Wham!
January 26, 2019
This is Jim McGuinn, and this week I re-address a wrong. Since falling in love with punk rock as a teen, I considered bands like Wham! to be the anti-punks, the opposite of the raw emotion that I heard in those loud fast rules of the day. Only in retrospect can I look back and realize I was wrong; soulfulness takes so many shapes and forms, and that few in the '80s could match the voice and playful cleverness of George Michael. With his Wham! musical partner Andrew Ridgeley celebrating a birthday Saturday, we'll feature Wham! this week, on Teenage Kicks.
The 17-year old me might be rolling his eyes, but that me can sleep in while the modern me will wake up before I go-go, and celebrate freedom with a careless whisper and an alto sax.