In 1985, Wham! became the first Western pop band to perform in mainland China, a historic moment captured in the documentary Wham! 10 Days in China. The film, re-edited from original footage shot by director Lindsay Anderson, explores the collision of pop stardom and communism, featuring new interviews with surviving participants, including Andrew Ridgeley.
The Coup: Wham! in China
Manager Simon Napier-Bell orchestrated the tour as a strategy to break into the US market. After months of negotiations with Communist party officials, Wham! played two concerts in Beijing and Guangzhou, with photo opportunities at the Great Wall. The tour generated global publicity, successfully launching the duo in the US, as Napier-Bell had predicted.
George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, then in their early 20s, faced immense pressure. They delivered official speeches that would daunt professional diplomats and handled hostile press questions about Chinese police cracking down on dancing at their Beijing concert. The authorities were reportedly annoyed by the song Freedom, though the extent of their understanding of the English lyrics remains unclear.
Lindsay Anderson's Vision
Film producer Martin Lewis hired acclaimed director Lindsay Anderson to make a fly-on-the-wall documentary. However, Anderson pushed for a challenging culture-clash theme, while the music camp wanted a promotional reel. Anderson, grumpy and disillusioned, was fired after the tour, making no secret of his dislike for Wham!'s music. A bland PR film was released a year later, but the new re-edit incorporates Anderson's unused footage and talking-head interviews, though it still diverges from his original vision.
The Cultural Impact
The documentary suggests Wham!'s tour gave Chinese audiences a taste of liberty, with the Guangzhou crowd more enthusiastic due to exposure to Hong Kong pop. Four years later, the Tiananmen Square massacre occurred, raising questions about whether the tour was a world-historical event. However, the film does not deeply explore this possibility.
Ridgeley, in present-day interviews, reflects on the tour's significance. The duo never returned to China, but 1985 was their annus mirabilis, also marked by George Michael's Live Aid appearance with Elton John. The documentary captures a strange and riveting moment in pop and political history.
Wham! 10 Days in China is in cinemas from 28 July.
