POPFESSIONS

Wendy Wason

WHAM! Really?  

No.    

It was more than that.    

From the age of eight, I lived in Dubai. Until 12, a vast array of my popular culture came from music that was only available on bootleg tapes sold in the souq.    

I had no idea what was cool.    

In Dubai I used to ice-skate competitively. We did ice shows. I skated to crowd pleasers like ‘In the Mood’ and ‘Rhapsody in Blue’. Older girls skated to other stuff. There was huge excitement because one of the “big girls” wanted to skate to ‘Relax’ by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. It was banned in the UK. Why? We never knew.    

I smelled rebellion. It was delicious.    

When we came home from Dubai, I was free to suck up any music I liked.    

My first purchase was Now That’s What I Call Music. No number. Just that. We had no idea it would be a franchise like Pizza Hut or McDonalds or MTV.    

I then discovered Wham. Not just Wham, but Andrew Ridgeley. I loved him. No. Not the love that you know. A different real and deep love. Yeah, that one. TEENAGE.    

I fought Ridgeley’s cause for years and part of me still does: “Yeah George might write all the songs but Andrew gave him the confidence to be who he is… to be the songwriter… to be Wham!”    

It’s all down to The Ridgeley.