Wham! George And Me

Okay so a few months ago, I read a book called Wham! George And Me, which is written by Andrew Ridgeley. This is basically the book that Andrew Ridgeley wrote a while back where he talks about his time with George Michael. They go way back, they were friends from school. With George being the new kid, he was really shy and he didn’t have any friends and he just felt like a fish out of the water and I think Andrew went up to him and from there on in, they were good friends. They had the same interests and they bonded over music and comedy. This book was absolutely amazing .

He just talks about the times they shared together and when they formed Wham. Originally, Andrew was the one who wanted to form a band with George, George wasn’t in the slightest bit interested, he wanted to focus on school work and his exams and Andrew was just like ” Come on man, we need to make music together ” but then George was like ” Not now, later ” like he was just so done with Andrew’s shit . I think the more time they spent with each other, the more Andrew realised George’s musical talent . Like there a bit in the book in where George invited Andrew over to his house for a sleepover, he noticed that he had a drum kit in his bed room and he was like ” Oh my god, you have a drum kit, this is so cool, no one has a drum kit in our school ” and then he tried to play with it but then George flipped and he was like ” No, don’t you bloody touch it ” That was his reaction because that was the rule of his house hold, I think his dad was Greek and his mum was English. He also had a bit of trouble at his school, on his first day, the teacher kept getting his name wrong, he has a Greek name and she kept pronouncing it wrong so by the end of it, he was like ” You know what, don’t worry about it, just call me George ”. That’s so relatable. When I was at school, some teachers got my name wrong, they called me Christine, so I was like ” Fuck this, I’m going to have to deal with this for ten years. Just call me Christina like it’s not that hard, I’m a follower of Christ for god sake . So yeah, that was relatable, I feel like the other kids had it worse though.

But yeah, this book was just so fun to read, so beautifully written, the stories are funny and interesting, this book also has loads of pictures so it’s cool to see certain scenarios caught on camera . George was an amazing talent, it’s so sad to see that the media was fascinated in his sexuality other then his incredible talent. Just like him for his amazing talent, like him for what he brought to the music indestury, why are they so obsessed with his sexuality. Why are they acting like his sexuality is his whole entire personality, because it’s not. Sexuality is such a small part of someone’s personality, surely that wasn’t his whole personality it’s just so baffling . That’s his private life, they don’t have a right to expose his life to the world. George Michael was an absolute gem and we’re not going to get another legend like him any time soon. His voice, his song writing, just everything about him is incredible, the media should be ashamed of themselves for what happened to him, Sexuality is no one’s business, I don’t even know why that’s a thing. Surely, the personality is more important then sexual preference. Like, I don’t give a shit who you sleep with, that’s not my business, as long as you’re a decent person, nothing else matters .

I remember there was this whole thing about him and then he was arrested for flashing himself or something. Like what on earth was he doing? what the hell was he doing in the bloody toilets? he was just doing all this stupidness. Like what if a child walked in and saw him with his pants down, masterbating like it’s so inappropriate of him. I understand that he was stressed at the time but we’re all stressed, but we don’t do shit like that, you know what I mean?. I feel like if there were people with him, they would tell him to not do stuff like that but I don’t there was. I just think that fame really did him in. If he was with someone at the time, why would he do that? I just don’t get it. But that whole thing about him being hounded by the press about his sexuality is just down right nasty. I feel like that’s what Journalists are known for, they don’t give a toss about people’s lives they just want to sell the papers. Anything sells, make up the worst news headline and bam, it’s sells, they’re laughing all the way to the bank, it’s disgraceful.

But yeah, this book was amazing. So many interesting stories. My dad is the one who introduced all this amazing 80s stuff to me so every 80s reference I see in the book, I know what it is. I think that one of my favourite things about myself is that I’m obsessed with 80s pop culture, whether it’s Music, 80s bands, 80s singers, film and TV, I’m all for it. I’m a creative kind so I love learning about this stuff in the free time. I think that’s one thing I’m very thankful for. My parents let me learn what I want to learn and they know all the good and interesting things to introduce to me, they let me be creative, I feel like not everyone has that, so I’m so grateful for everything I have . But yeah, I just love reading and studying about music and film .

George and Andrew were so close, they did everything together, their chemistry is everything. I’m so obsessed with Wham, I’ve always loved them, I’m always dancing and jamming out to their music in my bed room. I’ve got such a big crush on Andrew, he was so cute. Their music was so fun, it was like good, happy vibes. On my way to The Hackney Empire, when I was taking part in the course, I used to always listen to their music and dance in the street, I just loved it. Wham is one of my favourite pop groups from the 80s, their music is awesome .

This book was just absolutely incredible. Andrew explained it all so beautifully. It was great to get an insight from him, someone who actually knew him and not someone who’s making up all these fake stories about him just to create drama, it’s raw and it’s real. I’m recommending this book to my mum, she used to love Wham when she was younger and she had a crush on George Michael so she’s going to be the one who’s going to read it next . This book was amazing, it’s one of my favourite autobiographies, Andrew was a true true friend, he seemed like such a nice boy when he was younger and I think that George was so lucky to have Andrew in his life. I think from the moment they first met, that was the start of a beautiful friendship. I’d like to think that if George was still alive today, he would be so pleased with his friend’s book, he’s probably up there, laughing his head off, thinking ” haha, what are you bloody doing?”. I just really love it, so beautifully done. No one could have told this story better then Andrew, he was close friends with George and he’s just saying it from his point of view and I really loved that.

If there are any George Michael fans out there, I’d highly recommend you get this book. Half of this took me by surprise, I learnt so much . They talked a lot about the music scene, the early days of their music career, moments where they sneaked into the cinema to watch films that are rated over 18, because that’s just so typical, literally all youngsters did that or twice in the 70s and 80s, it’s just what they did and you’d be lucky if it goes to plan because if it doesn’t, then you’d end up getting chased out of the cinema with a stick. That’s one of my dad’s infamous demented stories, just shows how demented the 70s was. But yeah, this book had so many interesting and funny stories . He also talked about unemployment . Loads of people were unable to find jobs and they were on the dole, so many people were being made redundant . That was dreadful, there was a lot of poverty in the early 80s too. I feel like the unemployment side of things were awful but I do feel like they had freedom. You had freedom to do what you wanted, so if you wanted to form a band, write music then you could. Another example of that is a TV programme called Boys From The Black Stuff. It’s a drama from the 80s, it’s about unemployment during the uncaring Thatcher Days. It’s honestly my favourite, it’s such a great piece of television, just shows you how hard life was during those times. The book talks about all of that. It just talks about their long lasting friendship and it shows George Michael in a new light, it shows you who he really was, despite all the rumors that have been bandied around by the media.

Thank you so much for reading this post, I hope you liked it. I truly recommend this book, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever read. I hope you have a great day, love you all

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