The New York Times has a new article on Chris Smith, the director of the recent Wham! documentary.
The following part of the article had me chuckling:
Hey, there were plenty of us who didn’t turn up our noses at Wham in the 1980s! Two of us started a fan club in the mid-1980s and eventually started this website in the 1990s!
Netflix has added a new video on YouTube with an inside look of the Wham! documentary.
Producers John Battsek and Simon Halfon provide some background information on the making of the documentary WHAM! with Andrew Ridgeley.
You couldn’t have a better best friend than Andrew Ridgeley. He not only encouraged George Michael to start a band, but he also stepped back to let George shine.
The Wham! documentary has been nominated as best documentary at the BAFTA awards which will be on Sunday, February 18, 2024.
Fantastic (sponsored link) and Make It Big (sponsored link) will be released on vinyl on March 22, 2024. It’s the first time in more than 30 years that they have been released on vinyl.
According to Amazon, the track listing for Wham!’s Fantastic (sponsored link) is:
Bad Boys
A Ray of Sunshine
Love Machine
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?)
Club Tropicana
Nothing Looks the Same In the Light
Come On!
Young Guns (Go for It!)
Wham!’s first album, Fantastic debuted at #1 in the UK in 1983 and sold millions of copies worldwide. Fantastic is available on standard weight black vinyl.
According to Amazon, the track listing for Wham!’s Make it Big (sponsored link) is:
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
Everything She Wants
Heartbeat
Like a Baby
Freedom
If You Were There
Credit Card Baby
Careless Whisper
Wham!’s second album, Make It Big was released in 1984. It is available with the US cover on standard weight black vinyl.
Andrew Ridgeley said: “It’s a wonderful testament to the enduring nature of Wham!’s music that our legions of loyal fans and the younger cohorts of music fans desire to own the music in their original formats.”
George Michael Entertainment added: “We are delighted that these two classic albums are once again available on vinyl for a whole new generation to enjoy.”
Will you be buying Fantastic or Make It Big on vinyl? Let us know in the comments!
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“It will be the story of Wham! from the early days right the way through to their huge success as one of the biggest bands of the 1980s,” said a source.
“It is very early days but the film is in production and they are casting at the moment for actors to take the role of George.”
“There are several people sniffing around my Wham! film,” he said, “but I’m not sure any of them will come off because they all require Wham! music in them and George controls that. He will have the yes or no on each script presented. George would want control.”
The film, which would concentrate on the band’s heyday from 1983 – 1985, is said to be budgeted at £50m, though it’s unclear whether this would include a fee for music copyright. Michael has yet to comment.
Jazz Summers, a former Wham! manager along with Simon Napier Bell, has a new book entitled Big Life.
The Daily Mail has an excerpt of the book, which details how Summers made the “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” video shoot look bigger than it was and how George Michael usually only responded to the name “Yog” when drunk.
Today, a spokesman for George Michael has issued a statement saying that no such reunion is being planned. ‘I wish I could say it was true but these are just rumours. George is touring on his own and he is releasing an album. Yes, this is a denial.’
The Hollywood Reporter is also reporting:
Michael’s longtime manager tells The Hollywood Reporter that the rumor is just that and there is “no truth” to the story.
The Mirror is saying that George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley are planning a “one-off pop extravaganza” to mark the 30th anniversary of their first hit, “Wham Rap.”
If you’ve been following George Michael for any length of time, you know that the Wham! reunion story comes around every few years and nothing comes of it. This story is probably a spinoff from George Michael’s comments yesterday about his new song “White Light” premiering on British radio on June 29, 2012, which is 30 years to the day when “Wham Rap” premiered on the British charts.
Still, the Mirror is saying:
“They probably won’t do a long tour or release new material like Take That but they do want to commemorate the event with a big gig… and an even bigger party afterwards!
“Things are still in the early stages but everybody is getting really excited about it.”
I also just discovered that Pepsi and Shirlie’s All Right Now has been reissued. I have been waiting years for this because I still had it on cassette!
And if you’re a big Pepsi and Shirlie fan like I am, make sure to check out:
Teenager George Michael was inspired by Britain’s early 80s recession to write a song about the upside of being on the dole. Contending that unemployment provided free time to immerse oneself in London’s booming club culture, Wham Rap! was rather subversive. It was also one of the first British pop singles to avail itself of the still new hip-hop style, and if Michael’s rhyming skills were the essence of Englishness, they seemed cool at the time.
Wham!’s former manager Simon Napier-Bell is in talks with movie producers about bringing their story to the big screen but thinks that George Michael will put a stop to it.
“There are several people sniffing round about a Wham! film but I’m not sure any of them will come off because they all require Wham! music in them and George controls that,” said Napier-Bell.