IT was seen as total madness by many and a charade by others.
But pop duo Wham!’s 1985 trip to China for two special concerts in the newly opened communist state turned out to be a stroke of genius.
The gruelling ten-day trip saw Wham! become the first Western band to perform in Communist China, and helped fast-track school pals George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, now 63, to superstardom.
During their illustrious time together they sold more than 25 million records worldwide and clocked up five UK No1 singles including Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, I’m Your Man and Last Christmas.
Crucially the trip helped the duo crack America and, armed with their catalogue of hits and flanked by a camera crew, it was filmed for what would have been a gritty documentary about the band leading a Western revolution in the country.
Speaking in the documentary, George, who died on Christmas Day 2016, recalls: “It was historic. There were only a few things that you can do as a pop band that haven’t been done before.
“It was a great privilege being the first people to play real Western pop music to those people.
“I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. It’s just that it was a pretty hard couple of weeks.”
Wham!’s manager, Simon Napier-Bell, initially believed that getting renowned British director Lindsay Anderson on board to make the film was a massive coup which would add credibility.
But, it quickly became apparent they had completely different visions for the documentary.
George and Andrew just wanted to make a glossy concert film, while Lindsay, who openly criticised the group, was focused on a hard-hitting documentary about the westernization and opening up of Communist China.
And due to these creative differences the documentary was never shown and the tapes were archived.
Now, for the first time, the incredible footage has been unearthed and the historic trip is told in George and Andrew’s own words in the 90-minute film, Wham! 10 Days In China.
While often unpredictable, the late singer was by all accounts far better at playing the media game than his bandmate.
At a VIP screening at Soho House in London, Andrew told The Sun: “Frankly, I behaved like a bit of a t**t, honestly.
“We were relatively young, but we had also had a good two or three years worth of experience with the press.
“We knew the game. We knew what was at stake. We knew how to behave and how not to — but I just chose not to.”
The band had formed just four years earlier, releasing their debut single Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) in June 1982.
Andrew knew going to China was a “risky” move for the famous duo, who had experienced phenomenal success but were yet to reach the international stardom they eventually went on to achieve.
He adds in the film: “Wham! In China . . . I was cynical. Untried. Untested. Risky.
“I didn’t really like it. Landing in China, I felt we were there on false pretences. It was a circus. Wham! in China was more than just the shows.
“A show had to be made of Wham! in China and that meant official events, interacting with our hosts. It was just part and parcel of being there.
“Being dragged around to contrived scenes was not something either of us was particularly comfortable with.”
However they took the risk, determined to break the US market as quickly as possible.
Andrew continued: “To break the States was a huge ambition for any act — and George’s ambition overrode everything.
“However, he had suffered with his voice breaking down.
“He had undiagnosed polyps on his vocal cords at that point and so he didn’t want to spend months touring small venues. We wanted to fast-track Wham! straight to the top. Something was going to have to be done.”
Run like a royal tour, as well as the two concerts in Beijing and Guangzhou, the trip included a number of photo opportunities and government-organised events.
The whole tour was masterminded by Napier-Bell, who saw the opening of China as a way to make history and fast-track the boys to the top.
In return, China got foreign investment.
Alongside the more obvious choices, such as a trip to the Great Wall of China, Wham! were guests of honour at a State Dinner and a garden party at the Ambassador’s house inside the British Embassy.
Publicly, the pair put on a great show, making small talk and mingling with dignitaries.
But amusing new footage reveals the stars oscillated from finding the whole thing hilarious to being sick to death of being wheeled out to all and sundry.
During the dinner, they were presented with an intricate tapestry, prompting George to whisper to the camera like a naughty schoolboy: “It’s a bath mat. We will cut it down the middle. My mum can have one half and Andrew’s mum can have the other half.”
The long, drawn-out trip to the Ambassador’s house almost pushed them too far.
Andrew recalls: “Our schedule was such that we were being pulled in a variety of different directions.
“The Ambassador’s residence was a bit of 1930s Blighty transported into Peking. They seemed to exist in this colonial microcosm. It’s quite strange.
“There was nowhere to hide in there. I thought I would be polite and play the game, but Yog [George’s nickname] didn’t feel the same way. He thought it was an utter charade.”
George was so fed up with parts of the trip that he upped sticks and left Andrew in the middle of a cassette signing with fans.
His bemused bandmate was forced to make up excuses that George was feeling sick and needed a lie-down to cover up the fact the star had simply had enough.
In historic footage of the moment, seen for the first time, a baffled Andrew says: “He’s left me in the lurch before, but once bitten, twice aware — or twice as aware.”
Grilled as to how he would describe his partnership with George, he added: “Stormy, but mostly on the fair side. He’s a nice enough chap.”
While the band split in 1986, the pair went way back before fame, having known each other since 1973, after meeting on their first day at Bushey Meads School, Herts.
Asked if he found watching footage of his late friend difficult, Andrew added to The Sun: “Sometimes it catches me out.
“The moments that really appeal to me are scenes like the one where we are bickering in the back of the car — just two youngsters, two friends.
“They are the ones where you can see the essence of real friendship. They are the things I miss, as we are unable to share them now.
“Anyone who had his company and his friendship for an extended period of time will know he was a deeply caring chap, and we all miss him. To have lost the best friend I have ever had is difficult, as they are irreplaceable. A childhood friend who you have spent all those years with.”
The trip wasn’t without drama.
During an internal flight, one of the band’s trumpet players suffered a breakdown — stabbing himself in the stomach and forcing his way into the cockpit.
For the first time, backing singer Shirlie Kemp — who went on to become one half of Pepsi & Shirlie along with Helen DeMacque — speaks about how she was left terrified and covered in her bandmate’s blood.
Shirlie said: “It was one of the most scary experiences of my life.”
Despite the mile-high terror, Wham!’s trip was hailed a success, both in terms of winning over the Chinese with their music and cracking America.
Chatting to The Sun, Andrew says he believes his late pal would be most proud of the fact the gigs helped inspire a generation of children in China to get into music, many of whom had never even danced in public before attending the Wham! gig.
Andrew told us: “I think George would feel very much the same way as I, in that the legacy that exists for the Chinese people who were at the show is the most meaningful and substantial of all the legacies.
“It achieved what it was supposed to. The trip was designed to raise our profile in the US, as we didn’t want to do a long tour. Yog didn’t like being away from home for extended periods.
“He would find the fact that there are Chinese artists whose careers may exist only because they saw Wham! incredible.”
- Wham! 10 Days In China will be in cinemas from July 28 and will then air on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer in August.