WHAM - Fantastic - Red Vinyl - Reissue

Fantastic is the debut studio album by the English pop duo Wham!, originally released on July 1, 1983. Here at The Definitely Maybe, we proudly present the reissue of this classic album, pressed on beautiful red vinyl. It achieved the remarkable feat of reaching number one on the UK Albums Chart. The album includes the previously released singles "Young Guns," "Wham Rap!," and "Bad Boys," with "Club Tropicana" released as a single to coincide with the album's debut. Notably, "Club Fantastic Megamix," a medley of songs from the album, was released against the band's wishes by Innervision soon after Fantastic, during the band's proceedings to leave the label.

Andrew Ridgeley, in his 2019 book Wham! George and Me, revealed that during the early stages of writing and recording Fantastic, he and George Michael agreed that Michael should take sole responsibility for writing the group's material. While they had written songs together before securing their first record deal and making their initial demos, it became evident that Michael was the superior songwriter. Ridgeley acknowledged that it wasn't necessarily his preference, but it was the necessary step for achieving the success they both desired. Two new songs, "Golden Soul" and "Soul Boy," initially written by Michael and Ridgeley for the album, were replaced by tracks written and arranged by Michael, as the duo deemed the former compositions unsatisfactory.

The album also features a hidden track played on a honky-tonk-style piano after the final 20 seconds of "Young Guns (Go for It!)."

In the US, the album was originally released under the group name "WHAM! U.K.," due to a conflict with another US group sharing the same name (Columbia BFC-38911).