'WHAM!' -- Documentary Review
Friday, July 7, 2023 at 02:12PM Earlier this week, Netflix dropped a new documentary called WHAM! The film is a look at the British pop sensation created by Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael in the early 1980s.
The film is directed by Chris Smith.
Based on a true friendship – a brotherhood – the documentary uses the voices of both Michael and Ridgeley to recall their childhoods, upbringing and joint obsession with music.
The interviews of Ridgeley are current. The audio of Michael is taken from past interviews before his death on Christmas Day in 2016.
The interviews are so parallel, it’s hard to tell them apart, timewise. Both George and Andrew recall their childhoods and early rise to fame – and mega stardom – with such vivid recollection, it is easy to forget that Andrew is answering questions so many years after George. Of course, there is archival footage including lots of never-before-seen moving video and photos. A big boon to WHAM! is all the scrapbooks Ridgeley’s mom kept of the boys are they embarked on their band. Each important milestone is marked by a new book and you get to see little snippets of it, with press clippings and photos and such. You’ll hear Ridgeley’s voice say “Book 21!” and suddenly see press clippings of him out on the town with the woman of the week. That must have been odd for his mother.
As the documentary goes on, the viewer gets a firsthand look at the internal struggles George Michael faced everyday as a gay man in an early 80s-homophobic-and-AIDS-terrified world. Both he and Andrew had girls chasing them down everywhere they went. Plus, there was never-ending press frenzy about the two good-looking young men. So when George came out to Andrew and the tiny circle around WHAM!, it was decided to keep the information private. The number one reason, though, was that George didn’t want his dad to find out. That caused a heavy burden.
On the music side of things, Andrew Ridgeley was the one who really pressed George to start a band. Andrew’s goal was to become a famous musician in a band. Period. In the beginning, he wrote songs right alongside George. As WHAM! progressed, George assumed all the songwriting duties. He was evolving as a person and musician and his songs were getting too deep for WHAM! and thus a massive solo career was born. Because WHAM! was a band built on fun and youth, they called it quits after just a few years at the top of the charts. By the time the band retired, Ridgeley was ready for it to be over. His goals were achieved: he was a famous musician and he wanted to be left alone. He knew George was destined for more great things. As a true best friend, he was always willing to stand back and do what was best for George. Ending WHAM! turned out to be the best thing for both George and Andrew.
It is not lost on me the irony of WHAM! having such a successful – and short – career. When it was decided to call it quits, the band announced a special final concert at Wembley, aptly called The Final. There wasn’t a three-year long farewell tour. There were no contracts promising to never tour again as WHAM! There were just honest interviews and quotes from both Andrew and George about how WHAM! is a band for young folks, by young folks. There would be no “middle aged” WHAM! It is hard to imagine a hugely popular musical act bowing out so early these days.
A special highlight of WHAM! is the part of the documentary that looks at the duo’s historic trip and performances in China. WHAM! were the first western rock act to perform in Beijing (then also known as Peking) and Guangzhou. That trip was massive for both China and also for WHAM! and breaking into America, because the press coverage was so heavy. There are behind-the-scenes shots of the media interviews, which is a very fly-on-the-wall sort of thing. After a live shot via satellite with an American news affiliate, the duo answers a couple questions, the interview ends and Andrew quips, “Ok let’s hit the streets!” Afterall, WHAM! were young, rich and handsome. It was time to party.
WHAM! is a short watch and totally fun. The throwback clothes and hair are a laugh riot. The music brought back a lot of great memories for me and filled my heart with happiness. Not bad for 90 minutes of entertainment.