The ReBeL Yell “Everything She Wants (Wham! Cover)”
You can giggle all you want about Wham! (and with tunes like this and pics like this and this and…er, this, it’s extremely hard not to), but don’t act like the boys weren’t capable of delivering some of the finest blue-eyed-soul-esque pop the ’80′s ever produced. “Last Christmas”!?! “Careless Whisper”!?! Even the silly bop of “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” still holds up today as arguably the most perfect-est slab of jubilant soul-pop. But one gem from their heyday tenure that is sadly oft-overlooked once conversation turns to the duo of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley is 1984′s “Everything She Wants”.
Initially released as a double A-side with “Christmas” (perhaps one of the main reasons why it’s usually forgotten about), “Everything She Wants” offered yet another reason why George Michael’s eventual rise to the top of the late ’80′s superstar heap shouldn’t have all been surprising.
Listening to it now, it’s amazing to hear George’s masterful pop-crafting abilities at work in a pre-Faith context: Those synth-funk bubblings, that irresistable post-disco main groove, both a strong lead vocal performance and the engaging vox happenings nestled in the background. And what about the incredible lyrical script, detailing how an at-once ideal romance turns into one man’s worst nightmare as he slowly discovers the paycheck-sapping monster he’s wedded (“Some people work for a living/ Some people work for fun/ Girl, I just work for you/ They told me marriage was a give and take/ Well you’ve shown me you can take/ You’ve got some giving to do”). Then to make things even more depressing, he’s newly discovered that she’s with child, and he handles the news like one would if they’d just been delivered a life sentence to the bowels of Hell.
Thankfully, intriguing new Philly collective The ReBeL Yell is helping to remind the masses of “Everything She Wants” greatness by covering the tune, giving it a nicely subdued electro-soul sheen led off by frontman SupaStar’s cool falsetto notes and smooth rapped lament about being a “personal ATM machine”.
Catch the original Wham! clip below, than snatch up ReBeL’s excellent remake afterward.
ReBeL Yell’s debut album, Love & War, arrives in August via Rapster
DL: “Everything She Wants (Wham! Cover)” (alt)
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