Simon Napier-Bell, then the pair’s manager, worked for months to try and convince the hard-line Chinese state officials that a concert tour by Wham! would do wonders for the country’s international reputation. Wined and dined over lunches in London, he convinced them that the tour would awaken the world to a new China, a place where the Communist Party welcomes foreigners in general, and their direct investment in particular.
It worked, and the band was given permission to take a show to Beijing and Guangzhou in April 1985.
In a country with no night life and very rigid social opportunities, a rock concert, even of the bubblegum pop variety, was an alien experience to the Pekinese people. Although tickets were cheap, selling for just five yuan, most of them were divvied out to party members and their families.
The concert itself, with its booming stereo speakers and hypnotic light show was a spectacle, as much for the crowd as those taking part. Kan Lijun, one of the best known television personalities in China, introduced the band on stage, and told the BBC recently how struck she was by the experience.
"No-one had ever seen anything like that before," she said. "The singers were all moving a lot and it was very loud. We were used to people who stood still when they performed."
"All the young people were amazed and everybody was tapping their feet. Of course the police weren't happy and they were scared there would be riots. One time, people were excited after a sports event and they flipped a car."
It's hard to gauge just how much of a cultural impact Wham! had on the audience that night, but their bright and bold show was a revelation to everyone there. For many members of the audience, music like this simply didn't exist before George Michael bounced around the Beijing stage. For the average Chinese citizen living beyond the radio waves of the British controlled Hong Kong, most types of music were simply banned by the strident cultural censorship.
And evidence of state control were evident on that night in April, 1985, at least before Wham! took to the stage. Singer Cheng Fangyuan, approved by the Communist regime, opened the show, singing a translated version of Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.
"Wake me up before you go go," Fengyuan sang to an astonished audience, "Compete with the sky to go high, high.
"Wake me up before you go go, men fight to be first to reach the peak. Wake me up before you go go, women are on the same journey and will not fall behind."
Every Thursday on The Right Hook, George is joined live in studio by Bill Hughes, who fills in the musical blindspot in the presenter’s cultural awareness with the riffs, refrains, and robust hits have defined musical history.
You can listen back to this week's podcast below:
