Ever Hear the Original Version of Wham’s “Careless Whisper?”

Around the time he was busking on the London Tube and playing in a ska band called The Executive, 17-year-old George Michael wrote a song called “Careless Whisper,” which, in a few years, would be one of Wham’s biggest singles.

But like a lot of hits, it didn’t emerge fully formed. The first version was recorded with producer Jerry Wexler at the famous Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama. The results were…all right, but the more he listened to it, the more he thought he could do better. Once back in England, he re-recorded it himself. That became the hit version.

The Wexler recording was eventually released as a “special version” on the B-side of a British and UK 12-inch. But just in case you missed that…