I'm so pleased that Ridgeley wrote this book. Wham! existed during a time before we could get every bit of information about every moment of every celebrity's life. It's nice now, thirty years later, to revisit the days of Wham! without the lens of social media or tabloids; to be able to read what it felt like from the inside.
Wham! was one of my first musical favourites. One of the two first musical acts for whom I would have called myself a fan. (I still would, honestly. The other is Corey Hart.) Andrew was actually my favourite of the duo but at the end of Wham! I absolutely continued to follow George, because who could avoid that talent?
This book was obviously written from a place of reminiscence. It was clear they had a close friendship. It's nice to read a musical story that doesn't end with a falling out. It was interesting that from the beginning Wham! was also supposed to have a very short life-span. Andrew knew from the start what he wanted out of the group, and seemed to acknowledge early on that George would be destined for solo greatness. It was such an interesting and refreshing perspective to not read regrets and envy at the differing destinies.
I often forget how extremely young they were when Wham! hit the peak of success. They were still only in the early twenties when they gave The Final Wham! show. The success they achieved in only a few short years is incredible, and in my mind, it led directly to George's ability to continue that journey as a solo artist. Without having gone through the rise and close of Wham! would he have managed to break into music in the same way.
It's mentioned in Ridgeley's memoir that Michael also wrote an auto-biography in 2009 called Bare. I'm now on a hunt to find that book. It's out of print, and difficult to find at a reasonable price. (I refuse to pay hundreds of dollars, despite how important this might be to me.)
I'm still happy to have been even a teeny-tiny part of the Wham! phenomenon. No illusions were shattered about the pair and some interesting notes which added depth to perceptions that I already had.
I rate it 5 stars, all thumbs up. If you're at all interested in Wham!, 80's musical history or the early stardom of George Michael, then you should read this book.
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