Chinese Whispers, pt. 1 – Wham! Careless Whisper in China

In 1985, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley of Wham! embarked on a lengthy world tour, which would eventually culminate in a ground-breaking 10-day visit to China – the first ever by a Western pop group.

One of their two managers – Simon Napier-Bell and Jazz Summers – had dreamt up an incredible publicity scheme to get the band into the country and set up a concert for 15000 people at the Beijing Workers’ Gymnasium.

To do so, he circulated brochures in Chinese official circles depicting Wham! as a handsome and wholesome duo of middle-class youngsters, while at the same time actively sabotaging the efforts of Queen, who were also trying to become the first Western band to play in China. The anti-Queen leaflets smeared Freddie Mercury as a flamboyant, well, queen, who would eventually lead the Chinese youth astray. Wham!’s visit was documented by director Lindsay Anderson in a film called Foreign Skies. The film ended up being perceived as too critical and did not get a release. I can only recommend you watch it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IJZkarC5tM