O.T.: Last Christmas - Wham!

This missed the top 40 by one, so hopefully, it's OK to talk about.... and I'm flabbergasted by what I've found vs. what I remember.

Wikipedia (admittedly not the most reliable source) has "Last Christmas" coming out in four different versions:

1) original '84 7" mix
2) longer but missing a verse on Japanese 12" & Spanish 7"
3) "Pudding Mix," released on 12" in '85
4) Edit of Pudding Mix, as the 7" in '85

They claim the edit of the Pudding Mix is what we find on most digital sources, the full Pudding Mix is available on some digital sources, the original 12" is rare but available, and the original 7" mix is nowhere to be found.

(They also claim the original 7" and 12" both have pieces of the original performance but the full session has never been released... I'm not even going to get into that...)

I looked at my copy of "Last Christmas" and saw it was 4:24, just like the original 7". Yay!

Then I saw the edit of the Pudding Mix was 4:24 as well. Boo!

That led me to look up Last Christmas at Discogs, and to my bewilderment, the discovery that they don't list ANY 7" or 12" releases of "Last Christmas" in the United States... not in '84, not in '85!

Now... C'mon... that CAN'T be right, can it?

The first listing I find for "Last Christmas" on vinyl in the U.S. is "Music From The Edge Of Heaven" released in 1986. It's the last track on the "Cool" (2nd) side... and it's the full Pudding Mix.

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OK, here are my questions:

#1, what is the difference between the original 7" and the edit of the Pudding Mix so I can tell which version I have?

#2, does anybody know of a digital source for the original 7"?

#3, when did Last Christmas first hit our shores?

#4, was the original 7" mix or the edit of the Pudding Mix from '85 the "hit" version in the United States?

Joel Whitburn's "Christmas In The Charts" says "album cut recorded in 1985 and issued as a promotional '45' on Columbia 2591; from the 1997 Australian import album Christmas Wishes on Dino 147." He indicates it hit the Hot 100 in January of 1998. He does not show it hitting the Billboard Christmas chart, which ran from 1983 through 1985, with 10 positions on each chart.

I would have SWORN I was hearing "Last Christmas" on local radio stations on or before Christmas of 1990. I would have thought I would have been hearing it as early as 1984!

Thanks for any insight anybody can provide.

Edited by NightAire

Also, this fun 8-bit version was just released a few days ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPUBkNgVGsw

In trying to sum up Gene, Aaron's, & Wikipedia's info, I think these are all the original versions, but please correct me if I'm wrong:

(1) Original 1984 recording (7" mix) 4:24 - with claps unique to the 1984 mixes, a different edit than other singles, and (to my ears) some unique vocal overdubs. This can be found on the flipside of the UK 1984 7" single "Everything She Wants". CD availability: Never released (according to Wikipedia)

(2) Original 1984 recording (long version, though missing a verse) Time: listed as 4:34 (according to Wikipedia - only 10 seconds longer than short version, but if it's missing a verse, it probably contains other sections not in the short version) - available on Japanese 12" commercial single and Spanish 12" promtional single. CD availability: Unknown but probably non-existent

(3) 1984 Pudding mix 6:47 (remixed version with partly re-recorded and additional vocals) - appears on 1984 & 1985 issued 12" UK singles and "The Final" CD and "If You Were There (Best of Wham)" CD.

(4) 1985 edit of 1984 Pudding Mix 4:24 - appears on 1985 UK 7" single, and can be edited from "The Final" CD by removing removing the first 27 seconds and fading early until the new version clocks in at 4:24. And apparently, this version is on a lot of Various Artist compilation CDs, as well as George Michael's compilation "Twenty Five".

(5) 2007 Remix 5:13 available on 7", 12" and CD (Tent PD45579)

I haven't heard the 2007 remix - and I didn't hear the original 1984 mix until Aaron posted it today (Thank you, Aaron!)

So it sounds like the original 1984 mix, not available on CD in its edited form, is also likely unavailable on CD in its full-length form. That's a shame. It would be great to have this mix on CD in any length. I like the claps in this mix. And given Wham! and George Michael's huge success, I'm actually quite surprised this hasn't surfaced as a bonus cut on any CD anywhere in the world.

Edited by EdisonLite

I was Program Director at KJ-103 in OKC in 1984. We were a very MTV leaning Top 40 station playing a lot of New Wave, so we'd run the syndicated weekend show "Rock over
London". That show included "Last Christmas" by Wham on show 151 in December 1984, which of course I lifted from the show and played for the 1984 Holiday season as a KJ-103
exclusive. (The competitor never found it). So some stations including mine played it in 1984, I thought that by the 1985 Holiday season, EVERYBODY had it, but it could have
been in 1986 when there was at least a promo copy to radio to promote the Edge of Heaven album. As far as a mix difference, I didn't notice a change in mix with the 4:24 promo from
what I played in 1984 but I really wasn't paying attention at the time.

Edited by Bill Cahill

Also anecdotal, my grandma had a Yamaha SHS-10 keytar (keyboard)
circa 1987. I remember playing with it as a kid for at least a year or two
after she got it. The demo it played was "Last Christmas," but at the
time, even as late as 1988/89, I had no idea it was a real song.
Sometime after, I heard the Wham song and recognized the tune. So,
at least in my area, the song probably received very little airplay in the
mid-'80s. Otherwise I surely would've realized the Yamaha demo was
Wham!

Here's a video of the keyboard playing the demo:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yBuucJAOptc

Edited by aaronk