How one prospers the other!

Wham! (Documentary; 2023)
Director: Chris Smith

This documentary is a poignant one. It plucks the heartstrings of many a child of the 80s. Those who grew to appreciate British Invasion music of the 80s of pop-sync, thick hair days and gaudy attire will indeed have wet eyes reminiscing the times when the duo Wham! hit the airwaves and the night market compilation cassettes.

It was a time when young girls used to go gaga over George Michael (aka Georgio Panayiotou @Yogh) 's hair, musculature and Colgate white dentition and Cypriot looks. Die-hard fans of Wham! or rabid fans of George Michael's would all be too familiar with the genesis of their collaboration; for me, this knowledge comes 40 years too late.

This Netflix documentary is done in a captivating way, avoiding too many current interviews of famous reminiscing about the good old times. Instead, it uses scrapbook format and old footage of Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael in the 80s and 90s when they slowly climbed the ladder of superstardom.

Their friendship started at 12 when George landed as a bespectacled shy immigrant student who found it hard to get into the school crowd. George somehow found the company in Andrew, also partially immigrant, the happy-go-lucky frequent prankster. George looked up at Andrew and slowly built confidence. Over the years, they found commonality in music. One thing led to another. George started composing songs, and the free and easy Andrew just tagged along. Unlike Andrew, George had big ambitions and somehow grew too big for a duo teen bop band and started a solo career.

This documentary ends with their 1986 amicable and emotional farewell concert in Wembley Stadium. George Michael's issues with his sexuality and brushes with the media and police had not surfaced then. Afar as the world was concerned, here was a young, highly talented music composer - songwriter and performer dying to unleash his talents to the world. He was a darling of the press and paparazzi until they came and bit his behind in years to come.

Imagine from Andrew Ridgeley's point of view. There was an awkward new boy, George, who used to look up at him and follow him around in and out of school. Slowly George built confidence and found his footing in what he wanted to do in life. Maybe it was Andrew's prodding. Together, they had a jolly good time. They went places and did things. They reached heights that low, middle class boys like themselves in the grey, economically gloomy Thatcherian times can dream of. They had it good when the going what was good. He unleashed the superstar buried within George, and the bird had to fly off the nest to explore newer pastures.

P.S. Wham!'s first record stirred the interest of the British public when their song 'Wham! Rap!' spoke about the ludicrous British welfare system, which could not create jobs for the youngsters but paid them dole instead to enjoy life. They expressed their grief in a piece of then-controversial music called 'rap', which was banned in many radio stations in America.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.