WHAM!
UK, 2023, 92 minutes, Colour.
George Michael, Andrew Ridgely.
Directed by Chris Smith.
With the release of this documentary, it was the 40th anniversary of the four-year successful career of the group, WHAM!. George Michael had a very successful career afterwards as a singer, for more than 20 years. Andrew Ridgely, on the other hand, tried his hand at various fields, including racing car driver.
The director is Chris Smith who has made documentaries on Richard Branson, life and career of Robert Downey senior and the Disappearance of Madeline McCann.
There are two principal approaches to appreciating this film which has been put together from archives and news footage, home video from the time when the two were boys at school, the early compositions, singing in clubs, moving to footage of their success, interviews both singly and together, touring the United States, the significant tour of China, and their participation in Life Aid – leading up to the decision to break up WHAM!
The first is the approach of those who were and are fans of WHAM! This audience will want to see George and Andrew, what they were like when they were young, their motivations, Andrew agreeable and supporting George, George with his Greek background, and some scenes of his proud father, their contacts, school contacts with producers, their opportunities, their initial records, the two in their early 20s. And, then there are their songs, attention given to the origins of Tropicana as well as the amusing repetition in the apologetic note about being late, the word ‘up’ twice, leading to when you go-go! This audience will be not too concerned about background details, rather enjoying the performances, the US, and, especially, their being the first pop group to travel and perform in China. And George Michael is up there with the greats, Bob Geldof, Freddie Mercury… at Live Aid.
The second approach is more sociological, reflections on the music scene in Britain from the 1970s, the influence of punk rock, the status of rock ‘n’ roll, contemporary groups (in the culmination in Live Aid). There is the social background of the two, families, school, friendships, music, the way that the two connected and stayed friends, Andrew standing back for George to have the prominence. The film also highlights the social situations in England, in London, race issues and riots of the early 1980s, the Thatcher era.
The two were fortunate to have such great success at an early age, looking at the background of the recording industry, the producers, clubs and performances, tours, the charts. It is surprising to see how quickly the two were successful, the hits, the response in the United States, the fans and crowds, memories of 20 years earlier with the Beatles. And there is the significance of the tour of China, the status of China in the mid-80s, after the Cultural Revolution, and the surprise of seeing so many Chinese fans (and their adoption of Western culture and fandom). And it was significant that the two appeared in Live Aid.
One of the key issues, especially in his personal life and career is George Michael’s sexual orientation. There are some quotations from George in the interviews, acknowledging his orientation, letting Andrew know, but the issue of keeping it from the fans. (The film does not go into George Michael’s subsequent life, relationships, arrests and charges, which the audience knows of but there is no further information.)
So, there is an exuberance in the songs and performance, amazement that WHAM!’s success was achieved before each of them reached the age of 25. And there is the interest in what they contributed to the British music scene, the world music scene in the musical culture of the 1980s.
