Wham Mini Biography

Wham! (often written WHAM!) was a pop band formed in 1981 by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. It was briefly known in the United States as Wham!-UK because of a naming conflict with another band.
Michael and Ridgeley met at Bushey Meads School in Watford, England, UK. At first, they performed in a short-lived ska band called The Executive. When this group split, Michael and Ridgeley formed a duo called Wham! and went on to sign with Innervision Records. Soon after a legal victory over Innervision, the group was signed to CBS, Columbia Records in the United States and Canada and Epic Records for the rest of the world.

Michael took on the majority of roles and responsibilities within the band— composer, singer, producer, and occasional instrumentalist— but the contribution of Ridgeley as the group's image specialist and spokesman was crucial to the band's initial success. Ridgeley convinced a reluctant George Michael that Wham! needed to change their image and sound frequently, from the leather-clad moody singers of "Bad Boys" and "Young Guns (Go For It!)" to the more fashionable pop superstars of "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go."

Still teenagers, they promoted themselves as hedonistic youngsters, proud to live a carefree life without work or commitment. This was reflected in their earliest singles which, part-parody, part-social comment, briefly earned Wham! a reputation as a dance protest group.

The debut record to be released by the band was "Wham Rap!" in June 1982. It was one of the first ever singles by a British group to include rapping and was a double-A side with a Social Mix and Anti-Social Mix. The record was not playlisted by BBC Radio 1 in the UK, partly due to the profanity in the Anti-Social Mix. Subsequently the reissued UK release replaced the controversial lines in the first verse "B1, B2, make a claim sign your name’s all you have to do" and the opening two phrases of the second verse citing "Mr. Average". Additionally two videos were recorded for each set of lyrics. In 1983 on the UK pop show, Channel 4's The Tube, Wham! performed live the original song in full complete with the B1,B2 lines. This version was considered far better and was later released in the UK as the U.S Remix. Wham! Rap did not chart for the group but in October 1982, their song "Young Guns (Go For It!)" was issued. The song was an appeal from one youthful lad to his friend to not throw his life away so early on marriage. It also stalled outside the UK Top 40 but then Wham! got lucky when Top of the Pops scheduled them. An important weekly BBC chart show on television, it had to look outside the Top 40 to fill a gap created by an act which had pulled out of recording. Nearest to the 40 mark and still climbing, Wham! was summoned, and a phenomenon immediately began. The Top of the Pops performance of Young Guns is still considered a great moment in the group's history - critical acclaim given for the 'nightclub' feel of the dance routine by all four of the group.