It did not make Billboard's Hot Top 100* chart, but on March 22nd, 1983 it peaked at #1 {for 2 weeks} on the Swedish 'Topplistan' Top Singles chart... Andrew Ridgeley moved to Monaco after Wham!'s break-up and tried his hand at Formula Three motor racing. Meeting with little success, Ridgeley moved to Los Angeles to pursue his singing/acting career, the failure of which caused him to return to England in 1990. Regardless, CBS Records, having taken up the option on Wham!'s contract that specified solo albums from Michael and Ridgeley, released a solo effort from Ridgeley, Son of Albert, in 1990. After poor sales, CBS declined the option of a second album. On 25 June 1988, George Michael's 25th birthday, Michael played the third of three dates at Birmingham's NEC as part of the Faith World Tour. He appeared deeply moved when he was surprised on stage by many members of his family with Andrew Ridgeley, who was pushing a trolley carrying a huge birthday cake. They led the 13,000-strong crowd in a rendition of " Happy Birthday" before Ridgeley accompanied Michael in a performance of " I'm Your Man".

Between 1982 and 1986 the duo had eleven records on the United Kingdom's Singles chart, ten made the Top 10 with five reaching #1, plus two peaked at #2... The best-selling singles of all time on the Official UK Chart". Officialcharts.com . Retrieved 24 June 2020. Jovanovic, R. (2015). George Michael: The biography. Little, Brown Book Group. p.35. ISBN 978-0-349-41124-8 . Retrieved 16 June 2019. Michael later claimed the album was another attempt to quietly reveal the fact that he was gay to his fans without involving the press. When the newspapers finally did get their story two years later, with his arrest for engaging in a lewd act in a Beverly Hills toilet, it seemed to reignite the sense of sly humour that had been largely absent from his work since Wham!’s demise. Initially the pair wrote songs such as " Wham Rap (Enjoy What You Do)" and " Club Tropicana" together, but part way through the recording of their debut album Fantastic, the pair agreed that Michael was the stronger songwriter, and would take creative control. [14] Still teenagers, they promoted themselves as hedonistic youngsters, proud to live a carefree life without work or commitment. This was reflected in their earliest singles which, part-parody, part-social comment, briefly earned Wham! a reputation as a dance protest group.

Paul Kelbie, Scotland Correspondent (17 August 2012). "How Wham! made Lindsay Anderson see red in China". The Independent . Retrieved 11 December 2015.

After the boys stomp around in a state of delirium, they step into a Rolls Royce, getting changed into their pop star outfits before attending a photoshoot. The song, which had been tentatively released in June 1982 when Wham! were unknown, failed to make any impact and was later re-issued in January 1983 after the duo had achieved their breakthrough with " Young Guns (Go for It!)". The single subsequently reached No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart, the second release of four hits from Wham!'s debut album Fantastic. The week that "Young Guns" peaked at #3, the #2 record that week was "Mirror Man" by the Human League and at #1 was "Beat Surrender" by the Jam... Michael and Ridgeley met at Bushey Meads School in Bushey near the town of Watford in Hertfordshire. The two at first performed in a short-lived ska band called The Executive, alongside former school friends David (Austin) Mortimer, Andrew Leaver, Tony Bywaters, Ian Bowden, Jamie Gould, Harry Tadayon and Paul Ridgeley. [9] When this group split, Michael and Andrew Ridgeley eventually formed Wham!The programme was a big deal at the time and always featured bands it knew would appeal to its young audience. Everybody knew that an exciting performance in the studio could work wonders for a new act," Andrew Ridgeley recalls.