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Telly addicts

Wham - netflix doc

155 replies

Forestdweller11 · 05/07/2023 18:07

Anyone watched it? Any good?

OP posts:
GellerYeller · 09/07/2023 17:21

I didn’t appreciate Wham! enough at their peak although I had a few of their records. My kids both know of them(beams proudly). The documentary is well worth a watch. Andrew said that ‘George didn’t know who he was yet and I was always very sure who I was’ or words to that effect.
Andrew seems a very grounded person, so generous about George’s obvious and impending success that would have to end the band. He could be bitter about his treatment in the press as the ‘untalented one’ at the time, but he doesn’t seem so. Of course he was anything but and rightly recognised by George for his contribution.
They both deserve to be in the Hall of Fame in my opinion. A perfect pop band.

Meredusoleil · 09/07/2023 17:28

ComputerInitiateJump · 09/07/2023 15:41

I was a young teen in the early 80s too. Such an amazing time to be growing up and so many amazing bands to worship. I can distinctly remember seeing Duran Duran's Reflex video for the first time and totally and utterly falling in love with Simon Le Bon. My little group of friends at school the next day were crying about how much we all loved him 😆
Then along came Madonna!
We were very lucky.

I agree. I only wish I had been able to see Wham or GM live in concert before he died 😔

Twonewcats · 09/07/2023 19:04

ComputerInitiateJump · 09/07/2023 15:41

I was a young teen in the early 80s too. Such an amazing time to be growing up and so many amazing bands to worship. I can distinctly remember seeing Duran Duran's Reflex video for the first time and totally and utterly falling in love with Simon Le Bon. My little group of friends at school the next day were crying about how much we all loved him 😆
Then along came Madonna!
We were very lucky.

I was a 1973 baby so also gre up.with some quality times. I always say life changed irreversibly after 9/11.
There was a fabulous carefree life beforehand, then suspicion and worry since. Also, 80s movies are so fluffy, before the fear 😪

Meredusoleil · 12/07/2023 07:35

They were talking about this documentary on The One Show last night with Andrew, Pepsi and Shirley!

explainthistomeplease · 12/07/2023 08:17

<saunters back just to say> I saw them on the 'shuttlecock' tour. I was an impressionable 15 year old with a terrible perm

beguilingeyes · 12/07/2023 10:53

I watched this yesterday and it made me cry. I miss the 80s.

Londonnight · 12/07/2023 11:15

I absolutely loved this. It really is worth watching

2023usernameNew · 12/07/2023 16:55

Forestdweller11 · 05/07/2023 19:15

Just having tea and then going to watch. Told my 16 year old about it and she was ' who's wham?' Feel like I've failed as a parent .

I know, I keep telling my husband he should do a ‘mixed tape‘ of 80s and 90s songs for my daughter.

the80sweregreat · 12/07/2023 17:06

I can't believe people don't know who Wham! are ! Lol
George was around for ages , so they might know him or some of his songs
A lot of his solo songs from ' listen without prejudice ' ( 1990 ) was featured on the film ' last Christmas' with Amelia Clark and Emma Thompson Too.

Antoninus · 12/07/2023 18:17

Still got my wham scrapbook I made at 11 !! Full of Jackie posters and lyrics from smash hits

Fartooold · 12/07/2023 18:28

Thought it was great viewing, and I actually 'saw' Andrew for the first time really - he was always just a background character.....😳 But, I doubt there would have been a George Michael, never mind Wham without him.

Loved the 'Last Christmas' piss up and the 'wake me up up' story.

Just ordered Andrew Ridgleys biography 🙂

2023usernameNew · 12/07/2023 18:36

Just watched it with a big grin on my face throughout (except for when I was crying…)

what a beautiful friendship they had.

the80sweregreat · 12/07/2023 18:43

I was a fan of the music, but not them really. My parents didn't watch a lot of tv and I rarely bought smash hits either !
I remember having a conversation with someone who told me he was gay in 89!
I was ' no way ' ! He just laughed!

Meredusoleil · 12/07/2023 21:03

Fartooold · 12/07/2023 18:28

Thought it was great viewing, and I actually 'saw' Andrew for the first time really - he was always just a background character.....😳 But, I doubt there would have been a George Michael, never mind Wham without him.

Loved the 'Last Christmas' piss up and the 'wake me up up' story.

Just ordered Andrew Ridgleys biography 🙂

I've borrowed a copy from the library and am reading it now!

lemonyellows · 13/07/2023 19:02

I watched this. And it was joyful. So uplifting. Loved it.

the80sweregreat · 13/07/2023 20:19

It was nice. So well done.
Took me back to my youth

Inkanta · 13/07/2023 20:21

It was really well and it ended in a nice place with his Wham mate on stage.

Lorrymum · 13/07/2023 20:26

I am planning to watch tonight.
I was very lucky to see them live at a concert in support of the striking miners back in the 80s. They always had a social conscience.

the80sweregreat · 13/07/2023 20:30

They did have a social conscience.
I always like a boogie to ' wake me up ' or wham rap ! Even if I'm a bit old for it now lol

tacomaco · 14/07/2023 17:55

Just watched it and found is very emotional. I’d forgotten just how many good songs they wrote.

Appalonia · 14/07/2023 21:08

I watched this last night, what a lovely tribute to Wham and to their genuine friendship. Have to confess, I had a massive crush on Andrew ( before his nosejob). The film made it clear GM would never have become the massive star without the support of AR, especially as his dad wanted him to be a doctor or accountant, and said he couldn't sing!

Fartooold · 14/07/2023 21:40

On the back of watching the documentary, ordered the Andrew Ridgeley book.

Read it in one sitting and still gasped at the news that George died fgs!

Taytocrisps · 14/07/2023 21:45

I've been dying to watch it since it came out but DD (aged 18) promised to watch it with me and this is the first chance we've had to sit down and watch it together owing to her hectic social life. I loved every minute of it.

I only got into Wham! when 'Wake Me Up Before You Go Go' was released (I was 12) but I loved their youth and energy and thought George Michael was only gorgeous (still do, actually). My best friend preferred Andrew Ridgely. They played in Dublin in December '84 and I really regret never seeing them live, but I was a bit clueless about stuff like concerts and I didn't even know they were performing here until after the event. I got a bootleg tape of their concert for Christmas and played it over and over again until it literally fell apart.

Anyway, the documentary brought back so many happy memories and I actually got quite emotional at the end when they split - that could have been the wine though Smile. I was trying to explain to DD that there was no internet back then - no instagram, no Tik Tok etc. Music was such a big part of our youth.

Obviously George Michael went on to have a very successful career as a solo artist but I never liked his solo stuff as much - too serious and too raunchy.

A few reflections on the documentary:-

I loved the photos and video footage from their childhood and teens and very early Wham! days. A lot of it was new to me.

Their success all came down to chance really - the fact that they had a neighbour in the music industry and the fact that the band who was due to perform on TOTP cancelled that night. If their single hadn't broken into the Top 40 (and that was largely down to their performance on TOTP), the plug would probably have been pulled at that point.

I was amazed that they made so little money in the early days, even though they were so successful. They only started to make money when Simon Napier-Bell took over as their manager and they were signed to CBS.

As pps have said, Andrew was very gracious about being sidelined as a songwriter and performer. George's need to go his own way and move on from Wham! was very detrimental to Andrew, but he doesn't appear to hold any grudges and their friendship appears to have been rock solid.

It was interesting to hear the first incarnation of of Careless Whisper.

George seems to have been a total perfectionist.

George's Dad was very opposed to him pursuing a career in the music industry but finally admitted that he had done a u-turn on the whole thing and was so proud of his son - I thought that was very moving. It takes a big man to admit that you're wrong.

I knew George was an amazing singer and songwriter but I didn't appreciate that he was also a producer. What a supremely talented man and what a loss to the music industry!

I didn't know (or maybe I did but I'd forgotten) that they donated all the profits from Last Christmas to Band Aid.

I expected DD to know the big hits but I was surprised to discover that she also recognized some of the less well know songs like 'Everything She Wants' (although she didn't know it was a Wham! song).

Abracadabra12345 · 15/07/2023 07:51

ComputerInitiateJump · 05/07/2023 20:02

Mine know who Wham are but only because of Last Christmas! 🎅

I adored Last Christmas the film and I imagine that which finally gave the single it's coveted *1? Deservedly so! A great documentary even if you're a great fan

Abracadabra12345 · 15/07/2023 08:08

Even if you're NOT a great fan!