Wrap Her Up
"Wrap Her Up" is a song by English rock performer Elton John, featured on his 1985 album, Ice on Fire. George Michael is featured on the song. Released as a single, it reached number 12 in the UK Singles Chart,[1] number 22 on the Australian Singles Chart,[2] number 26 in Canada on the RPM Top Singles chart and number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[3]
"Wrap Her Up" | ||||
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Single by Elton John | ||||
from the album Ice on Fire | ||||
Released | October 1985 | |||
Recorded | January 1985 | |||
Genre | Pop rock | |||
Length | 6:04 | |||
Label | Geffen (US) Rocket (UK) | |||
Songwriter(s) | Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Charlie Morgan, Paul Westwood, Davey Johnstone, Fred Mandel | |||
Producer(s) | Gus Dudgeon | |||
Elton John singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Wrap Her Up" on YouTube |
George Michael was quoted at the time in Smash Hits magazine that "it sounded like I had my willy in a garotte" because of the falsetto he sings throughout the song.
The song is notable for the number of famous women's names dropped toward the end of the song, including Kiki Dee, who had duetted with Elton on the hit song "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" in 1976, and also provided background vocals for "Wrap Her Up." The rest of the list includes (in order) Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, Doris Day, Billie Jean King, Samantha Fox, Joan Collins, Katharine Hepburn, Vivien Leigh, Grace Jones, Priscilla Presley, Vanessa Williams, Dusty Springfield, Nancy Reagan, Rita Hayworth, Madonna (as "Material Girl"), Julie Andrews, Superwoman, Annie Lennox, Mata Hari, Anouska Hempel, Shirley Temple, Tallulah Bankhead, Linda Lovelace, Little Eva, Nastassja Kinski, Princess Caroline of Monaco, Pat Fernandez (a close friend of George Michael who appeared in two Wham! videos), and Elsie Tanner.
A music video was recorded for the song, which was directed by Russell Mulcahy, and featured John and George Michael, as well as Kiki Dee and John's backing band. The video was featured in the video compilation version of The Very Best of Elton John in 1990, but the song was not included on any formats of the audio release edition of the compilation. The music video version of the song is abridged, with a running time of 4 minutes 11 seconds, almost two minutes shorter than the album version.
Personnel
- Elton John – vocals
- George Michael – vocals
- Davey Johnstone – electric guitar, backing vocals
- Paul Westwood – bass guitar
- Fred Mandel – keyboards, sequencers
- Charlie Morgan – drums
- David Bitelli – tenor and baritone saxophones
- Paul Spong – trumpets
- Raul D'oleivera – trumpets
- Rick Taylor – trombone
- Phil Todd – alto saxophone
- James Newton Howard – string arrangements
- Kiki Dee – backing vocals
- Katie Kissoon – backing vocals
- Pete Wingfield – backing vocals
References
- "Elton John - full Official Chart History - Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 Singles 1986". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
- "Elton John Wrap Her Up Chart History". Retrieved 25 April 2018.