Wham!

We’re so used to the flotsam and jetsum of angst, bad blood and rancour in the ocean of pop history, that the positive energy of the Wham! documentary feels as welcome as a summer breeze. Chris Smith’s film takes a straightforward but detailed run at the short but impressive partnership between George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, using a wealth of archive footage narrated in tandem by Ridgeley in the present day and Michael, via archive interviews.

The film is given shape by scrapbooks that Ridgeley’s mum meticulously kept - and it’s rather a shame there’s no archive of her, although Michael’s dad does pop up briefly. Smith employs animation to bring these to life that both adds to the pace of the documentary and acts as a nostalgic nod to the sort of graphics that were used at the time of the band’s success.

“We were absolutely determined to have a fantastic time,” notes Ridgeley, who first met Michael - or Yog as he affectionately refers to him - when he was the more elaborately named Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou and the new 12-year-old at his school. This determination seems to have steered their friendship as they formed a band and made their first demo tape for £20.

That tape contained the song that would go on to become Careless Whisper - and Smith makes sure to include parts of the demo for fans to hear - just one of the enjoyable and well illustrated details that his film throws up. Beyond the duo, the film acts as a reminder of how much less packaged pop stars were back in the Eighties. Like Aha The Movie, Smith shows how, at least at first, fame did not equal fortune, with both men sharing outfits and still living with their parents. It also acts as a reminder of just how young they were when they found fame - still teenagers - which Michael suggests in the film is one of the main reasons he didn’t come out about the fact he was gay at the time rather than any fears about it troubling his fame.

Inevitably, this does become weighted towards Michael in psychological terms, largely because he had more to grapple with while Ridgeley was pretty much focused on the “having a fantastic time” element. Michael seems more willing to consider his motivations - noting he was very driven to succeed, pouring energy into the band in part because he had stymied his personal life. Ridgeley, on the other hand, seems to have a fairly easy come, easy go attitude to life in general and a genuine desire to see his mate go on to greater things.

In between the concert footage that fans may find familiar, there’s some nice home archive, plus enjoyable anecdotes about the likes of Last Christmas - which, many may not realise, always was and continues to be a charity single, with all proceeds donated. Footage from a barely seen China documentary by Lyndsay Anderson (more on that here) also proves fascinating.

Michael’s personal struggle, although treated as lightly as possible, offers a melancholy undercurrent, particularly when you consider Michael died so young, at just 53, on Christmas Day 2016. Smith keeps his focus tight, which though it does leave avenues unexplored - including what happened to Ridgeley after the split and the careers and lives of bandmates Pepsi and Shirlie - adds to the feeling of vibrancy surrounding their time in the spotlight.