Due to problems with the sending of internet mail yesterday
on AOL, I decided to do
a little re-arranging to the YM
schedule and take Friday off and send YM's for Saturday
and Monday instead.
It was 11
years ago today the pop world lost Wham!, and
a a year later we got a solo George, and Andrew got a one
way ticket to
oblivion.
Not surprisingly, this special Wham! issue scored only two
posts, but I do at least finally have the winners in
the Wham!
tribute album contest. Took us long enough huh?
Honourable mention to:
TXCowboy22-at-aol.com.
2nd Prize
(Audio cassette copy of the Final) goes to:
smm-at-pequod.otago.ac.nz
1st prize (Video copy of the Final) goes to:
cassu-at-inetworld.net
Congrats!!!!
Thanks to all who entered. And of course my
thanks to contest sponsor Nancy (yogfan-at-adnetsol.com).
Sa and Cass drop me a
line to work out delivery.
Alicia and I tried to work together and give you a combined
tribute album track listing, but it
ended up a yelling match,
with threats of physical violence at Sacramento Metro
airport next month, so we gave up...We may try
again when
in person so we can just get the slaps over with immediately
and then get back to work. : )
AND AWAY WE GO...
***************************
Whamerica-at-aol.com
(Alicia) writes:
----------------------------------------------------
Hey crew--
My favorite Wham! memory (there are so
many...) is when I
got to see them in person on 9/1/85. It made my teenage life
complete...and I still think back on it fondly
(George wore a
little black number and cap), and it fills my heart with
schoolgirl dreams....:)
(What would a school
girl have known to do with him? AG)
Speaking of Wham!--I was wondering if anyone on our list
saw them in China? I'd love to
hear your story, if you did!:)
Also, any more memories of the final Wham! concert are
much appreciated!:)
(Read on,
you of course get what you want...Andrewship
has it's priviledges... AG)
As always, my dearest AG, KEEP UP THE GREAT
WORK!:)
(We are shameless you know, totally shameless... AG)
Luv,
Ange (Alicia)
***************************
DERBYMIN-at-aol.com
(Michelle) writes:
---------------------------------------------------------
Hi Amanda and fellow G-fans.
My most vivid,
distressing and then ultimately the best, memory
is the events leading up to and including the WHAM! farewell
concert.
When
George announced in early 1986 that WHAM! were
splitting up I was devastated. They then announced that they
were going to go
out in style and that they would perform a
farewell concert.
More or less as soon as I heard this, I was on the blower
trying
to get hold of a ticket - but this was like getting hold of
gold dust - the tickets were selling faster than the operators
could
get hold of them. Apparently the tickets went on sale
world wide and it appeared as if the world had gone
absolutely crazy. In
despair I rang the WHAM office in London
begging for a ticket but they told me that all tickets had now
been sold.
I
spent weeks walking around with a face as long as sin ....
my parents were sick of my going on and on and on about
how unfair
life is, and as the week of the concert approached I
was unbearable to live with (well so my parents tell me).
Then lady
luck struck ....... on Tuesday 24 June '86 (I
remember the day exactly) my mum telephoned me at work
and told me that our
local radio station had one WHAM
concert ticket and they would sell it to the highest bidder,
with all monies going to
charity. I managed to get hold of
the radio station and bid stg 40.00 (the actual cost of the
ticket was stg 13.50). Back then
I was only earning a
salary of stg 50.00 but I didn't care, I was soooo desperate
to go that I was only too happy to spend all
my salary.
By 4:00 pm that Tuesday afternoon the radio station
phoned me and announced over the air that I had been the
lucky
bidder. I really cannot describe my feelings, but
needless to say I was euphoric.
When Saturday dawned I was a little
apprehensive, I was 19
and I had never travelled to London or attended a concert on
my own before, but I kept telling myself
that once I got to
Wembley I wouldn't be on my own I would be with thousands
of friends.
It was a scorcher of a day,
with temperatures reaching the
late 80's. The atmosphere outside the stadium was, well
electric ~ wherever you went you met
with a wall of fans
bedecked with wham banners,singing and dancing ~ and
when the gates opened at 2:00 pm the cheer was
deafening.
Because I was on my own (and back then a little slip of a
thing) I was able to worm my way to the front of the
queue to
ensure that I got a brilliant position ~ which I did ~ I was right
at the front in the aisle seats. I was able to see
G & A, and
ould have touched them if the stage had been a bit lower.
We had about a three and half hour wait before
George and
Andy took the stage, So we were entertained by stars such
as Simon le Bon, Elton John, Gary Glitter (I got so
carried
away when he was singing "do you wanna be in my gang" that
I nearly fell of the chair I was standing on). To
give us a taste
of things to come a film of Wham's trip to China was shown.
By now we were all in a frenzy ~ soon our idols
would be on
stage.
I remember that a Mexican wave started, which even according
to G and A, was pretty impressive - with
half the stadium
starting the wave with the blue side of the concert programme
and the other half ending the wave with the
orange side.
The moment we had all been waiting for arrived - G and A
appeared on the stage and I along with thouands of
other fans
(which I now know was 71,999 plus me) rose screaming,
yelling their names and waving a sea of multi coloured flags
and
banners.
The concert was excellent, fantastic, brilliant etc etc. G and
A sang every hit of theirs with all of us fans
joining in. As the
concert drew to a close we cheered and yelled for more, and
they both obliged time and time again.
Eventually G and A
went. As I made my way out of the stadium I as well as all
the other fans, carried on singing the last
number, Edge of
Heaven. To me this seemed kind of symbolic ... I had spent
the whole day in heaven.
That Saturday is a
day that I'll never forget ~ I still have all the
paraphernalia that I purchased and I often look through it and
I'm
transported back in time to the day when I was ohhhh so
young and soooo happy.
Amanda, I think I may have rambled a bit, in
fact I could have
probably written a novel - anyway please feel free to edit as
necessary.
(No editing required! This
was great, and I couldn't think of
any better featured post for this issue! AG)
Bye for now.
Michelle.
***************************
To
Wrap it Up:
MY fave Wham! memory? August 28th 1985: And my sister
cursing out 2 security guards to have us moved to better
seats,
and putting such a fear of pissing her off into them, that when
we did end up in the new and improved seats, security
put my
chair out in the aisle for a better view of the stage. You may
be a bitch Jeanne -- and I say that with the utmost
respect --
but you do also use your powers for good...love ya always!
"What a kick just a buddy and me."