July 26 2023

A bit more sleep after a dinner and chat at Tilo’s Greens apartment- which I had visited 3 times in the last 5 days for one reason or other. I felt hungry when I got back home around 11 PM and committed dietary hara-kiri by consuming some Ujjala’s chanachur while watching Netflix. It is something I tended to do all too often. Munch moments before hitting the sack. Deplorable habit- but atleast I didn’t smoke anymore!

What I was watching on Netflix was captivating- It was a documentary on WHAM!- the original boy band form the early 80s. It is the first non-ABBA or BoneyM oriented pop music I had ever heard. “Wake me up before you go go” would play everywhere in 1984-85 in Jamshedpur. Particularly at the Club Fetes of which there were a few each year.  I liked the song but it was also a fashion statement to listen to Wham! Normally for young women but I think little boys qualified as well. George Michael and Andrew Ridgely were a familiar sight – not only on the album covers. There were posters to be procured at Archie’s Galleries that portrayed the two of them in various states, mostly of dishabille.  Women might find them highly attractive- men might want to act more like them. But me, I was captivated by the music. So I went to Amar Market in Bistupur and sauntered up to the one shop in Kamani Centre that sold Cassettes. It was just outside Wasavasingh’s – which at the time was a book shop.  I bought the only Wham tape on display. Wham- The Final. And what a purchase that was.  Each song an absolute delight. Each track was immensely memorable.  To this day, I feel it is one of the greatest collection of pop songs in one place. About 2 years ago, I spotted this album on Vinyl in a flea market in Athens, Greece- and duly picked it up. 

A compilation of  superb disco-oriented rhythm tracks with dreamy George Michael vocals overlaid. The mood of most of those tunes was one of good times. I tried to sing wake me up – I gave up. I sang Last Christmas and Careless Whispers instead. Much more laid back and doable.  But what I most enjoyed singing was this rap track called “Wham Rap”. Again to this date, I have not heard a hip-hoppish R&B track of such utter brilliance. 

The documentary had visuals of these two limeys in various locations and across their journey to superstardom. What I found particularly endearing was how the record companies and music media insulted them repeatedly and yet they kept prevailing.  One journalist finally gave up and wrote in one of the music magazines “how can these two idiots churn out such fantastic tunes?”. 

It also portrayed Andrew as more of the playboy as opposed to George, who would eventually far outlive Andrew musically.  There were various shots of them at parties in electronic music clubs in the Spanish islands- particularly on a favorite number called “Club Tropicana” which went like this.

“Club Tropicana, drinks are free
Fun and sunshine, there's enough for everyone
All that's missing is the sea
But don't worry, you can suntan”

Somehow, I never really understood the quintessence of the party milieu in these islands until much later in life. The name Ibiza came up now and then, here and there. But only after watching another Netflix show called “White Lines” did I realise the level of debauchery that was associated with these islands. I will leave the reader to watch said show and then come to their own conclusions. I don’t really recommend the show per se- it was very shocking but in the end not very satisfying. Left a weird after -taste. I much preferred the Wham songs. 

It also portrayed the fact that the boys had no money. The money they earned was being plugged into other acts- and of course it was a classic case of record companies exploiting them. Eventually, George started his own solo career, and it was only here that he began to get really rich. There was a depiction of a charity song called “Do they know it’s Christmas time” which was performed by a whole variety of artists including Wham. It was a song for raising funds for famine victims in Ethiopia. I did not remember any famine in Ethiopia- I was too young to be concerned with such real issues. I was just enjoying the music, grooving to it as it played in various backdrops for me. In my room, during the car drive to Bistupur, in the Sonodyne Uranus stereo in our living room- just about everywhere. This was pre-walkman times, so you really had to be near atleast a boombox to play tunes.

Another Wham moment came to mind as I watched the 2 pop stars float across my TV screen in tiny shorts and white Tshirts with “Wham” emblazoned on them.  It was the year 2006, and I was in a lecture room at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France attending a class on Operations Management. Suddenly my phone started ringing, and for some reason I had chosen the song “Club Tropicana” as the ring tone. I was embarrassed that the phone had disturbed the lecture, but there was enough nostalgia-laden recognition by the 50-odd classmates from across the world, to make everyone smile and brush it off. I cannot recall the name of the lecturer now, but he was American and a lot older so unlikely to have recognized the tune.

One final point to mention is that once I began to appreciate the connection between pop music and sexuality, I picked that many such pop stars were gay. Boy George, George Michael, the guy from Bronski Beat and Pet Shop Boys. Somehow, I assumed if it was a male pop duo, they were also a couple. I learnt after watching the show that Andrew, polyamorous though he may be, was definitely straight. George was another matter. Not that any of it mattered.