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"Bad Boys" is a song by English pop duo Wham! released on 6 May 1983. It was written and co-produced by George Michael, one half of the duo, and released on Innervision Records.
The song is sung from the perspective of a rebellious teenager whose parents are concerned about his late-night activities. Michael, who was only 19 when he composed it (and the character refers to being that age in the song), also penned a middle eight in which the "parents" (Michael putting on more "adult" voices) air their concerns, which include late nights and cigarettes and ultimately asking, "Why do you have to be so cruel?" Michael's father was played by Anthony Souter in the music video, who was 18 and made up to look older. English model Gail Lawson also appears in the video, playing the blonde girl Michael and Andrew Ridgeley are with in a convertible car.
It was the third single to be taken from Wham!'s debut album, Fantastic, and reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart,behind “Every Breath You Take” by The Police, 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.[5] The single was also released in the United States, peaking at number 60. It was the duo's first time on the BillboardHot 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.
^Simpson, Mark (14 February 2014). "1983: The Last Great Year of Pop". Out. Retrieved 9 March 2025. Other 1983 synthpop singles that got played to death either in the common room or in my bedroom included...the surprisingly political "Bad Boys" by Wham...
