New to Netflix today, and released to coincide with the 40th anniversary of their debut album, Fantastic, is the pop documentary film, Wham!. The movie – directed by Chris Smith – tells the story of the iconic British pop group of the same name, which catapulted George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley into super-stardom during the 1980s.
Featuring archive material, as well as narration from the two stars, the film details the Wham! journey from the early days when the group struggled to make an impact, to the height of Wham!’s career, when Michael and Ridgeley were touring the US, clocking up Number 1 hits, and performing at Live Aid. The focus here is on telling the story of how it all happened and what followed, while at the same time zeroing in on the friendship between the two musicians.
George Michael’s solo career is touched upon in the docu-film, but as the title suggests, this is a piece about Wham!. The film begins and ends with the two frontmen, delivering an insightful and informative watch along the way.
The docu-film goes back to the very start, when Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou (George Michael) and Andrew Ridgeley met at school as pre-teens. It then talks about their first brush with music, via the short-lived band The Executive, before moving on to their initial attempts to get Wham! off the ground, and the release of their debut single, Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do).
Their first single was not a success, but plenty of perseverance, hard work, and a well-timed appearance on Top of the Pops soon made all the difference (especially that last one). Joined by backing dancers, Shirley Holliman and Dee C. Lee, and later ‘Pepsi’ DeMacque (replacing Lee), Wham! started making hit records, resulting in stone-cold classics such as Club Tropicana, Bad Boys, and Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.
As the docu-film continues, the story moves through the group’s highs and lows, and covers heavy hitters, Careless Whisper and Last Christmas. The film also talks about the group’s world tour, including a ground-breaking ten-day stint in China, as well as the natural progression of George Michael’s career, which eventually led to the band members going their seperate ways.
Having watched the recent George Michael documentary, Freedom: Uncut, which focused heavily on Michael, what I found most interesting about Chris Smith’s Wham! docu-film is that it really helped to provide details on the importance of Andrew Ridgeley in George Michael’s life. Michael would have been a star at some point in time, however long it took, but his friendship with Ridgeley was instrumental in getting his career off the ground.
For far too long, Ridgeley was labelled as ‘the other guy’ in Wham!, but as this new docu-film makes clear, Ridgeley was someone who played a key role in the group’s success. George Michael idolised Ridgeley, and their friendship and hard work during the early days became the catalyst for everything that followed.
Not only does the docu-film demonstrate this through extensive use of old footage, but also through the use of an ongoing narration from the pair themselves. The narration is taken from old interviews, TV appearances, and behind the scenes footage, and this allows the pair to have a voice.
If you’re a die-hard fan of Wham! I’m sure a great deal of the information contained in this docu-film will come as no major surprise, but you’ll still enjoy what’s on offer and appreciate the way it has been put together. The use of old footage, including clips from Saturday Superstore, Top of the Pops, and various other sources adds a real flavour of the era, and the whole thing looks effortlessly cool.
As for Wham! newcomers, this is an interesting piece, which fills in some key details. It helps to shine a light on one of the best-loved pop groups of the ’80s, and it does so in a clear, concise way, leaving you wanting more post-screening.
__
Thank you for taking the time to read this review on It’s A Stampede!. For more reviews, check out the recommended reads below.
It's A Stampede! 
Leave a comment