Wham! documentary George Michael would never have become a global star without this man

Everyone admires George Michael. Nobody remembers his best friend and partner in Wham!, Andrew Ridgley. Yet "Yog" would never have become a pop star without him. At least that's what the TV documentary "Wham!" claims.

Man, how we hated Wham! back then.

Even the exclamation mark in their name was a good reason to laugh at them. The super-tight shorts even more so, not to mention the hairstyles and the shuttlecocks that they spit out of their underpants into the audience live at the concert.

The songs? To forget! Or: "Wake me up when they're gone gone gone".

We were the ex-punks and new wave fans who populated the cool London music clubs back then. Of course, we all took ourselves terribly seriously.

About the author: Hanspeter "Düsi" Künzler

Bild: zVg

Zurich journalist Hanspeter " Düsi" Künzler has lived in London for almost 40 years. He specializes in music, art and football and writes for various Swiss publications such as blue News and the NZZ. He is also a regular guest on the SRF3 program "Sounds".

40 years later, I'm watching the brand new "Wham!" documentary on Netflix, and I'm quietly but clearly overcome with a guilty conscience.

The story told here is remarkable. And not just because George's "sidekick" almost takes on the leading role.

It is also remarkable because it portrays a pop world that, in its enthusiastic naivety and spontaneity, is miles away from the streamlined calculation of today's marketing methods.

Met at school thanks to David Bowie

Andrew Ridgley was twelve, Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou ("Yog") eleven, when the latter - a chubby lad with glasses, a thick head of curls and awkward manners - was introduced to the school class.

"Who wants to take on the newcomer?" asked the teacher, and Ridgley's hand flew up spontaneously. The two immediately discovered that music connected them, especially Elton John and David Bowie.

But Yog was not allowed to play records at home because his parents feared that they might have a bad influence on him. Unfortunately for his own father, Ridgley paid little attention to parental commandments.

From that moment on, school considerations no longer played a role in his life, explains Ridgley. His only ambition was to form a pop band with Yog.

George Michael: "I couldn't have done it without you"

A problematic undertaking, as there was of course nothing written about a band in the career plan that the strict dad had in mind for his offspring.

But against all odds, the two teenagers remained inseparable. And at Wham!'s farewell concert on June 28, 1986 in front of 70,000 fans at Wembley, George Michael hugged his friend and said to him: "I couldn't have done it without you."

"Wham!", the documentary, shows that it was no hollow phrase. As Michael, who died on Christmas Day 2016, repeatedly emphasizes in the quoted archive material, it was Ridgley who tirelessly encouraged him in all his intentions.

He not only promised him unconditional support when he came out as gay to him and accompanying singer Shirley Holiman shortly after the shooting of the "Club Tropicana" video, but also when the split from Wham! became inevitable in view of George Michael's solo successes.

"I lived in the moment," says Ridgley. "I never felt like I needed music to find my purpose. Yog, on the other hand, needed the music to discover his character."

Wham! as insignificant as sesame seeds on hamburgers

Why did listening to Wham! make me feel guilty? Ironically, in the arrogance of our youth, we completely disregarded the fact that it is the duty of every new generation to resist the preferences and habits of older generations.

In the internet age, where music fans have access to any era of music at any time, age differences in musical taste are far less reflected. Back then, however, the boundaries were still razor-sharp.

In keeping with the spirit of the times, early songs still contained something like social commentary ("I am! a man! Job or no job/You can't tell me that I'm not" they rapped in "Wham Rap"). For a short time, they were even seriously discussed by the "critical" music media.

With "Club Tropicana", they suddenly raised other flags. "There's a trace of escapism in the scene", explained George Michael, who had just turned 20, "we want something other than screaming punks". Of course, we just thought such a statement was stupid.

From today's perspective, I have to say: with their counter-movement to punk, Wham! and all sorts of kindred escapologists were simply following a law of nature.

"One day they'll realize for themselves how stupid they are"

And anyway: the attitude was the right of two polite strizzis who had the brilliant idea of countering young people's frustration with Dadaist nonsense. Instead, the boys had to read lines like "maybe one day they'll realize for themselves how stupid they are".

Ridgley, whose contribution to the sound and song catalog of Wham! is not so easily recognizable at first glance, came under even more heavy fire.

In the UK, his name became synonymous with total redundancy. Something like this: "Sesame seeds are the Andrew Ridgley of toppings: A hamburger would look wrong without it, but no one knows why."

Unlike Michael, who admitted that the gloating hurt him, Ridgley seems to have taken it in his stride, even when his only solo album didn't even crack the top 100, and then when his motor racing career ended up in the hay bales.

This documentary is based on Ridgley's autobiography published four years ago. In a rapturous article in The Times, former Wham! manager Simon Napier-Bell - who is currently working on a Wham! film himself - confirmed that the film is an excellent portrayal of the facts.

Only one question is not answered: What was it about Yog that made Andrew Ridgley immediately stretch out in his school desk back then?

The TV documentary "Wham" is available on Netflix.

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