Superlatives
A Vulture series in which artists judge the best and worst of their own careers.
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Three of them immediately die dont light up a cigarette at the pump, kids but who cares?
They got to go out listening to the best Wham!
song of all time.
I love that sort of nonsense.
Thats magnificent stuff, Ridgeley says, mid-chuckle, when theclipends.
Its nice that people will always associate it with self-immolation.
Ridgeley and Michael met as schoolmates and went on to forge their respective identities through the success of Wham!
Almost everything came from Andrew, Michael says inWham!archival footage.
Its the way that he defined his art, his record-making, and the artist he ultimately became.
He was a supernova in a firmament of shining stars.
Thats how I would describe his position in the pantheon of greats.
It was possibly unrivaled.
I think that couldve quite easily been a Wham!
track if we had chosen to develop into adulthood.
Its such a wonderful and uplifting pop record with a proper bittersweet lyric at the heart of it.
Although its ultimate sentiment is quite joyous, the physical effect it exerts is also fabulous.
Its such a beautifully made and expressed song.
Its the perfect pop song.
Even our demo recordings are fully formed.
Careless Whisper is the definitive recording, though.
Theres no way you could actually make that record any better than it is.
Its so qualitatively good.
We didnt need anyone else to come and make the records for us.
The recording studio was right there.
We probably didnt, really.
The proof is in the pudding.
We were left alone by the record company.
We werent A&Rd.
The record company was hands-off and remained that way.
Song that got him to believe in himself
His voice developed as Wham!s career evolved.
The tour that we undertook in late 1983 developed his voice.
The tour really facilitated an environment where his vocal ability and confidence in his vocals grew.
But youre going to get some good practice doing the set every night for 30-odd days.
In the documentary, theres footage where Elton John expresses bemusement with that fact.
The industry was not a sacred cow.
The business of writing and making records was serious, but the business of presentation was not.
Whereas it was for some people.
I think people felt Wham!
diminished the art in some ways.
But, you know, theres not a great deal of art in pop music.
I think the respect that he was afforded was, in some quarters, begrudgingly or grudgingly given.
But we never made records to gain the respect of music reviewers or magazines.
We made records for people to listen to.
That was the primary purpose.
I love that in Freedom!
90 he mentions what it was quite explicitly, eloquently, and concisely.
It describes our experience perfectly and two verses are given over to the subject of Wham!
We were aware that we achieved something extraordinary for a mutually held ambition.
Finest live performance
As we say in Blighty, just take your pick.
There were several standout moments for me.
A thing of rare beauty, in actual fact.
Aside from that one, funny enough, what comes to mind was a rehearsal for hisCover to Covertour.
But I was at a rehearsal and he performed What a Fool Believes by the Doobie Brothers.
That is an exceptionally tough vocal to match from Michael McDonald.
His rendition raised the hairs on the back of my neck.
And he did it peerlessly.
I listened to it in the car.
I was traveling with some friends.
It was an extraordinary moment.
His ability to physically illustrate and convey the power and meaning of songs was done with his amazing voice.
Closest you two came to revisiting Wham!
But we resisted the lure of a reunion with steadfastness, because we retired and brought Wham!
His artistic destiny lay beyond Wham!
We understood quite early that one day the constraints that Wham!
imposed upon his songwriting scope were too narrow.
He wouldnt be able to develop fully as an artist within the parameters that Wham!
was that representation and manifestation of our youth.
It was all about the vigor, experience, vitality, and exuberance of youth.
We were no longer young at 23.
We had become young men.
If you look at photos of Yog around 1982, and hes a wholly unremarkable and unprepossessing young chap.
The transformation was complete.
He had become George Michael.
We couldnt drag Wham!
We couldnt drag Wham!
into performing Young Guns (Go for It!)
at the age of 60.
It wasnt ever going to work.
Obviously, the temptation was there for both of us.
Not so much the money, but we enjoyed being onstage together.
Thats why he invited me to perform with him every now and again.
But it wasnt as Wham!
Other people saw Wham!
in it but it was never in an official capacity.
We wouldnt do that to Wham!
It pretty much became an unspoken rule.
We discussed it one time: We cannot reform and we cant appear again as Wham!
Because it wouldve been a betrayal of everything Wham!
stood for, really.
It wasnt to be produced in that fashion.
So we never raised our heads to reunite.
I dont think we were ever really approached to do so, because people knew we wouldnt.
Maybe they just werent interested.
