic is of course home to four UK top 10 hit singles in ‘Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?)’, ‘Young Guns (Go For It)’, ‘Bad Boys’ and ‘Club Tropicana’. A youthful George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley were the cool funk/soul boys who, for a time, sang about life on the dole, teenage rebellion, having fun and hitting the clubs. The album went to number one in the UK album charts and made stars of the duo.

Just ten months after the release of ‘Club Tropicana’ – and one legal dispute later – Wham! released ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ on Epic Records. This effervescent pop song is the lead track from Make It Big – an album that is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year – and is one of the most iconic singles released by any band during the 1980s. It reached number one in the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK singles charts (and virtually everywhere else). The next single ‘Careless Whisper’ (credited as a George Michael solo single in the UK, but co-written with Ridgeley) repeated this feat and even on release felt like it had reserved a spot in the history books as an all-time classic single. Wham! had a third consecutive number one in the UK with ‘Freedom’ and a trio of chart-topping singles from Make It Big in America when ‘Everything She Wants’ reached the summit in the USA. As is well documented, the non-album ‘Last Christmas’ should have been the group’s fourth number one in the UK in 1984 but they had to make do with the song peaking at number two (due to ‘Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas’). In the streaming era, ‘Last Christmas’ now tops the UK single chart apparently with ease, on an almost annual basis.

Fantastic highlights the drive and energy of Ridgeley and the fast emerging songwriting talent of Michael, which was all too apparent when the quality and sophistication of Make It Big was plain for all to see, in 1984. Wham! went stratospheric and the spark was only extinguished by choice when, in 1986, George called time on the band that, in the words of Andrew Ridgeley, “was never going to grow up”.

Together, the SDE-exclusive blu-rays of Fantastic and Make It Big tell virtually the entire story of Wham! via the two albums, A-sides, B-sides and rarities. The records have never sounded better and are presented in high resolution and immersive audio; here’s your one opportunity to own the Atmos Mixes – created by original engineer Chris Porter – of the albums and associated bonus tracks as a limited edition physical product!

The blu-ray of Fantastic features the longer version of the album originally issued on CD and cassette with three extra instrumental remixes: ‘A Ray of Sunshine’, ‘Love Machine’ and ‘Nothing Looks the Same in the Light’. Additionally, there are four extra tracks in Dolby Atmos including classic B-side ‘Blue (Armed with Love)’, the UK 12-inch of ‘Young Guns (Go For It)’ and a handful of single versions. On top of that, there are ten further bonus tracks in stereo, including instrumentals, and more remixes. In total, there’s 25 different songs/versions, 16 of which are available in both Atmos and stereo.

Make It Big features the 8-track album in both Atmos and 96/24 stereo and then a further 11 tracks in Dolby Atmos (and stereo) including the 12-inch remixes of ‘Freedom’, ‘Everything She Wants’ and ‘Last Christmas’. There are also Atmos Mixes of the single version of ‘Careless Whisper’ and the alternate single version of ‘Freedom’.

Encouraged by Andrew Ridgeley, George Michael Entertainment and Sony to ‘finish’ the Wham! story with this SDE-exclusive Make It Big blu-ray, we have included the two singles that were released afterwards. This means that the UK chart-toppers from 1985 and 1986 respectively – ‘I’m Your Man’ and ‘The Edge of Heaven’ – both feature in Dolby Atmos (and stereo), as do both ‘Battlestations’ and ‘Where Did Your Heart Go?’

As if that wasn’t enough, there are 10 further bonus tracks in stereo, including the rare 4.45 ‘Pudding Mix Edit’ of ‘Last Christmas’ which has never been officially issued on CD and, from the 12-inch of ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’, ‘A Ray of Sunshine (specially recorded for ‘The Tube’)’ – another track that has never been issued on CD, outside of Japan. All the remixes of ‘I’m Your Man’ feature on this disc, including the alternate 12-inch mix from the US-only mini-album Music From The Edge of Heaven (this version has never been released in the UK) and ‘Blue (Recorded Live in China)’ which was first issued on the 1985 reissue of ‘Last Christmas’. ‘Wham! Rap ’86’ from ‘The Edge of Heaven’ single closes the circle and brings to an end this celebration of Wham! 1983-1986.

Fantastic and Make It Big are numbers 19 and 20 in the ongoing SDE Surround Series of blu-ray audios with Atmos Mixes and both will ship with the free, collectible SDE slipcase. This acclaimed series has delivered some classic 80s albums over the last two years including ABC’s The Lexicon of Love and Tears For Fears The Hurting (both are now out-of-print).

Here’s the now traditional reminder as to why this product is highly recommended:

• It’s the only way to enjoy the Dolby Atmos mix of the albums via a physical product
• You don’t need to sign-up to a streaming service such as Tidal or Apple Music to hear the spatial audio mixes
• The Atmos Mix on the Blu-ray is not compressed due to streaming bandwidth restrictions. The Dolby Atmos version on a Blu-ray is encoded in Dolby TrueHD Atmos and has a bit rate 10 times higher (up to 8000 kbits/s) compared to streaming’s Dolby Digital Plus (768 kbits/s)
• You own the product, you are not renting it from a digital service provider
• The Blu-ray audio is an excellent format for music and you don’t want to see it die off
• Supporting SDE with these initiatives leads to similar collaborations with labels/artists and we are keen to bring your more in the near future!

If you don’t have an Atmos set-up just yet, the Atmos Mixes will ‘fold down’ and still sound great in a 5.1 system. If/when you upgrade, you’ll get the full Atmos experience!

The SDE-exclusive Blu-ray Audios of Fantastic and Make It Big will be available to pre-order for 14 days only and will close on Thursday 22 February 2024. Availability after that cannot be guaranteed, so secure your copy today by pre-ordering at the SDE shop, either directly via this link or using the special SDE shop buy button below. We ship worldwide, no longer have any extra charges to the EU (for orders under €150).

Limited edition one-time pressings of Fantastic and Make It Big on red and white vinyl respectively are also available and can be ordered with the blu-rays via the SDE shop. There’s plenty of cost-saving bundles available depending on which products you want to buy.

The Fantastic and Make It Big blu-rays initiative is a collaboration between SDE and Sony Music and will be released on 26 April 2024 (was 22 March).

TECHNICAL NOTES: This blu-ray audio requires a blu-ray player. Decoding the Dolby Atmos mix requires a Dolby Atmos-certified soundbar or a Dolby Atmos-compatible AV Receiver/Amp. The Dolby Atmos mix will ‘fold down’ to 5.1 or stereo if a Dolby Atmos decoder is not detected.

Tracklisting

Fantastic Wham! / SDE-exclusive blu-ray audio

• • Dolby Atmos & 96/24 Stereo

    1. Bad Boys
    2. A Ray of Sunshine
    3. Love Machine
    4. Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?)
    5. A Ray of Sunshine (Instrumental Remix)
    6. Love Machine (Instrumental Remix)
    7. Club Tropicana
    8. Nothing Looks The Same in the Light
    9. Come On
    10. Young Guns (Go For It!)
    11. Nothing Looks The Same in the Light (Instrumental Remix)

    Bonus tracks in Dolby Atmos & Stereo

    1. Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?) – single version 3.32
    2. Young Guns (Go For It) – single version 3.43
    3. Young Guns (Go For It) UK 12” mix 5.11
    4. Blue (Armed With Love) 3.56

     Bonus tracks in Stereo-only

    1. Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?) [Club Mix] 4.20
    2. Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?) [Social Mix] 6.45
    3. Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?) [Unsocial Mix] 6.38
    4. Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?) [Special Club Remix] 3.05
    5. Young Guns (For For It) – Special US 12” Remix 6.53
    6. Going For It 4.39
    7. Bad Boys (12” Extended Club Mix) 4.58
    8. Bad Boys (instrumental) 3.21
    9. Club Tropicana (instrumental) 3.31
    10. Club Fantastic Megamix 3.57

Tracklisting

Make It Big Wham! / SDE-exclusive blu-ray audio

• • Dolby Atmos & 96/24 Stereo

    1. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go 3.51
    2. Everything She Wants 5.03
    3. Heartbeat 4.44
    4. Like A Baby 4.15
    5. Freedom 5.02
    6. If You Were There 3.39
    7. Credit Card Baby 5.10
    8. Careless Whisper 6.32

    Bonus tracks in Dolby Atmos & Stereo

    1. Careless Whisper (Single Version) 5.03
    2. Freedom (version from The Final) 5.20
    3. Last Christmas 4.26
    4. Everything She Wants (Remix edit) 5.30
    5. Freedom (Long Version) 7.09
    6. Last Christmas (Pudding Mix) 6.45
    7. Everything She Wants (Remix) 6.30
    8. I’m Your Man 4.07
    9. The Edge of Heaven 4.37
    10. Battlestations 5.31
    11. Where Did Your Heart Go? 5.50

     Bonus tracks in Stereo-only

    1. A Ray of Sunshine (specially recorded for ‘The Tube’)
    2. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (instrumental) 4.02
    3. Freedom (instrumental) 5.10
    4. Last Christmas (Pudding Mix Edit) 4.47
    5. I’m Your Man (Extended Stimulation)
    6. Do It Right (Instrumental)
    7. I’m Your Man (Acappella)
    8. Blue (Recorded Live in China)
    9. I’m Your Man (version from Music From The Edge Of Heaven version)
    10. Wham! Rap ’86