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"Young Guns (Go for It)" (also listed as "Young Guns (Go for It!)" on some releases) is a song by English pop duo Wham! first released as a single in the UK by Innervision Records on 17 September 1982. Written and co-produced by George Michael, the song became Wham!'s first hit both in the UK and internationally after the BBC music programme Top of the Pops invited the duo onto the show as a last-minute replacement for another act which had pulled out, as the show's then-executive producer Michael Hurll had seen them on another programme, Saturday Superstore.
Composition
Michael wrote the song about a teenage boy's worry that his best friend is getting too committed to a girl when he should be enjoying his youth and the single life. It features a middle eight aside in which the girl conversely tries to get her boyfriend to ditch the best friend, prompting a vocal battle, akin to a tug of war, between the girlfriend and the best friend, which prompted the 'go for it' aspect of the song, as featured in the title.
Top of the Pops
Wham! were just outside the top 40 threshold of the UK Singles Chart when they were invited to perform on Top of the Pops, which meant they had not climbed high enough in normal circumstances to get on the show, but they were recruited nonetheless as the highest-placed artists still climbing the charts from outside the top 40. On Top of the Pops, Michael mimed the vocals to his Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley, who acted the part of the teenage bridegroom-in-waiting. They were flanked by backing singers Dee C Lee and Shirlie Holliman.
The original recording does not feature the voices of Lee or Holliman but that of American backing singer Lynda Hayes.
Chart performance
The song entered the chart initially at number 72, went up to number 48 the following week, then dropped to number 52 before jumping to number 42. Their appearance on Top of the Pops broke the record wide open and on the following Monday the distribution centre received some thirty thousand orders, sending the record to number 24 before it eventually peaked at number 3 in November 1982.
