Burning The Ground Exclusive 1983

NEW 2023 Transfer
NEW Meticulous Audio Restoration

Originally posted March 18, 2014

“Bad Boys” is a song by English pop duo Wham! which was a hit in 1983. It was written and co-produced 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 Michael 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” (Michael 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?”. Michael’s father was played by Anthony Souter who was 18 and made up to look older.

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, a “soul boy – dole boy” theme. 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-one singles the duo would enjoy. Michael 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 The Best of Wham!: If You Were There…, despite the album including tracks that were not released as singles.

Also of note the 12″ Mix was omitted from the 2023 The Singles (Echoes From The Edge Of Heaven) CD single box set.

SIDE A:
Bad Boys (12″ Mix) 4:58

SIDE B:
Bad Boys (Instrumental) 3:25

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Columbia – 44-03933, Innervision Records (2) – 44-03933
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Single
Country: US
Released: 1983
Genre: Pop/Rock
Style: Pop/Rock, Synth-pop

CREDITS:

• Arranged By, Co-producer – George Michael
• Engineer – Tony Taverner
• Mastered By – Greg Calbi
• Photography By – Chris Craymer
• Producer – Steve Brown
• Written-By – G. Michael*

NOTES:
Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Pitman
Mastered At – Sterling Sound
Mastered At – Customatrix

Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

THE GEAR:
Turntable: Technics SL-1200MK7
Cartridge/Stylus:  Ortofon 2M Black PnP MkII
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro Spin Acrylic Mat
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
Tubes: Genalex Gold Lion 12AX7 ECC83/B759 Gold Pins Vacuum Tube – Matched Pair
DAC: Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner

SOFTWARE:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

**24bit FLAC Only Available For Seven Days!

Password: burningtheground

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