Wham!

Wham! was a British pop duo formed in 1981 by George Michael and Andrew Ridgely. They were briefly known in the United States as Wham! U.K. due to a naming conflict with another band. more...

Beginnings

George and Andrew met at Bushey Meads School in Watford, England, UK, and performed in a band called The Executive before changing their name and signing to Innervision Records (later to CBS; Columbia in the US and Canada, and Epic for the rest of the world). George took on the majority of roles and tasks within the band - composer, singer producer and occasional instrumentalist - but the contribution of Andrew as George's confidante, audience, inspiration and spokesman was crucial to the band's initial success. Still teenagers, they promoted themselves as hedonistic youngsters, proud to live a carefree life without work or commitment. This was reflected in their earliest singles.

In October 1982, the song Young Guns (Go For It) was issued. The song was an appeal from one youthful lad to his friend not to throw his life away so early on marriage. It stalled outside the threshold for the UK Top 40 but then Wham! got lucky when schedulers for Top Of The Pops - the all-important weekly BBC chart show on television - had to look outside the Top 40 (against normal selection policy) to fill a gap created by an act which had pulled out of recording. Wham!, as the act nearest the 40 mark which was climbing, were summoned, and a phenomenon immediately began.

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