Gotta Have Fate
The Netflix documentary, Wham! is as much about destiny, as it is about one of the biggest pop acts of the 1980s and its global impact over a mere five years. The story of how Georgios “George Michael” Panayiotou and Andrew Ridgeley became the legendary pop group is told mostly through archival footage and audio soundbites.
Meeting at school as pre-teens, Andrew and Yog, Andrew’s nickname for Georgios, became friends with a mutual interest in music. By their late-teens, the pair began writing catchy tunes laced with social commentary, plus ones that embraced the frivolity of youth culture (“Club Tropicana”), as well as others that appeared on their 1983 debut album, Fantastic. “Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do),” “Bad Boys” and “Young Guns (Go For It),” positioned Yog, professionally known as George Michael, as the rebellious protagonist, hell- (or heck-) bent on avoiding the 9 to 5 and “death by matrimony,” and set on saving Andrew Ridgeley’s character from a “straight-laced” life (one without George). Besides the (not-so) underlying homoerotic subtext, gay subculture iconography played heavily: leather jackets; tight jeans; aviator glasses—a look that solo George would don again for the Faith era. The musical and visual appeal of Wham! was far-reaching.
Co-crafting the sax-drenched power ballad, “Careless Whisper,” continuing into the Make It Big album (“Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”; “Everything She Wants”; “Freedom”) and their final, Music from the Edge of Heaven (“Last Christmas”; “I’m Your Man”; “Where Did Your Heart Go?”), both traveled down the same creative pop-music path, only for them to hit the proverbial fork in the road, with personal goals and professional roles shifting as they achieved international success. Watching the documentary through the lens of loss, and letting go in life, adds further emotional resonance to what is essentially a story of unconditional love between friends, with one who must selflessly accept what is, so the other can become who he was destined to be.
Go-go watch it if you haven’t.
This is How You Debut: Revisiting Three Iconic ‘80s Albums
In music, for example, it’s rare that right out of the gate, one gets the top spot or the trophies, but with the right singer, songwriters, production staff and promotional team, for starters, the stars can sometimes align, allowing the debut album to become one of the biggest moments in a career. Just ask these three dance/pop artists: Madonna; Jody Watley; Paula Abdul.
Madonna’s self-titled debut album will celebrate its 38th anniversary in July. (Take a moment to let that sink in.) In looking at the track list, every single single (“Everybody”; “Burning Up”; “Holiday”; “Lucky Star”; “Borderline”) contributed to the solid foundation for what would be a legendary career… who knew? (Madonna, that’s who knew.) The production team on the 8-song 1983 release consisted of Reggie Lucas, Butch Jones, Mark Kamins—the DJ who initially played “Everybody” at New York’s Danceteria—and her then-boyfriend, DJ John “Jellybean” Benitez. Madonna now had the sound, and MTV helped shaped the vision, allowing audiences to meet (eventually) one of the most culturally relevant figures of the 20th century.
Madonna: Sire Records; Warner Bros.
Besides Madonna, another dancer/singer with an incredible debut was Jody Watley. Her 1987 self-titled album featured: “Looking for a New Love”; “Still a Thrill”; “Don’t You Want Me”; “Some Kind of Lover”; “Most of All.” This former member of the group, Shalamar (“The Second Time Around”) hit the MTV rotation as hard as the beats that filled her synth-funk jams. An attitude-rich sound, “Soul Train” dance background and a downtown-fashion street style of thrift-store-inspired petticoats and voluminous skirts, along with equally voluminous hair and signature large-hoop earrings, only added to her vocal and visual appeal. Watley went on to win the Best New Artist GRAMMY in 1988.
Jody Watley: MCA Records
Another dynamic debut: Paula Abdul’s 1988 Forever Your Girl album, which included: “Knocked Out”; “The Way that You Love Me”; “Straight Up”; “Forever Your Girl”; “Cold Hearted”; “Opposites Attract.” (The latter four landed at #1.) Abdul skyrocketed during the music-video ‘80s, when dancers could also shine as singers, as was the case with Madonna and Watley. Abdul first worked behind the scenes, most notably on choreography for Janet Jackson, tour choreography for George Michael, and with many others artists of the era. But when Abdul stepped in front of the camera, she used music video to put tap dance back on trend, even referencing ‘40s Gene Kelly and ‘70s Bob Fosse, in turn, becoming a postmodern Ginger Rogers of the MTV generation.
Paula Abdul: Forever Your Girl: Virgin Records
Three impressive initial offerings, all now-iconic debut albums of the ‘80s.
George Michael: Pop-Music Idol. Lasting Legend.
As lead singer of Wham! in the early ‘80s, George Michael, along with Andrew Ridgeley, initially delivered pop songs that incorporated an (early) rap-sound sensibility. Certainly more Wham!-glam than gangsta, songs and corresponding videos for “Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do),” “Bad Boys” and “Young Guns (Go For It)” embraced (late-teen) rebellion and counter-culture independence. They featured George as the rebellious protagonist, hell (or heck) bent on breaking free from the expected 9 - 5 job and (the “Young Guns” lyric) “death by matrimony,” with Andrew’s character often portrayed as the one George’s needed to save from a life of cookie-cutter boredom. This trio of songs/videos walked a fine line, creating a (not-so) underlying homoerotic subtext, with George’s character seemingly enamored with Andrew’s. Besides this (latent) longing, gay iconography played heavily in these videos too, such as black leather jackets, tight jeans, and aviator glasses—a look that George would don again through his 1987 Faith period.
George later commented on the preoccupation with image over musical chops in “Freedom! ’90”; the video purposely didn’t feature the singer, unheard of at that time, especially considering his popularity, good looks, and sex appeal to both men and women. The video used supermodels instead to lip-sync the lyrics, and also showed his leather jacket ablaze, signifying the death of what was seen as a distraction to George’s wanting to be considered an artist with substance: “Sometimes the clothes do not make the man.”
Although George had his own model good looks, his absence from some of his videos helped refocus listeners to how great of a vocalist he was. George’s cover of Queen’s “Somebody to Love” at Freddie Mercury’s tribute concert at London’s Wembley Stadium is one of George’s finest vocal offerings, hitting remarkable notes, with an energy that turns heartbreaking lyrics into something hopeful. In the mid- to late-‘90s, George released “Fastlove” and for his greatest-hits collection released “Outside,” an ode to “love” in the outdoors, written in response to his arrest at a public bathroom. In 2008, he was on a worldwide retrospective tour, and this clip of “Everything She Wants” from Earl’s Court in London captures George’s calm command of the stage, with the ecstatic audience participation confirming his impact on a generation. This past Christmas saw the passing of the singer. He was only 53.
“Outside”: George took (life) lemons and made (musical) lemonade. He had the moves, and this clip showcases the genius of George: