80: 80's 19: Pepsi & Shirlie

Following on from the song below by Deon Estus here's the other great Wham! connected hit. In 1987 Pepsi & Shirlie got to number 2 in the UK for 2 weeks with their debut single Heartache. It is perfect pop and their follow up single Goodbye Stranger was also a worthy top ten hit when it got to number nine. There were three other singles released from their album All Right Now but none of them got further than number 50. The single sleeve for Heartache is also a fabulously 80's image. Heartache was also produced by Phil Fearon who had several hits of his own both with Galaxy and as a solo artist including Dancing Tight in 1983 and I Can Prove It in 1986. Now you know! The weather was proper summer today here in Dublin and Heartache is an ideal song for the sun.

80: 80's 18: Deon Estus

In my top 5 favourite pop artists or bands from the 1980's Wham! are always going to be in that list. When George and Andrew went their separate ways and their legacy to pop was their three great albums it marked the beginning of George's great career as a solo artist. His solo career had really begun in 1984 with Careless Whisper which was credited as Wham! featuring George Michael in the USA which I always found amusing as every fan knows that George was and always will be Wham!. George did guest vocals on several songs many of which I love. I think Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me with Elton is my least favourite, I prefer Wrap Her Up which is both ridiculous and ridiculously catchy. Does anyone remember Learn to Say No which he recorded with Jody Watley which features on her debut album?

Wham!'s backing singers and dancers Pepsi and Shirlie had two wonderful pop hits Heartache and Goodbye Stranger but another artist who has a connection with Wham! also had a big hit in the late 1980's. That person was Deon Estus who was the bassist on most of Wham!'s songs and he went on their wonderful and historic tour of China with them. His album Spell is pictured above and the song Heaven Help Me was a top 5 Billboard hit in 1989. George sung backing vocals on the song. While George's voice adds to the song enormously it never overshadow's Deon's voice. I love the flow of the line 'heaven help, heaven help, heaven, heaven help me'. Gorgeous. What a beautiful name Deon Estus is too. Here's the video for Heaven Help Me.