This interview with Wham!’s George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley was written by Kris Needs for ZigZag magazine in the July 1982 issue.
Wham! a breath of fresh air Britain’s youth crying out for, something rare, honest, – young.
Wham! are here to meet that demand. With all the vitality of London, but none of its recent pretension. George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley will shape the views, ambitions and pleasure of every adolescent, and make records that are teenage Britain.
Wham! are two North London teenagers with definite ambitions, the foremost being a wide appeal. With their roots in every form of pop music (specifically that of the major black artists), they struggled with various lineups until they decided that their co-written material would speak for itself.
The two and sole founding members of the Wham! organisation don’t wanna tell you their age, don’t wanna tell you where they come from, don’t wanna tell you what records to listen to.
George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley don’t wanna tell you about elitism or political stance, don’t wanna tell you how they dance or where they dance.
Kris Needs tracked down the two members of Wham! at their Record Company’s offices.
Kris Needs: How about recording the song?
George Michael: We did it when we were top form, as a joke I did this falsetto, but everybody thought it was funny so we used it. Trouble is it really messed my voice up.
KN: How much did Bob Carter shape your sound.
GM: Our ideas were quite different. Twelve inch is his idea, seven inch is better for radio. Last night I heard it on Kid Jensen! Great.
KN: What’s your musical background, did you grow up in soul club?
GM: We loved the Disco thing when it first happened Sylvester and all that. We were like 1978 soul boys, but then the Ska thing happened and we really got into that when we were 16. We were really into that and formed our first band with school friends. It was a real laugh, then we started writing soul stuff.
Andrew Ridgeley: If you hear it in a disco alongside a lot of other records just got a totally different feel about it. It’s more alive.
I love you forever, my love George Michael…