Wham! – The Edge Of Heaven (Japan 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1986

“The Edge of Heaven” is a song by English pop duo Wham!, released on Epic Records in 1986. It was written and produced by George Michael, one half of the duo, and was promoted in advance as Wham!’s farewell single.

With the known desire of George Michael to move into a more adult market, Wham! had announced in the spring of 1986 that Michael and his musical partner Andrew Ridgeley would go their separate ways after a farewell single, album and concert. The album was called The Final and the concert was held in front of 72,000 fans at London’s Wembley Stadium on Saturday 28 June 1986. Prior to the official release date of the single, the song had been performed during their 1985 “Whamamerica!” tour.

The single, a five-minute tale of emotional and physical frustration within a relationship, was a slick and upbeat — albeit harder-edged than earlier works — a pop tune which became the fourth and final No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart (and the final US Top Ten hit, reaching #10) for the duo. Elton John, a friend of Michael and Ridgeley, played piano on the track.

Michael has said the lyrics to the song were “deliberately and overtly sexual, especially the first verse”. The reason for this, he says, was he thought no one would care “because no one listens to a Wham! lyric. It had got to that stage.”

Epic released a double record set in the UK, with an updated version of Wham!’s early signature song “Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)” on the flip of disc one, and two new songs – “Battlestations” and a cover of the Was (Not Was) song “Where Did Your Heart Go?”—on the flip of the second disc. “Where Did Your Heart Go?” was later given equal billing and reached a lowly position in the UK Top 40 as a result.

In the United States, “The Edge of Heaven” was backed with a live version of “Blue” from Wham!’s tour of China. “Where Did Your Heart Go?” was released separately as the follow-up and the fourth and last single from Music from the Edge of Heaven (the shortened American version of The Final), and charted at #50 (backed with “Wham! Rap ’86”).

**As a special bonus track, I have added the mega-rare “Extended Edit” of “Battlestations” which should have been released as a single in my opinion. The track is remixed and edited by Steven Bourasa for the Hot Tracks remix service.

SIDE A:
The Edge Of Heaven 4:31
Written-By – G. Michael*

SIDE B:
Where Did Your Heart Go? 5:41
Written-By – Don Was & Dave Was*

BONUS TRACK:
Battlestations (Extended Edit) 6:36
Edited By – Steven Bourasa*

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year Single Chart Position
1986 The Edge Of Heaven U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #10
1986 The Edge Of Heaven U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary #22

 

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Epic ‎– 12・3P-748
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single
Country: Japan
Released: 21 Jul 1986
Genre: Electronic, Pop
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Engineer – Chris Porter
Producer, Arranged By – George Michael

NOTES:
Special thanks to Elton for The Edge Of Heaven

“Battlestations” taken from Hot Tracks Series 5, Issue 11

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
DAC/Phono Pre-amp:
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 USED:
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

Username: btg
Password: burningtheground

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Eddie
Eddie
March 22, 2020 12:57 pm

BOOM! Love this song and this remix…“Battlestations” taken from Hot Tracks Series 5, Issue 11

ING
ING
March 18, 2020 11:28 am

OH MY thanks for that BATTLESTATIONS especially…it’s my all-time fave WHAM! track (actually probably in the top 10 GM tracks of all time as well) and I WHOLE HEARTEDLY AGREE…needed to be a SINGLE!!!

Jermajesty
Jermajesty
March 18, 2020 10:59 am

Fantastic Paul! I love your Japanese Wham! posts.

I’m still halfway through the Andrew Ridgely autobiography (I’m a slow reader!) – have you read it? It’s a great insight into their friendship.

I never realised before how independent and in control they were of their band, much more so than their contemporaries, I think. I know it doesn’t need saying, but George really was a genius. He couldn’t even really play any instruments to any great degree, but still managed to write and produce these amazing sounding records.

Peter
Peter
March 18, 2020 10:26 am

Thank you very much, Paul! I’m a huge fan of George. This Japan LP really perfect!

Jeff
Jeff
March 18, 2020 8:15 am

Sorry I’m late on commenting Paul. Thank you for this. And I’m truly grateful for the Steve Bourasa Hot Tracks remix. It’s these additions to your postings that make me jump for joy. Steve was great and you do have examples of his work on your site too. I’m just so happy to “cocoon” myself within the music I love so much for a little escape from the world right now. This is truly great with the work you do. Thanks for being my/or Sanctuary again.

Best,

Jeff

Matt
Matt
March 18, 2020 2:01 am

This is great Paul. I always loved Battlestations and never knew if this version.

Fred
Fred
March 17, 2020 9:59 pm

Thanks, Paul! I’m late to this posting but hopefully you will see my addition.

This is one of those songs that nobody knows the Title. 🙂 The song is almost like a non-stop chorus and very catchy.

As others have said, I greatly appreciate your postings during this crazy time in the USA (and elsewhere around the world) with the coronavirus. Have a great night!

Dave
Dave
March 17, 2020 9:12 pm

Thank you so much Paul. Music is all that is keeping me sane right now.

Joey
Joey
March 17, 2020 6:54 pm

Thank you Paul for another great Wham! post. I really liked the post Make it Big era for Wham!. George was on a real creative high, and in some respects I think the tension of being in a group and trying to be different was a good foil for him that made his music especially good. In some respects it reminds me of Paul Weller in the last stages of The Jam, where the tension of trying to get out of the group that made him famous made the music even better, anger and tension is good for art, just… Read more »

Conner
Conner
March 17, 2020 5:06 pm

THANK YOU! Particularly for the Battlestations addition, which, I agree, should have been a single. I actually would have done it as the follow up to Different Corner (with Edge being the first single and I’m Your Man being the final single). After seeing Whamamerica! in Oakland, that summer 1985, I was ready for Edge of Heaven for a fall release.

Regardless, you are awesome. Thanks!

Conner
Conner
Reply to  DjPaulT
March 17, 2020 5:37 pm

I definitely count it as a special experience. I hope you are well and healthy and thank you as always.

Kosta
Kosta
March 17, 2020 4:12 pm

Great rip Paul, Wham! was my 80s favourite group my early teen days. R.I.P. George

transito
transito
March 17, 2020 2:05 pm

tremendous theme of this duo, which marked a good time of the 80s, unfortunately we are no longer campaigned by george, who gave mysticism to pop music

Meddows
Meddows
March 17, 2020 1:37 pm

Thank you! It’s a great choice of music for today.

Paul, you have this version… Freddie Mercury – I Was Born to Love You (Disconet Mix)?
https://www.discogs.com/ru/Various-Volume-7-Program-11/release/1280936

OMAR
OMAR
March 17, 2020 12:09 pm

thanks Paul. It’s strange that all these Japanese releases had exclusive versions of tracks that were otherwise hard to find.

Ian
Ian
Reply to  OMAR
March 17, 2020 5:21 pm

?? Both tracks on this I think are the ‘normal’ versions…?

Song And Dance
Song And Dance
March 17, 2020 12:08 pm

I was never THAT fond of The Edge of Heaven but Battlestations and Where Did Your Heart Go I´ve always loved. Great extra with the extended edit, Paul. Thank you.