I Can’t Play ‘Whamageddon’ Because I Just Love ‘Last Christmas’ Too Damn Much

Jeff Pfeiffer December 3, 2024

image from the music video for — © 1984 CBS Records/Screenshot from youtube.com/@WhamVEVO

**George Michael in the music video for Wham!'s "Last Christmas"**

I was going to begin this post with a big, bolded SPOILER ALERT warning anyone playing the “Whamageddon” game that they will encounter “Last Christmas” by Wham! several times below. Just to save them from tears.

(In Whamageddon, players try to go as long as they can between Dec. 1 and 25 without hearing “Last Christmas”).

But you know what? Forget it! I’m not going to coddle people who purposely go out of their way to avoid hearing one of the most enjoyable, brilliant and catchiest holiday bangers ever written just for the sake of getting a little short-lived cred in an online game.

Besides, you’ll only hear the song if you click “play” on the videos that follow below. Surely it’s simple enough to avoid that little temptation, isn’t it?

Ah … but you know that it isn’t quite that simple, don’t you?

That’s okay; if you succumb to the temptation of clicking on the videos and listening to “Last Christmas” at any point in this post and end up experiencing Whamageddon, those of us who have achieved the enlightenment of Whamvana will, in our graciousness, allow you to join us in Whamadise (or Whamtopia, if you prefer). Here in this wondrous realm, we listen to “Last Christmas” with wild abandon, as many times in a row as we like — even all year long, if we choose!

cover of the 1984 single "Last Christmas." Singers Andrew Ridgeley is on right, dressed as a reindeer with a red nose; on right is singer George Michael, wearing a Santa hat and carrying an armload of wrapped presents.

I’ll give people playing Whamageddon the benefit of the doubt and assume they are doing so not because they hate “Last Christmas” and think it’s terrible (although some misguided souls might), but rather in an ironic, tongue-in-cheek way, given how ubiquitous the George Michael-penned song has become on radio stations during the holiday season ever since its release on Dec. 3, 1984.

A No. 1 single in the U.K. when it first came out (it hit No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 3 on Billboard’s Holiday 100), the song has been a multiple-platinum-seller across the world and continues to hit charts to some degree around Christmastime.

(By the way, “Last Christmas” was Side 1 of a double A-side release; on Side 2 was “Everything She Wants,” which also became a hit for Wham!)

But if it was just a matter of the song being overplayed on radios and almost everywhere else during the holidays, then this sort of game could be (and maybe is?) played with Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime,” Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” or any number of other songs that really end up overstaying their welcomes by Dec. 25 (if not sooner).

Band Aid 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' Singers

One big British star couldn't make the recording session, but one American group did!

Remind

The ironic appreciation for “Last Christmas” might come from the official music video for the song, which is filled with ‘80s goodness.

In the video, Michael and Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley accompany a bunch of their other sexy-looking pals for a group weekend up into the mountains for a cozy, snowy getaway. But drama unfolds as the viewer sees something between Michael’s character and one of the women on the getaway, and we see flashbacks to “Last Christmas”:

The video above, posted about 15 years ago, has over 930 million views as of this writing. I’m certain it will reach 1 billion views eventually (I might even contribute 1 million extra views myself). While it is not the ‘80s-est-looking video I’ve ever seen, that aspect maybe plays some role in “Last Christmas” experiencing ironic enjoyment among some.

There’s nothing ironic about my enjoyment of “Last Christmas,” however. If I was the type who liked listening to any holiday music right after Halloween, I would gladly play the song 25 times in a row at least on Nov. 1.

But I do have my limits for Christmas music, no matter how good it is; I usually get in the mood around Thanksgiving, then gradually lose that mood somewhere between Dec. 25 and Dec. 31, as I ease myself away from radio stations playing 24-hour holiday tunes and my own digital playlist, which easily has a few thousand Christmas songs that I’ve collected over many years.

Between those date bookends, I’m all about holiday music, especially “Last Christmas.”

And I’ll listen to the song in any form:

– I love the original, heard above.

– I love the original played on an hourlong repeat, as heard below. I haven’t watched this whole video (yet), but I’m figuring that, since the song is roughly about four-and-a-half minutes long, this video should feature the song about 14 times back-to-back (that’s a good start!):

– I love that the original video has recently been captioned using British Sign Language:

– I love the various extended versions of that original I’ve heard, like this one:

– I love just hearing the instrumentals and the backup vocal track from the original:

– I love the many slowed-down versions of the original that people have made on YouTube, like this one:

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– I love this medieval-style “bardcore” version:

– I love the “chiptune” versions I’ve heard, like this one that makes it sound like “Last Christmas” is playing on an Atari 2600 game or something (which is fitting, given the song’s 1984 birthdate):

– I’m not big into Taylor Swift (please don’t report me to the Swifties) but I do love her cover of “Last Christmas”:

– I even love this oompah-and-dance-infused cover of “Last Christmas” by this Dutch duo:

“Last Christmas” has also been covered by many other artists in many different ways over the years, and I enjoy the ones I’ve heard.

I think that is a testament to how entertaining the original is, and why people should embrace it and enjoy it fully each December.

Hell, enjoy it all year long if you are so inclined. Crank it up at the beach in June!

Take a cue from these folks who have also gotten into the anti-Whamageddon spirit: